Why H.H. Holmes And Jack The Ripper Could Be The Same Person
By Daniel Kim
The "Dear Boss" letter was believed to have been written by Jack the Ripper. It was received by the Central News Agency of London on September 27, 1888, and forwarded to Scotland Yard on September 29. In the letter, the killer described his plan to cut the ears off his next victim. On September 30, the body of Catherine Eddowes was found with one earlobe severed. While it was never proven that the Ripper wrote the "Dear Boss" letter, the mention of cutting a victim's ear was a chilling reference. The letter was not published in the papers until after Eddowe's body was found, meaning this could have been a real connection to the killer.
A handwriting analysis expert recommended by the British Library compared the "Dear Boss" letter to a known handwriting sample from H.H. Holmes. The expert concluded that it was written by the same hand.
Just to be safe, Jeff Mudgett sent the samples for computer analysis to confirm the expert's findings. The computer results showed there was a 97.95% chance that H.H. Holmes wrote the "Dear Boss" letter.
