Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 18, 2009



Jack the Ripper conspiracy theories seek to explain a series of murders in the East End of London in 1888 that were blamed on an unidentified assailant known as "Jack the Ripper". Since then, the identity of the killer has been hotly debated. Over a hundred suspects have been proposed, including Prince Albert Victor, the eldest son of the Prince of Wales and the grandson of Queen Victoria. The theory that Albert Victor was the Ripper was brought to public attention in 1970 by elderly British physician Dr. T. E. A. Stowell, who argued that Albert Victor committed the murders after being driven mad by syphilis. Subsequently, conspiracy theorists have elaborated on the supposed involvement of Albert Victor in the murders. Rather than implicate Albert Victor directly, they claim that he secretly married and had a daughter with a Catholic shop assistant, and that Queen Victoria, British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury, his freemason friends, and the London Metropolitan Police conspired to murder anyone aware of Albert Victor's supposed child. Many facts contradict this theory, and its originator, Joseph Gorman (also known as Joseph Sickert), later retracted the story and admitted to the press that it was a hoax. (more...)

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