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In the never-ending search for the true identity of the elusive Jack the Ripper, a recent extraordinary discovery has attracted the attention of Ripperologists worldwide. It now seems not unlikely that the murderer may have been a suspect hitherto unknown to researchers: an IrishAmerican quack doctor named Francis J. Tumblety.
The story begins with the discovery of a very important document known as the "Littlechild letter." This letter, written by former Chief Inspector John G. Littlechild to the journalist George R. Sims in 1913, came to light in a small collection of Sims's correspondence that was bought in 1993 by Stewart Evans, a police officer himself and a leading authority on the Ripper case. Evans recognized its significance immediately. Littlechild, in fact, had been in charge of the Special Branch at Scotland Yard in 1888, the year in which the Ripper killed his victims, and in that capacity, would have worked in close and regular personal contact with men like Chief Inspector Swanson, appointed by Sir Charles Warren to oversee the Ripper inquiry.
The Disquieting Dr. T.
In his letter, Inspector Littlechild writes: ". . . amongst the suspects, and to my mind a very likely one, was a Dr. T. . . . He was an American quack named Tumblety and was at one time a frequent visitor to London and on these occasions constantly brought under the notice of police, there being a large dossier concerning him at Scotland Yard. Although a 'Sycopathia Sexualis' [sic] subject he was not known as a 'Sadist' (which the murderer unquestionably was) but his feelings toward women were remarkable and bitter in the extreme, a fact on record. Tumblety was arrested at the time of the murders in connection with unnatural offenses and charged at Marlborough Street, remanded on bail, jumped his bail, and got away to Boulogne, France. He shortly left Boulogne and was never heard of afterwards. It was believed he committed suicide but it is certain that at that time, the 'Ripper' murders came to an end."
Francis J. Tumblety was in fact in London during that fatal autumn of 1888 and on November 16 was brought before the Marlborough Street Police Court charged with homosexual offenses. He posted bail and was ordered to...