Jose Rizal is Jack The Ripper

Claim:

"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. He was so called because of a letter who was written by someone who claims he was the killer, however the letter was considered as a hoax. Another name for him are "The Whitechapel Murderer" and "Leather Apron".

While Jose Rizal was in London, Jack The Ripper was present and when he went back to the Philippines, the killings had stopped. It was very mysterious! Could it be just a coincidence? Or not?

By the way, Jack The Ripper likes girls while Jose Rizal was quite similar to him. They both have the same initials too, J.R.

For those who don't know Jose Rizal, he is the national hero of the Philippines though not legally official.

José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda (Jose Rizal) was a Filipino polymath, patriot and the most prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is regarded as the foremost Filipino patriot.[Click Here]

Let's find out...

Legend:

While searching everything about Jose Rizal on the internet, I stumbled upon this summary of his life while living in London.

Rizal was in London from May 1888 to January 1889, in the British Library copying "Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas" by hand because there were no photocopying machines at the time. Jack the Ripper was active around this time, and since we do not know what Rizal did at night or on the days he was not in the library, some people would like to believe Rizal is a suspect. They argue that when Rizal left London, the Ripper murders stopped. They say that Jack the Ripper must have had some medical training, based on the way his victims were mutilated. Rizal, of course, was a doctor. Jack the Ripper liked women, and so did our own Rizal. And -- this is so obvious that many overlooked it -- Jose Rizal's initials match those of Jack the Ripper!

Infos

Actually the case was still unsolved. Till now everything about it is a speculation. Here's a brief information about Rizal and the Ripper in London:

Jose Rizal	Jack the Ripper
He was a doctor. (An ophthalmologist particularly)	He is suspected to be a doctor (the removal of the victims’ organs implied anatomical knowledge).
He is a multi-talented person and could even speak English fluently.	The Ripper is an Englishmen.
Rizal lived in Beckett family at Crescent, London.	Ripper killed prostitutes in Whitechapel, London.
He is known for having many lovers.	His victims are all women.
Rizal copied, by hand, the book Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas at daylight.	Ripper killed prostitutes always at night time in the East End.
Rizal is a Freemason.	In the word 'Juwes', which might mean Freemason, makes him related somehow to it.
He leaves London in January, 1889.	On July, 1889, another victim was believed to be killed by the Ripper.
Jose Rizal's initial is JR.	Jack the Ripper's initial is also JR.

This is the events that happened in London at the time when Jose Rizal and Jack the Ripper was in the said city. (In chronological order.)



-----

DATE:	Jose Rizal	Jack the Ripper
February 3, 1888	As the controversy over his novel raged, Rizal got involved in the Kalamba tenant's fight to correct generations-old abuses committed against them. Thus, the security of Rizal family became a problem. Then, they advised Jose Rizal to leave the Philippines. He departed secretly for Hong Kong, then to Japan, and to United States.	-----
May 13 to 16, 1888	Dr. Jose P. Rizal stayed at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York City.	-----
May 16, 1888	He gathered enough funds for a trip to London on board the luxurious liner CITY OF ROME.	-----
May 24, 1888	He arrived in Liverpool, then went on to London, where he eventually settled down at No. 37 Chalcot, Crescent (with the Beckett Family).	-----
-----	While in London, Dr. Rizal copied the book Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas written by Antonio de Morga in the library of British Museum.[1]	-----
June 13, 1888	He wrote a letter to his family informing them where he was that time.	-----
August 31, 1888	-----	Jack the Ripper started his killings. (First victim, Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols)
September 8, 1888	-----	Jack the Ripper killed his second victim - Annie Chapman.
September 25, 1888	-----	A postcard was sent to 'Dear Boss', the head of the Central News Agency, signed 'Yours truly, Jack the Ripper.'
September 30, 1888	-----	Jack the Ripper killed two women on the same day - Elizabeth Stride and Catharine Eddowes, found half-a-mile apart.
-----	-----	[The words 'The Juwes are the men that Will not be Blamed for nothing', were chalked, seemingly by Jack, on a doorway immediately above a portion of the bloodstained apron of victim Catharine Eddowes. The word 'Juwes' may mean a code-word for the Freemasons or the Jews.]
November 9, 1888	-----	Jack the Ripper killed his last victim, Mary Jane Kelly.
-----	[Dr. Jose Rizal wrote letters to his friend Blumentritt from London, however, there were no letters are written for his family or friends from July, 1888 - November 14, 1888.]	[Between August 31 to November 9, 1888, five prostitutes were killed in Whitechapel, always late at night.]
January, 1889	Dr. Jose P. Rizal left London.	-----
July, 1889	-----	After nine months from the last Ripper killing, Alice Mackenzie was murdered, and once claimed as a Ripper victim, although the police did not think so at the time.
	-----	There were fifteen leading candidates for the true identity of Jack the Ripper. Three of them were highly suspected, namely Montague Druitt; 'Kosminski’, a Polish Jew; and ‘Michael Ostrog, a Russian doctor.’ All were documented in MacNaghten Memorandum. But the more highly suspected and convincing of the three is Montague Druitt.[2][3]

