In late September 1888, the Central News Agency in London received a gruesome letter written in red ink, signed with the moniker 'Jack the Ripper.' Addressed to 'The Boss,' the letter promised further horrifying mutilations and mocked the Metropolitan Police force's ineptitude. At the time, the brutal murders in Whitechapel were covered as isolated atrocities by an unknown murderer.
Recognizing the sensationalist potential, news editors published facsimile copies of the letter alongside terrifying headlines. The result was instantaneous hysteria, driving newspaper circulation figures to record highs across Britain and North America. However, police investigators, including Chief Inspector Robert Anderson, strongly suspected from the outset that the letter was a forgery crafted by a journalist.
Decades later, confessions and internal memoranda surfaced suggesting that Fred Best and Tom Bowen, reporters for the Star newspaper, forged the infamous letter to dramatically boost readership. While the unknown serial killer responsible for the canonical five murders was never captured, the terrifying villain archetype and enduring legend of 'Jack the Ripper' were born out of Victorian media sensationalism.