The case of the serial killer Jack the Ripper is one of the most infamous in history. The first sight of the killer chance set mid-fury that crossed lands and seas. Such was the series of crimes so horrific (which went unsolved) that the case is still popular more than 120 years after the murders. partly because there has been so much speculation as to the identity of the killer, almost all of which cannot be proven or disproved. But there are a few very likely suspects and Francis Tumblety is one of them.
The murders, as mentioned above, committed by Jack the Ripper were horrific. They were sad, calculating, hateful, and most disgusting; (Click here to learn more about the case and crimes.) Francis Tumblety had many characteristics that seem to fit these crimes. Furthermore, the murders were committed in London at the time, and they may have been staying in the Whitechapel district, where the murders took place.
Francis Tumblety is thought to have been born in Ireland, although this is not certain. But he was certainly of Irish descent. He was the youngest of James and Margaret Tumblety’s eleven children. Wherever he was born, in Rochester, York he lit up within a few years of his life. The tasteless evidence of personality and career choice goes back to childhood there. Neighbor Tumblety noted his dirty and uncultivated appearance, his lack of education and his propensity for work. It is also known that Tumblety started selling pornographic material of some kind and working for a notorious pharmacist sometime in his teenage years.
Within a few years of working as an apothecary, Francis Tumblety began to use the “Indian herbal medicine” or, as later authors called it, the “medicine apothecary.” This is important because, since he had no medical training, he was able to pick up some basic anatomical knowledge while practicing medicine, which he did for many years. Many experts believe that Jack the Ripper had a special knowledge of anatomy. That’s why Jack the Ripper managed to extract the organs from some of his victims while they worked in the dark. His surgeries were by no means elegant, but they could have been done if he had completely ignored female anatomy.
By 1857, Francis Tumblety had traveled to Montreal. There he presented himself again to the physician. In September 1857, he was arrested for aborting a fetus by providing prostitutes with catapots and liquid cosmetics. He was released about one week later. Sometime during the next three years, Tumblety traveled to St. John’s. In September 1860 he was asked about the death of one of his patients who had died while taking medicine prescribed for him by Francis Tumblety. He fled the area and went to Maine and Boston. Meanwhile, Tumblety was making a lot of money with the scam. Some experts believe that Jack the Ripper was at least moderately wealthy.
Francis Tumblety donned a pseudo-military uniform when he was in Boston. he would wear medals, which he had not earned, and perhaps he would wear real military clothes, but the fatigues were not clothes at all. He also rode around on a pure white horse. He clearly had a false sense of self-importance or was too helpful with his tricks. While this is not a characteristic that one can confidently apply to Jack the Ripper, it is certainly possible that the methodical, domineering and obnoxious Jack the Ripper was a man of self-tumblety likeness.
Francis Tumblety moved around a lot after he left Boston. In Civil War he saw Washington, D.C., where he was a surgeon in Union Army. When Francis was there, he, like other robbers before and after him, claimed to have rubbed elbows with some of the most famous men of his time, including President Lincoln< /a>. Another interesting fact about Tumblety allegedly came out while he was in Washington, D.C. He hated women’s lust. This recording was definitely Jack the Ripper.
A man named Colonel Dunham had been invited to a party by Francis Tumblety in the evening. Afterwards the colonel said this of the event, “Someone asked why he had not invited some women to his dinner. His face immediately became like a black cloud. He had a bundle of papers in his hand, but he prostrated himself and said, and almost savagely, ‘No, colonel, such cattle I do not know, and if I were your friend, I would give you a quick dose of poison, how it would lead you into so much danger.’ The Colonel claimed that Tumblety had been asked why he hated women so much and had answered the story of his marriage to a woman whom he later found out was a whore.
The colonel also noted the collection of macabre belonging to Francis Tumblety. He had many jars containing human wombs. Each barrel is marked with age, medical condition or any other such common medical categorization. They were marked by the social-class”>social-class of women whose bodies once resided. This clearly sounds like something to watch as a killer. Of course it doesn’t make Tumblety the killer, but it’s certainly suspicious.
Released from Washington, Tumblety went to Missouri, where he was arrested twice for wearing medals he did not deserve. From then on, his life took many and odd turns to prevent him from being caught as to the assassination of the President of the United States Abraham Lincoln was innocent) having a homosexual relationship (which probably) and was arrested in Liverpool in 1888 for indecent exposure and indecent assault. Jack the Ripper committed crimes that were known in 1888. Francis Tumblety was one of the most likely suspects in the case at the time and was also arrested on November 12, 1888 for the murders. He was granted bail on the 16th of November, and after eight days he fled to his country.
There are clear similarities between the criminal profile of Jack the Ripper and Francis Tumblety. But even a guess does not add up. There is no definite evidence that Tumblety was ever violent towards women. As it was not himself. There is also some speculation as to whether homosexual Jack the Ripper committed the crimes. This is why most homosexual serial killers prey on people. Francis Tumblety may not be strictly homosexual, however. He could very well be bisexual, especially if he had actually been married. Furthermore, we cannot assume that woman-hating homosexuals do not kill women. See that the killers are promiscuous.
Unfortunately, there simply isn’t enough evidence to convict or exonerate anyone suspected of Jack the Ripper, including Francis Tumblety. Unless new evidence comes to light, we will never know for sure who Jack the Ripper was.
Sources
Francis Tumblety, retrieved 7/29/10, casebook.org/suspects/tumblety.html
Bardsley, Marilyn, Jack the Ripper, retrieved 7/29/10, trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/ripper/suspects_18.html