[1]The book tells a fair presentation of a 16th century Philippine culture and civilization. (If you notice some defects in Filipino race, maybe you read the book yourself in order to make a better judgment of the present.)

[2]There appeared to be a good deal of evidence linking him with the Ripper. In 1913, Macnaghten told the Daily Mail that he had ‘a very clear idea’ who the Ripper was but had ‘destroyed all the documents and there is now no record of the secret information which came into my possession at one time or another.’ A journalist with good police contacts, G.R. Sims, stated in 1903 that ‘the body of the man suspected by the chiefs of Scotland Yard, and by his own friends, who were in communication with the Yard, was found in the Thames.’ Druitt indeed committed suicide in the Thames around November 30th, 1888, shortly after being dismissed as a schoolteacher in Blackheath, and three weeks after the last Ripper murder. Druitt, who was also a barrister, had chambers at King’s Bench Walk, within walking distance of the East End, and apparently had a cousin who was a doctor with offices in the Minories, on the border of the East End.

[3]In some sources, the evidences pointed James Maybrick to be Jack the Ripper. Well, all or almost all of the evidence pointing him are highly convincing making him the killer.

Other things about Jose Rizal:

He was a Malay.

He would have been 27 years old at the time of the Ripper killings.

He was short, had dark skin, dark hair, and dark eyes.

He came from a well to do family, was well dressed and looked respectable.

He was executed in the Philippines on December 30, 1896 at the age of 35.

Had a romantic relationship with Gertrude Beckett - daughter of Charles Beckett.

After he died, his mother tried to procure his assets which consisted of some pretty nice jewelry including gold cuff links and other baubles of diamonds and amethysts (gold chain with a red stone seal?)

Conclusion:

Well, as soon as Jack the Ripper is still unknown, no one can say that Jose Rizal isn't him. We, Filipinos see this intelligent little guy a hero, good, patriot, and brave man for writing Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. Are we so sure that there is no bad side of him? If you notice, in El Fili, Simoun is brave, dark and vengeful who thinks of killing the influential people in Paulita and Juanito Pelaez's wedding day. I don't mean anything. I just open some possibilities which make him suspect of being JACK THE RIPPER.

However, if it is true that Alice Mackenzie was indeed one of Jack the Ripper's victims, then probably Jose Rizal was not him because at the time she was killed, Jose Rizal was not present anymore in London. Aside of that, there is no strong evidence to prove that he is the Ripper. They don't even have a connection with each other. I personally believe he is NOT.

I asked my professor in 'The Life of Jose Rizal' once about this intriguing controversy. She didn't tell me exactly if she do believe that Dr. Jose Rizal is indeed Jack the Ripper. She told me that even the most silent person in the world do have a secret, and Rizal might be one of them. She also told me that there are some proofs that point him to be the killer, but not too strong to hold the claim. I asked her what proofs, but she just became silent and closed the topic eventually. I don't know if she knew something. But one thing for sure, as long as Jack the Ripper is still not identified, claims of his identity will just rose from nowhere.

I highly advise you to search for yourself information that disproves the legend, not to prove it. You know its embarrassing if you believe he is. Jose Rizal is the perfect picture of a true Filipino, not only for being small but for being just HIM - patriot, talented, multi-lingual ... name it. Remember, Ninoy Aquino died the same reason why our national hero die for. I can't imagine if my favorite hero is a killer. I don't know if you feel the same way too.

