1888 Letter Reveals Jack the Ripper’s Grisly ‘Love’

Jack the Ripper, who savagely killed five London women a century ago, wrote in blood-red ink, “I love my work,” and vowed to mutilate prostitutes until he was caught, according to a letter released by Scotland Yard.

“I am down on whores and I shan’t quit ripping them until I do get buckled,” said the letter signed Jack the Ripper that was sent to a London news agency. “My knife’s so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance.”

Scotland Yard called the document it released Thursday “the original handwritten letter in red ink from the Ripper to Central News.” It was dated Sept. 25, 1888, shortly after a second woman was butchered in East London.

Police also released 14 other documents and six sepia-tinted photographs of five corpses mutilated by the killer, whose identity remains a mystery despite 100 years of detective work.

Even with the new information, England’s biggest whodunit remains unsolved, said John Dellow, deputy commissioner at Scotland Yard.

“I don’t think it takes us any further forward at all in that particular direction. What it does, it merely completes the historical record of the written work,” he said.

In the letter the Ripper taunted police:

“Dear Boss, I keep hearing the police have caught me but they won’t fix me just yet. I have laughed when they looked so clever and talk about being on the right track . . . “Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me? I love my work and want to again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games.”

The 15 documents, including the letter and police reports, were anonymously mailed in a large brown envelope to Scotland Yard in November. The pictures were discovered in an album by the family of a senior officer who died.