In a startling revelation that challenges a century of crime lore, historian Lucy Worsley's new BBC2 series, Victorian Murder Club, exposes a dark secret of London's past. The programme presents compelling evidence that Jack the Ripper was not the only serial killer stalking the East End in the late 1880s.
The Overlooked Monster of the Thames
While the Ripper's five (or more) gruesome murders in Whitechapel have spawned thousands of books and millions of words of analysis, another predator has been almost entirely forgotten. Worsley's three-part true-crime documentary shines a light on the 'Thames Torso Murderer', whose crimes are no less horrifying.
Nearly 140 years later, the details remain shocking. This killer dismembered his victims, discarding their body parts in the River Thames or leaving them in alleyways. The nature of the crimes led to theories that the murderer could have been a sailor, bargeman, or docker with easy access to the waterway.
One particularly intriguing hypothesis explored in the series suggests the killer may have been a 'cats-meat man', a trader in horseflesh for pet food. Pushing a cart laden with raw meat through the city, such a person could have transported human remains through crowded spots like Petticoat Lane market without attracting a second glance.
The Murder Club's Painstaking Investigation
For her most detailed inquiry yet, Worsley enlisted three experts to form her 'murder club': historians Kate Lister and Rose Wallis, alongside novelist and TV presenter Nadifa Mohamed. Their primary challenge was to definitively separate the torso murders from the work of Jack the Ripper.
The documentary doesn't shy away from the complexities. One expert, Dr Drew Gray, points to a tantalising link: a prime suspect for the torso murders lived in a house where the Ripper's second victim, Annie Chapman, was discovered. This coincidence seemed too significant to ignore.
However, pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy provides a crucial counter-argument. She insists the killers were two different men with distinct psychological profiles. The Ripper mutilated his victims but did not dismember them or wrap the remains in sacking, as the Torso Murderer did.
A Ripping Yarn with a Chilling Core
While the club's format may recall Richard Osman's cosy crime novels, the subject matter is anything but. Worsley's presentation occasionally adopts a lighthearted tone, such as when inspecting a crime scene and murmuring 'Ooh... creepy!', which some may feel jars with the grim reality.
Nevertheless, the series successfully weaves together the clues, red herrings, and fascinating insights into London's brutal Victorian underbelly. It compellingly argues that history, in its fixation on the infamous Ripper, has done a grave injustice to the other victims of the 1880s. Their killer, and their stories, have been waiting in the shadows for Lucy Worsley's club to bring them into the light.
