Was Jack the Ripper a Dutch Sailor? - Here in Holland
In the late 19 th century articles appeared in European newspapers naming a Dutch sailor as Jack the Ripper.
Researchers have rediscovered this Dutch link and have come up with new findings.
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The Ripper murders were front page news across the continent and especially in the UK where the Whitechapel killings captured and terrified the imagination.
Was Jack the Ripper a Dutch Sailor? Podcast iTunes link
So, who was this Dutch sailor and what have the crime historians unearthed?
For the full interview listen to the latest Here in Holland podcast – Was Jack the Ripper a Dutch Sailor?
New evidence The man behind the research is crime historian and author of 20 real-life crime books from the Victorian era, Dr Jan Bondeson. Link to the full article on the ‘Dutch Ripper’ in the Ripperologist online magazine.
The Swedish- British medical Doctor is also a prolific writer and researcher.
“I am fascinated with Victorian crime in general and of course the greatest unsolved mystery of all is Jack the Ripper – most people think Jack the Ripper had five victims during the Autumn of terror in 1888.”
“The murders were absolutely horrendous particular the murder of Mary Jane Kelly in Miller’s Court – she was literally chopped into little pieces in a most sadistic manner.”
Dr Bondeson says the cruelty and the number of murders in a short period of time plus the fact that Jack the Ripper was never caught ensured that the case became one of the most notorious in criminal history.
So what of the Dutch sailor Hendrik de Jong?
“As de Jong was awaiting trial for the murder of his two Dutch wives in the Netherlands there was a lot of writing in the European newspapers that he was Jack the Ripper.”
“They believed that during the year 1888 – the year of the Ripper crimes – that he had been a sailor on a ship to London.
And that every time the ship arrived in London he amused himself by murdering some hapless prostitutes before jumping back on the ship and heading back to the Netherlands unscathed.
So this would explain why the murders were never resolved.”
According to the newspapers the timeline of the shipping movements fitted with the murders.
Research in the archives turned up more intriguing facts about Hendrik de Jong.
For example, he was in a lunatic asylum at the beginning of 1888.
And that alongside being accused of murdering two Dutch wives he was also accused of murdering two women in Belgium.
The crime historian worked with Dutch researcher Bart FM Droog to scour Dutch newspapers from the time to find out about de Jong
Dr Bondeson says de Jong was seen as a serious candidate for Jack the Ripper by the European newspapers but less so in the UK.
He managed to escape to America – eventually turning up in Boston.
He was advertising for wives when he got there and got a lot of response. But according to Dr Bondeson the women had a lucky escape as the American police were tipped of by their European counterparts that de Jong was a dangerous predator.
“He spoke very good English and was a very cunning criminal and had what it took to escape the American police and he was able to do it.”
Crime historian Bondeson says de Jong certainly has the gruesome credentials to have been Jack the Ripper.
But pushed he says the Ripper case will never be resolved conclusively.
“It is just too long ago now,” he says.
And he says the modus operandi of de Jong was different from that of the Ripper. De Jong was a swindler who murdered his wives for money whereas Jack the Ripper was a maniacal killer motivated by a bloodlust to kill.
Conclusive evidence putting de Jong in London at the time of the Ripper crimes has not been found so the mystery endures.
“What we have achieved is finding out more about a suspect who was taken very seriously by the European newspapers at the time,” says Dr Bondeson.
“He was a serial killer and was active at the same time as Jack the Ripper, prior to our article he had been forgotten about.”
All photos courtesy of Dr Jan Bondeson.
Here in Holland is the podcast in English about life with the Dutch – it’s produced by Andy Clark – contact him via hereinholland@gmail.com or Facebook – website – you can subscribe to get all the podcasts in via your iPhone podcast app or your Android app of choice. Or follow on Soundcloud