Season 2, Episode 3: We solved the Jack the Ripper case! [1888 CE]

Listen on Spotify

Tan travels back to the slums of Victorian Whitechapel in a bid to catch Jack the Ripper and solve one of the most notorious unsolved crimes ever.

Donning his detective gear and using the moniker Inspector Nathaniel, Tan marches into Scotland Yard in the summer of 1888 and demands to speak to Chief Insp Fred Abberline. Using his knowledge of future events, such as the eruption of Mt Bandai in Japan, the emergence of touch typing, and a fire at the Main Building in Wells College, New York, Tan attempts to prove he is a time traveller and that he can help catch the Ripper even before he strikes.

Can GPT solve actual true crimes from real life? Who was Jack the Ripper? Will the ethics of future crime detection be questioned by our AI GameMaster? Find out the answer to all of these in this episode.

Inspired by a recent Jack the Ripper tour in Whitechapel and Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s brilliant graphic novel From Hell.

Who was Jack the Ripper?

Here are ten documented theories about the identity of Jack the Ripper, ranked from most to least likely (according to AI programme Claude):

1. Montague Druitt - Mentally unstable barrister, considered most probable by police at the time

2. Aaron Kosminski - Polish Jewish immigrant, identified by contemporary investigators as a strong suspect

3. Walter Sickert - Painter with known violent tendencies and potential psychological obsessions

4. Prince Albert Victor - Royal family member with rumored mental health complications

5. Francis Tumblety - American medical quack with misogynistic views and suspicious behavior

6. James Maybrick - Liverpool cotton merchant with alleged confession in personal diary

7. Michael Ostrog - Russian doctor with criminal and psychiatric history

8. Carl Feigenbaum - German merchant sailor with potential psychological disorders

9. Joseph Barnett - Former lover of victim Mary Kelly with potential motive

10. H.H. Holmes - American serial killer who was allegedly in London during murders

Remember, while these are documented theories, the true identity remains one of history's most famous unsolved mysteries.

Inspector Nathaniel on the case

Listen to the Episode: