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Letter Supposedly Written By Jack The Ripper To Go On Sale

Letter Supposedly Written By Jack The Ripper To Go On Sale

A postcard that was sent to police by someone claiming to be Jack the Ripper is expected to fetch £1000 at auction in Kent on Monday

Mike Wood

Mike Wood

A postcard supposedly that was written by Jack the Ripper is due to be sold at auction next week in Kent.

It is expected to fetch as much as £1,000 when it goes on sale in Folkestone on Monday.

The card has been historically verified as being contemporary to the Ripper murders, which took place in 1888, though obviously it cannot be known whether the card was itself written by the murderer.

The postcard reads: "Beware there is two women I want here they are bastards, and I mean to have them with my knife is still in good order it is a students knife and I hope you liked the half of kidney. I am Jack the Ripper."

20th Century Fox

It was sent to Ealing Police Station on October 29, 1888, by an unknown person claiming to be the infamous murderer, who killed five women in the East End of London that year.

It had been held by police in Ealing, West London until the 1960s, when it came into the possession of a member of the public. They have now come forward to sell the piece, causing huge interest from Ripper enthusiasts and collectors.

Jonathan Riley, a Victorian history expert who verified the piece, said: "I got a call from the donor, and she said 'I've got some notes from Jack the Ripper' and I said 'well I've got a note from Napoleon."

"Then when she told me about its history and how it was police evidence and I realised it was real.

"Our card was one of a number of notes sent to police claiming responsibility during the long-running manhunt, but the postcard has a very strong provenance due to the period it was sent and the fact it was contained in police files."

"We are in the fortunate position of nobody being able to say the card was not written by Jack, but equally, we cannot prove it was - It's one of those conundrums, you will never know.

"Our card is the first time a Ripper letter or card has ever been offered on the market for auction with police provenance, it is an unusual item for an auction house of our size to handle."

SWNS

Jack the Ripper was the name given to a suspected serial killer in Victorian London, who killed at least five women in 1888. One of his victims, Mary Kelly, was murdered just two weeks after the postcard was received by Ealing police.

The Ripper was known to send letters to the police, noticeably the 'From Hell' letter, which came with half of a human kidney attached.

Jack the Ripper was never caught and thousands of people have been thrown up as potential suspects in the century since the murders, leading to a cottage industry in tales about the Ripper, as well as thousands of so-called -'Ripperologists' - Jack the Ripper enthusiasts.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: News, UK