Jack the Ripper: The Missing Evidence (2014)

• 81%
• 2014
• Documentary
• Sam Taplin
• Martin Pupp
• Steven Mackintosh
• Arthur Ingram
• Jason Payne-James

During a three-month period in 1888, a knife-wielding serial killer murdered six women on the streets of Whitechapel. Their throats were cut and their bodies horribly mutilated. He was never caught and his identity remains one of the world's greatest crime mysteries. In the years that have passed since Jack the Ripper's killing spree, many high-profile suspects have been suggested, yet the fact remains that none of them can be placed at any of the crime scenes. Now, journalist Christer Holmgren believes that he has found a suspect who can not only be linked directly to one of the murders but also whose daily routine could be consistent with all the other deaths. Holmgren has been studying the case for more than three decades in the belief that somewhere in the mass of records, some overlooked detail would point to the killer. His focus eventually fell on the seemingly trivial confusion that surrounded the testimony of a witness called Charles Cross. Cross is credited with finding the body of the Ripper's second victim, Polly Nichols. Yet when Holmgren looked further into the details, it emerged that not only did Charles Cross lie to a policeman on the night but also that he lied at the inquest and even gave a false name. For years the pseudonym 'Cross' chose to give the police shielded him. Only recently have modern researchers discovered his real identity. Once Christer had his real name - Charles Allen Lechmere - a mass of incriminating evidence became clear. Lechmere's job, home and family tie him to every Ripper crime. Christer travels to London to explore the Nichols murder in forensic detail. Did Jack the Ripper manage to lie his way past the police to kill again?