In 1997 Fiji rejoined the Commonwealth.
In 1966 the former British Protectorate of Bechuanaland declares its independence becoming Botswana and joining the Commonwealth.
In 1888 Jack the Ripper claimed his third and fourth victims.
Jack The Ripper is one of the United Kingdom’s most infamous murderers never to have been caught. He walked the streets of Victorian London killing young women and mutilating them striking fear in the hearts of Londoners of the time.
On the 31st of August 1888 in the East End of London around 3:30 am a Mr Charles Cross discovered the first victim of England’s most infamous killer, Jack the Ripper. Forty three year old Mary Ann Nichols, who was a prostitute and mother of five, had knife wounds on her abdomen and two slash marks on her throat.
At around 6:00am on the morning of the 8th of September 1888 the mutilated body of Anna Chapman (born Eliza Ann Smith), who was also a prostitute and mother of three, was found by market porter, John Davis.
On the 27th of September a letter, known as the dear boss letter, was sent to the central news agency in London and given to the police on the 29th of September. The letter was originally thought to be a hoax but contained a line about clipping the ears that proved significant.
On the 30 September 1888 the ripper commits two murders. At 1am the body of Elizabeth Stride’s is found in Berner Street, off Commercial Road; then at 1:45am the body of 46 year old Catherine Eddowes is discovered in Mitre Square in the City of London. One of Eddowes’ earlobes was cut (but left at the scene) and left kidney was removed (among other mutilations).
The following day the letter, which was signed yours truly, Jack the Ripper (a name he gave himself), was made public. This led to hundreds of hoax letters being produced, many of which were also signed Jack the Ripper. On the same day that the letter was released a postcard was also sent to the news agency talking of double murder. This second note was initially kept secret from the public.
On the 16th of October the head of the newly formed Whitechapel Vigilance Commitee, George Lusk, received a letter known as the from hell letter. It arrived in a box with half a human kidney, with the words From Hell at the top and it goaded Mr Lusk to catch him. The surgeon who performed an examination of the kidney concluded that it was from a woman aged around 45 and who drank heavily; fitting the profile of Eddowes.
On the Morning of the 9th of November 1888 Thomas Bowyer was sent to the address of 25 year old Mary Kelly to collect overdue rent. When he heard no reply after knocking he peered through the window and saw the mutilated body of Kelly lying on the bed. Although several other murders happened after this one that are logged in the Whitechapel Murders file, this is the last which is believed to have been carried out by Jack the Ripper.
Many people have been suspected of the murders and as time went on new evidence appeared which was said to prove conclusively the identity of the Ripper and thus solving the case. In all cases the so far the ‘new evidence’ has turned out to be bogus and the inventor of the evidence has released a best selling book. On the 7th of September 2014 Author Russell Edwards has made claims that he has DNA evidence that he has found the murderer upon the release of his book. He claims that his evidence proves the murderer with 100% accuracy and “Only non-believers that want to perpetuate the myth will doubt”.
However many prominent scientist, including Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys who invented DNA fingerprinting, say that the DNA evidence carried out by Jari Louhelainen, a molecular biologist at Liverpool John Moores University in his spare time should be peer reviewed. This is the normal procedure for any scientific discovery before it can be accepted by the scientific community as it allows the data to be scrutinised and verified by fellow scientists. The data has not been peer reviewed and therefore verified.
