What you’re about to hear really started for me a few years ago. I was just about to leave Los Angeles for our big family move out to the midwest. I was in the Los Angeles Public Library looking through some microfilm on Amelia Earhart when I stumbled back a little too far and found the contents of an 1862 Valentines’ note to Lucy Lambert Hale; a prominent Washington D.C. socialite. That’s right. Everything you’re about to hear, started with a Valentine. 

The contents of the note read like something out of a period romance film but with just a pinch of darkness. The words jumped off the page. Here’s what it said. 

The, at the time anonymous letter captivated Miss Hale, and that captivation went from 0 - 60 when she learned that the note had been written by none other than John Wilkes Booth; the man that three years later would commit the most famous assassination in all of history. 

As I sat there pondering what I’d just read one of the librarians came over to me and said “you found the Hale note”. I remember telling her how I’d always been fascinated by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and by John Wilkes Booth in particular. And then she hit me with a question that I’ve been wondering about to this very day. “Did you know the FBI still holds an active investigation into the fate of John Wilkes Booth?” And that question has taken us to Oklahoma.

Since that day in Los Angeles in 2017 I’ve been piecing together a story that I’ve gone over and over and over in my head. A story that, as history has recorded it, contains love, betrayal, tyranny, rage, murder, secret burial plots, modern day trials, the birth of the FBI, mummy's, and a history altering conspiracy that the world isn’t ready to believe.

And that’s before we got to it.

Season 2 rolls on from Oklahoma, this is part one of Vanished: John Wilkes Booth.

LINKS

"Satisfied" performed by Amber Farndon

"Into the Abyss: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln" by Kate Gillett

"Stalking John Wilkes Booth" @ American Battlefield Trust

"Lucy Lambert Gets a Valentine From John Wilkes Booth" @ New England Historical Society  

THE UNION  

This is the end. And frankly I’m relieved to be through it. To be honest, when we first decided we’d venture outside the Amelia Earhart case, I had doubts. I still do if I’m being completely honest. But starting with Jack the Ripper was a good experiment for me. It tested my emotional ability to get through a case like this and come out the other side.

You’ve had a couple of weeks to digest the trial, the evidence and the testimony and now the time is almost at hand for you to render your decision. Who do you think was Jack the Ripper? And does it even matter? Are the legacies of the victims what we should really be discussing here?

Jack the Ripper is an enigma. A faceless man. A man without an identity. Or maybe a man with several. I know what I believe. Now, as always it's up to you. But before we leave you to decide we have one more person that we feel you need to hear from. And what she has to say might change the way you look at Montague John Druitt and the man behind this unspeakable evil forever. Welcome back to Vanished and our final episode on Jack the Ripper. 

"Satisfied" performed by Amber Farndon

On New Years’ Eve 1888, a body was found floating in the Thames at Chiswick. A channel known historically by locals as “the quiet river”. Upon inquisition into the finding, it was said that the body had been in the river for a month. Maybe more. Five days after the body was discovered, the Acton, Chiswick, and Turnham Green Gazette reported on the inquest into the person found in the river and featured the testimony of the subject’s brother. It read in part: 

The jury at the inquest into his death duly returned a verdict of suicide by drowning "whilst of unsound mind."

We’ve come a long way, and now I believe we’ve reached the end. 

Welcome back to Vanished. Tonight we put who I believe to be the man responsible for the Autumn of Terror on trial. Our investigation ends here with witnesses, evidence and experts for the Crown VS. Montague John Druitt. 

"Satisfied" performed by Amber Farndon

ripper +‎ - ology

Investigating a historical mystery is hard. All of the witnesses are deceased, all of the physical evidence is gone. The documents and files have been lost. Even the scene of the crimes has changed; Whitechapel isn’t the same as it was in 1888.

This seems like such an impossible task.

FBI profiler John Douglas attempted to provide advice to investigators; at the conclusion of his report analyzing the Whitechapel murders. He said “Jack the Ripper would be best suited to be interviewed in the early morning hours; he would feel more relaxed and secure to confess to the homicides. He would feel more relaxed to express himself by writing about his motivation to kill the women. He would not be visibly shaken or upset if accused of the homicides. However he would be psychologically and physiologically stressed if confronted with the fact that he became personally soiled by the victim's blood."

