People often ask, what happened to Jack the Ripper?
Mary Kelly’s death in November 1888 is usually thought to be the last Ripper murder, partly because no deaths matching the pattern of the 5 canonical murders happened after Kelly’s death.
And now we know so much more about the behaviour of serial killers, whose murders often escalate in violence, it’s been argued that the fact that Mary Kelly was so badly butchered suggests that the killer had lost all control at that stage. There were no more killings of such ferocity or with the mutilations.
So what happened to Jack the Ripper? There are various theories.
HE WAS COMMITTED TO A MENTAL HOSPITAL
The mental state of someone who could mutilate a victim as Jack mutilated Mary Kelly would be out of control. It would show in daily life, and so many think the Ripper could have been committed to a mental hospital for his everyday behaviour, without anyone realising who he was.
HE COMMITTED SUICIDE
Again, because of the view that his insanity must have been increasing with each murder, many think he would not have been able to cope, and could have been driven to suicide.
HE DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES OR WAS MURDERED
The sort of insanity shown by the Ripper could have been caused by a medical problem that eventually killed him. But as an obviously violent person, it is also possible that he was killed by someone else in a fight.
And Whitechapel in Victorian times was a notorious slum, with infectious diseases rife. Jack could have died from something like cholera.
HE WAS IMPRISONED
The violent behaviour of Jack would undoubtedly show in everyday life, and some believe Jack could have committed other crimes, been caught and jailed.
HE LEFT THE AREA
Jack could have become scared that he would be caught, and moved away. One theory that many people favour is that Jack was only a visitor to the area. Whitechapel was a popular place for visiting sailors to stay, at a time when the docks of London were the biggest and busiest in the world. The five murders of Jack the Ripper do happen in three phases: the first two within 10 days of each other at the start of September, then almost a month gap before the next two, and then the final one nearly 6 weeks later. The gaps do suggest someone who was only in the area at certain points, rather than a permanent resident.
As you can see from all the suggestions, no-one really knows what happened to Jack the Ripper!