A man clever enough to pose ciphers that challenged even federal agencies like the FBI, a man so keen on Gilbert and Sullivan that it appeared he could parody lyrics he knew by heart, was also clever enough to understand his place in the history of murder. Though Zodiac's murders were completed in a very different manner from "saucy Jacky," - the Ripper preferred to not just stab but slash and gut his victims, all prostitutes working the Whitechapel district of London - the killers were very alike in the way they teased those seeking to bring them to justice, and alike in the fear they inspired in the awed public reading of their crimes, reading the killer's own words. I believe Zodiac was a student of the Ripper in this way - "Ripperology" was already a thriving field of research in the late '60's - books investigating the Whitechapel Monster were being written virtually from the time he disappeared after his last known murder, the truly gruesome obliteration of pretty young Mary Jane Kelly on November 9, 1888.
And most interesting is this; a brief look into Ripper history brings us back to the name, Joseph Chandler.
From Casebook: Jack the Ripper's 'timeline' page, which outlines the key events in the course of the Ripper's known murders:
"...September 12, 1888 — Coroner Wynne E. Baxter begins the inquest into murder of Annie Chapman at the Whitechapel Working Lads' Institute — adjouned until the 13th.-- Inspector Joseph Luniss Chandler is quoted in the Star as saying the 'bloodstains' found on the fence in the yard of 25 Hanbury Street were simply urine stains..."
To those with a more casual knowledge of Ripper history, Frederick Abberline is the Inspector most often associated with the case - he's been depicted in movies, most recently by Johnny Depp in the fictionalized movie version of the Ripper tale, From Hell.
But a slightly more in-depth study will bring up Inspector Joseph Chandler, H Division, Metropolitan Police.
It's the kind of detail an subtle, clever Ripper afficionado would know offhand, but not the kind of detail someone who perhaps only saw a movie, or an occasional documentary on the subject, might bother to recall.
The Zodiac Killer was nothing if not clever, and subtle.
He has been to the library in town, a less-than-modern facility to be sure, but they had newspaper archives, that's what mattered.
Now it's cold, night is falling, and he's still looking for the tombstone. He walks with his arms tight at his side, hands in pockets. A man of medium height, with graying brown hair and gray eyes behind heavy-framed glasses.
Article comments
1 - Embersage
Steve, As usual I am impressed with your work. Your right about the fact that we have been discussing Dennis Rader's obsession with the Zodiac Killer. I have been working along side you as well as the others on these cases for a while now. We may never know the face behind the mask. Yet he has left us with some answers, as Rader tried to do. Hiding them in puzzles and codes. We may never have all the answers to who and why. Yet we will keep on searching. For in knowledge there is power.
2 - kat self
I have been blogging on crime rant.com. I have compiled a massive file linking B.T.K. tot the unsolved Zodiac murders. I have uncovered interesting tibits such as a Zodiac letter and a map made by B.T.K. both sighed with the initals r.H. and a Japanese connection on two Zodiac writings. There's plenty of more solid connections too. I'd like to see B.T.K. prosecuted for all his crimes. I'd like to blog with like minded researchers.