But this report was written in 1988; over a hundred years after the murders were committed. We can’t interview suspects; not directly at least. We are chasing a ghost. The witnesses in this case must speak to us through their letters, and their journal entries. Through media reports and other documents that they left behind. This investigation is ongoing. So far we’ve covered five suspects, but we still have a long way to go.

LINKS

"Satisfied" performed by Amber Farndon

"Walter Sickert Case Closed" @ jacktheripper.org

"George Chapman: Poisoner & Wife Murderer" @ jacktheripper.org

"Mary Kelly's Lover" @ jacktheripper.org

"The Midnight Assassin" by Skip Hollandsworth 

ripper +‎ - ology

In part one we laid the foundation for this case. That’s important. After finishing that, it's now time to dive into our investigation. And that starts with asking a fundamental question.

Just who was Jack the Ripper?

In order to find that out we have to look at the multitude of suspects in this case. We have to examine each one and ask the questions that need to be asked. We have to talk this all out with people that have a broader expertise than we do. There are dozens of suspects in this case. And that doesn’t make our job any easier. But, it does make for a very interesting process.

Let’s go to work. This is Vanished: Jack the Ripper. 

"Satisfied" performed by Amber Farndon

James Maybrick @ Wikipedia 

Francis Tumblety @ Wikipedia 

William Bury @ Wikipedia

HH Holmes @ Wikipedia 

James Kelly @ Wikipedia

"A Theory on Francis Tumblety" @ Casebook 

Amongst so much death, darkness and despair in Whitechapel, London the murders of five women during the autumn of 1888 sent shockwaves across the world that are being felt to this very day. The perpetrator, or perpetrators, who took the lives of these five was never brought to justice.

He simply vanished into the darkness.

You are about to embark on a journey with us to go find him. So grab your gas lamp and come along with us, as we seek justice for Polly, for Annie, for Elizabeth, for Catherine and for Mary Jane. But keep the light close, and guard your heart.

As we enter the abyss together, perhaps it's appropriate to quote Dante's words scrawled on the gates of hell.

This is Vanished: Jack the Ripper

LINKS

"Satisfied" performed by Amber Farndon

SHOW NOTES & FURTHER READING 

"The People of the Abyss" Public Domain Audiobook by Jack London 

EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING  

In autumn of 1888, the world was rocked by the savage murders of five women in Whitechapel London. The investigation into those murders spawned a worldwide obsession that continues to this very day. 

Join returning cohosts, criminal defense attorney Jennifer Taylor and investigative podcaster Chris Williamson as they travel back to Whitechapel to try and answer the question that has alluded history for over 120 years. Just who was Jack the Ripper? 

Vanished, season 2. The first of four all new investigations begins on Halloween. Subscribe now on your favorite podcast player.

Vanished is a ChrisEvan Films Production

Vanished is part of the "Straight Up Strange" Podcast Network

Album Art Illustration 50399190 © Alancotton | Dreamstime.com

LINKS

Jack the Ripper - The Case Reopened | BBC

Jack the Ripper: DNA Evidence Strong But Not Ironclad

Has "Jack the Ripper" Been Identified?

This story begins with the most famous assassination in history. After he fired the bullet that murdered Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth went on the run. A run that most say ended 12 nights later when he was cornered in a tobacco barn in Virginia.

But there are many that believe that night in Virginia wasn’t the ending at all. In fact, it was only the beginning.

”Vanished John Wilkes Booth" features attorney Jennifer Taylor & podcaster Chris Williamson. In season 2, audiences will follow along as they investigate the 12 day manhunt for Booth, the events that took place on the night of April 26th 1865 and determine whether Booth died that night as a result of wounds suffered by Union Soldiers or whether or not Booth was one step ahead of the nationwide hunt and was able to devise a plan that would allow him to vanish and live on for another 40 years.

The epilogue of season one. A reflective interview of Chris Williamson conducted by Jennifer Taylor.

Our journey is over. We created something that I didn’t know that we could. And we did it together. And now as I look back on everything that we accomplished, I can finally move forward into an exciting future. One of hope. One of faith. And one where the skies are the limit. I think Amelia would appreciate that. 

So, goodbye Amelia & Fred. Wherever you are...