"In the dark realm of serial killers, this is ground zero: the point from which virtually all history and all discussions begin. No other has so quickly captured and so long dominated the public's fascination as Jack the Ripper: the Whitechapel Murderer, the personification of mindless brutality, of nameless, motiveless evil." (Douglas & Olshaker, 19)
Arguably the world's most infamous serial killer, Victorian London's unidentified slasher of prostitutes remains an object of study--some say an obsession--for thousands of students today. "If we trust the faceless experts on Jeopardy, more books, plays, articles, and movie scripts have been written about Red Jack than about any other murderer in history, except Adolf Hitler. At that, Der Fuhrer had to kill some 20 million people just to break the tie, while Jack the Ripper slaughtered only five. Still, his (or her) identity remains an active topic of debate, with new works on the subject published every year."
"Because he got away." (Newton, 112)
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