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In her recent book Portrait of a Killer, best-selling author Patricia Cornwell shines the spotlight of suspicion squarely on artist Walter Sickert as a prime candidate for Jack the Ripper.
An Impressionist painter who studied under Degas, Sickert produced a series of "gruesome" paintings some 20 years after the unsolved murders of five prostitutes in Victorian London. The series, titled "Camden Town Murders," bear what some report is a chilling resemblance to the crime scenes from the Jack the Ripper cases. Although Cornwell is certainly not the first to posit his name (he is sometimes mentioned in connection with another suspect, Prince Albert), she is certainly one of the most industrious when it comes to making the case. She bought 30 of Sickert's paintings and even ripped one apart in a futile search for DNA from the artist. Cornwell's case certainly sounds convincing -- from circumstantial evidence (a red handkerchief that may have belonged to one of the victims) to a psychological profile that fits the bill for a murderer and even some potentially damning DNA, she covers all the bases. Not everyone is convinced of course, but Cornwell most definitely is. In her own words, "I do believe 100% that Walter Richard Sickert committed those serial crimes, that he is the Whitechapel murderer." The BBC
offers a fairly in-depth look at the Jack the Ripper case and examines Sickert as a suspect, but if you are an avid true-crime fan, pick up Cornwell's book. It just might convince you. At the very least, it makes for some interesting reading.
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