The Escape of Jack the Ripper: The Full Truth About the Cover-up and His Flight from Justice
Jonathan Hainsworth, Christine Ward-Agius

The Escape of Jack the Ripper: The Full Truth About the Cover-up and His Flight from Justice

This book, compiled from years of meticulous research at last presents the case for the upper-class Police Chief,  Sir Melville Macnaghten’s claim that there was only ever five murders  and one genuine suspect for the atrocities performed by ‘Jack the Ripper’ and why in a carefully filed official document, he named him as M J Druitt.

What would you have done?  If you had walked in the footsteps of the Druitt family in late 1888, burdened with the belief that a once bright, talented and beloved family member was in fact leading a double life as ‘Jack’?

The highly accomplished Druitt clan, the very best example of Victorian respectability are investigated for the first time, revealing an anguished and agitated cohort, making several unsuccessful attempts to alert authorities that the ‘Ripper’ they were searching for after December 1888 was in fact already deceased. Their conundrum was ensuring that no innocent would ever hang for the crimes of their Montague, while maintaining their anonymity.

The chronicle of this infamous mystery of the Victorian era usually begins and ends with the impoverished streets and neglected souls of Whitechapel. In truth, it spans the gamut of London society, upstairs and downstairs. From the East End to genteel London society, picturesque Dorset, the legal circles of the Inner Temple and the anonymity of the private asylums of Paris and London.

Who was Montague Druitt, this Victorian equivalent of the modern day serial killer Ted Bundy?

He was young, handsome, highly educated in the best of English public schools, professional and a first class cricketer who had played alongside the famous W.G.Grace.

Described as ‘that remarkable man’ by Sir Melville Macnaghten, it is revealed he held a personal motive for protecting the Druitt’s reputation. Even though so called ‘Ripper’ murders continued after Druitt’s death, he ensured that no person was ever charged for the five murders in the autumn of 1888.

              Many social reformers and the famous writers George R. Sims and George Bernard Shaw believed these murders could serve as a catalyst for the awakening of a social conscience in the ruling elite. The unpalatable concept of the ‘Ripper’ as a social reformer was widely debated however in reality, his actions were most similar to those of the modern day terrorist.

This fascinating story is revealed fully for the first time, with many never before published photographs including the newly discovered, last known image of Druitt. The machinations of his family and their nexus of upper-class connections were able to mis-directed the public until the 1960’s when Macnaghten’s report was finally, reluctantly revealed.

The serial killer of 1888 was not poor, not foreign, not unknown. He was M.J. Druitt, the product of the best of Britain.

 

 

Book Details:

  • Author: Jonathan Hainsworth, , Christine Ward-Agius
  • Published Year: 2020
  • Rights Sold
    • UK: Amberley
    • US: Regnery
Jonathan Hainsworth,

Jonathan Hainsworth,

Educator and author Jonathan Julian Hainsworth is a high school History and English teacher with over thirty years experience. Australian born, Jonathan was raised in Adelaide and is a graduate of the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia. Jonathan’s first book, an academic work was essentially an exploration of Scotland Yard Chief Sir Melville Macnaghten and his involvement in the “Jack the Ripper” case. This book received positive reviews and television, print and radio attention. Jonathan has a passion for historical investigation and the testin...
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Christine Ward-Agius

Christine Ward-Agius

Christine Ward-Agius was born in Adelaide, South Australia and is a researcher and working artist. Previously she worked for many years in the Welfare sector, gaining particular experience in a program designed to help empower women to escape poverty via education and employment. The insight gained from this area of work gave Christine an added interest while assisting her partner Jonathan Hainsworth when writing his first book on “Jack the Ripper.” Christine’s research helped discover previously unknown sources that strengthened the original, long-ignored police solution...
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Book Reviews

  • "No fan of Ripper investigations can ignore it, even if Druitt isn’t their favorite suspect."
    Psychology Today
  • "presents better evidence for its claims than many other Ripper books. Perhaps more importantly it gives a dramatic insight into the social and political milieu in which Druitt could have committed his murders, yet been protected from their consequences until his suicide. It certainly demonstrated just how widely his responsibility for the murders was assumed and commented on by his contemporaries. If there actually is a Jack the Ripper, this book strengthens the case for Druitt being that individual ."
    http://pelicanist.blogspot.com/