Latest Findings

Last 2012, I created an article about Jose Rizal as Jack the Ripper (see above). I even casted possible evidence of his settlement in England, and what he really was doing there. Aside of that, I also cited Jack the Ripper's activities at the same time when Jose Rizal was present in the country, and his identity being a murderer. I even give possible suspects according to the investigation made.

There are four highly suspected identity of Jack the Ripper. They are Montague Druitt; 'Kosminski’, a Polish Jew; Michael Ostrog, a Russian doctor; and James Maybrick. Obviously, investigators never thought a Filipino man named Jose Rizal should also be suspected with this. However, according to the latest investigation, the Polish Jew named Kosminski is the most probable true identity of Jack the Ripper.

Who is Kosminski?

Aaron Kosminski (or Aron Mordke Kozmiński) was a Polish Jew who was suspected as the real Jack the Ripper. He emigrated to England from the Russian Poland in 1880s. In Whitechapel, East of London, he worked as a hairdresser, the same place where the murders happened.

He was born on September 11, 1865, and died on March 24, 1919. He was born in Kłodawa in Congress Poland, now part of the Russian Empire. His parents were Abram Józef Kozmiński, a tailor, and his wife Golda née Lubnowska.

Aaron was institutionalized because of his illness in an insane asylum.

He had been ill since at least 1885. He had an auditory hallucination that time. The cause of his insanity was recorded as "self-abuse", which is thought to be a euphemism for masturbation. His poor diet seems to have kept him in an emaciated state for years; his low weight was recorded in the asylum case notes. By February 1919, he weighed just 96 pounds (44 kg), and died the following month, aged 53, caused by gangrene.

Studies: The Beginning

Sir Melville Macnagthen is the one who named Kosmiski as suspect of the Ripper murder case. Then Sir Robert Anderson, on his memoir 'The Lighter Side of My Official Life' also claimed Kosminski as the killer.

In the next following years, many investigators and authors had tried to solve the case. However, the defense against the prosecutors became very strong. Accordingly, Jack the Ripper is an Englishman or a good English speaker, which supposedly the key to persuading the victim to go to a dark alley, but Aaron Kosminski in the asylum preferred to speak his native language (Yiddish) indicating that he is a poor English speaker. He showed no sign of violent behavior except in two occasions when he threatened his sister with a knife. Ripper was also alleged to be a doctor while Kosminski isn't.

Studies: The Present

British author Russel Edwards commissioned Dr. Jari Louhelainen, a molecular biologist, to carry out a forensic study on a silk shawl supposedly owned by Catherine Eddowes, one of the Ripper victim. Dr. Jari conducted a DNA testing by extracting mitochondrial DNA on the shawl, matching it with the female descendants of both Eddowes (named Karen Miller) and Aaron Kosminski's sister.

Later on, crime enthusiasts from Australia noticed a nomenclature error on Dr. Jari's DNA testing. In other words, this error only mean that Kosmisnki and Eddowes have no connection, opening again the debate of the century.

Accordingly, Dr. Jari managed to extract an incomplete fragment on the shawl and tried matching it on Karen Miller's DNA. Actually, his complete work was not published, and the only detailed description of Dr. Jari's testing comes from Edwards' book. In addition to that, his testing was not yet subject to peer review of another scientist like him.

Afterword

This doesn't mean that Jose Rizal is still a possible suspect by just having an error in the DNA analysis made by Dr. Jari Louhelainen. The fact that they never considered Jose Rizal is a simple and conclusive evidence that he is NOT Jack the Ripper. I even doubt if they know our hero.

The mystery of Jack the Ripper's identity will someday be revealed through much more complicated and modern forensic techniques. We already have DNA testing right now, thus on the near future, a much futuristic way will finally reveal it.

Sources:

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/philippine_urban_legends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rizal
AmateurSleuth: forum.casebook.org
http://filipinohome.com/02_03_01rizal_london.html
Book: The Hunt for Jack the Ripper by William D. Rubinstein
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Kosminski
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/jack-the-ripper-id-hinges-on-a-decimal-point-as-scientists-flag-up-dna-error-in-book-that-claims-to-identify-the-whitechapel-killer-9804325.html

Last Update:April 9, 2015

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