Jacob Levy (murder suspect)
Jacob Levy | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Cohen 1856 |
| Died | 29 July 1891 (aged 34–35) |
| Known for | Suspect of Jack the Ripper |
Jacob Levy (1856 – 29 July 1891) was born in Aldgate in 1856. He was one of the suspects of Jack the Ripper.
Biography[edit]
He followed in his father's trade as a butcher, and by 1888 he was living in Middlesex Street with his wife and children, which was right in the heart of Ripper territory (and close to where Catherine Eddowes was murdered). Levy was a butcher with the necessary skills to remove certain organs from the victims, and was recorded as suffering from general paralysis of the insane. His 1890 asylum records report that he “feels that if he is not restrained he will do some violence to some one”.[1][2] The 2009 video game Sherlock Holmes Versus Jack the Ripper uses a combination of historically attested and embellished evidence to propose his candidacy.[3]
Jacob Levy's life is featured on an episode of the podcast Bad Women: The Ripper Retold where Jennifer Wallis, a historian of medicine and psychiatry, comments that it is unlikely a person in Levy's condition would have been able to carry out serial murders and persistently conceal having done so.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ "Jacob Levy asylum records". Casebook: Jack the Ripper Forums. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Roland, Paul (2012). The Crimes of Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Murders Re-Examined. London, England: Arcturus Publishing Limited. pp. 276–278. ISBN 978-1848588448.
- ^ "Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper Achievements Guide + Walkthrough". IGN. 7 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
- ^ Rubenhold, Hallie (21 September 2021). "Episode 15: The Madness of Jacob Levy". Bad Women: The Ripper Retold. Pushkin Industries. Retrieved 29 December 2021.