The Modern Ripper: Jack the Ripper’s Cursed Weapon "Blade Of The Ripper"

0:05 Speaker 1: It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway to nightmare.

0:25 Speaker 2: Nightmare.

0:35 Speaker 3: Come in.

0:38 Speaker 1: Welcome. I'm your host, Artemis Black. Some of the most fascinating crimes are the unsolved. As far back as the golden age of radio, programs have presented the evidence and then asked the question, if you have any information, please contact One of the most famous of these cases would be that of Jack the Ripper.

1:11 Speaker 3: I watched her change. I stalked her. She was nothing more than an animal to me.

1:21 Speaker 2: But you didn't do anything, did you, Caleb?

1:27 Speaker 3: But I did. I had the knife. holding it tightly watching her walk down the street yes jay i could have.

1:51 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama the blade of the ripper was written especially for doorway to nightmare by winslow swan and edited by crimson mckenzie Our stars include William Stafford, Patience Adams, and Crimson McKenzie. I'll be back shortly with Act One.

2:26 Speaker 1: Unless you are simply too young, most people will know the name. It sends shivers down the spine and conjures up images of brutal murders. Jack the Ripper began his reign of terror in London in 1888 in what was then known as the Whitechapel District. And while the case has never been officially solved, there has been much speculation as to the identity of this killer of young women. Jane!

3:08 Speaker 3: Jane! Come on, come on, open the door! Please, Jane, hurry up!

3:15 Speaker 1: Open the door!

3:18 Speaker 3: Caleb!

3:20 Speaker 2: What are you doing here?

3:21 Speaker 3: Oh, oh God, thank God. Please, Jane, I've got to talk to you.

3:26 Speaker 2: Now! Of course. You're completely soaked through. Come in and get by the fire.

3:35 Speaker 3: The fire does feel good. Thank you.

3:43 Speaker 2: Now here, drink this. It'll warm your insides.

3:47 Speaker 3: Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you had not been home.

3:52 Speaker 2: Well then, you tell me what I can do. What brings you out on a horrible night as this?

4:00 Speaker 3: Remember this?

4:03 Speaker 2: That looks like the scalpel that I gave you for your birthday last month.

4:07 Speaker 3: It is. Notice anything?

4:11 Speaker 2: Is that. Caleb!

4:14 Speaker 4: What have you done?

4:16 Speaker 3: Tempered steel looks so much different. With blood on it.

4:23 Speaker 2: Sit down.

4:24 Speaker 5: Tell me what happened.

4:27 Speaker 3: I think... I mean, I believe that.

4:30 Speaker 2: I may....

4:33 Speaker 3: Have actually killed someone.

4:36 Speaker 2: Don't you know?

4:37 Speaker 3: Well, that's just it. I don't really know if I did. But then there is the proof. Right there on your table. A scalpel with blood all over it.

4:51 Speaker 2: Doesn't exactly prove that you.

4:52 Speaker 3: I remember when you gave me that scalpel last month at my birthday party.

5:00 Speaker 1: Remember?

5:04 Speaker 2: Great party! And thanks for inviting me.

5:08 Speaker 5: Why wouldn't we invite you? After all, we are friends, right?

5:12 Speaker 4: Lucy.

5:14 Speaker 5: You know, I.

5:14 Speaker 2: Believed you and I were much more than just.

5:17 Speaker 1: friends.

5:18 Speaker 5: Now, come on, Jane.

5:20 Speaker 6: We had a great time together. I told you then I wasn't looking for a relationship. Have a drink and wish Caleb and myself nothing but good fortune.

5:30 Speaker 2: You're right. And I am happy for both of you!

5:33 Speaker 5: That's better.

5:35 Speaker 3: And what are my favorite two girls saying about the birthday boy?

5:40 Speaker 5: Only that you have a wonderful party.

5:42 Speaker 3: I have. And thank you, Lucy, for doing this for me.

5:48 Speaker 6: It just shows how much I love you. Now, if you two will excuse me, I have to settle up with the bar. Jane, don't you dare leave without saying goodbye.

5:58 Speaker 1: Why?

5:59 Speaker 2: I would never. Yes.

6:02 Speaker 3: I hope that all of this wasn't awkward for you.

6:07 Speaker 2: Whatever was between us is in the past. You two have a wonderful future together. Which reminds me.

6:15 Speaker 3: What's this?

6:17 Speaker 2: I didn't want to give this to you until we were alone.

6:23 Speaker 3: My God, Jane. It's wonderful.

6:28 Speaker 2: I know how much you admire old knives, and when I found this one... I immediately thought of you.

6:34 Speaker 1: Oh, this.

6:36 Speaker 3: Very old scalpel. Where ever did you find it?

6:40 Speaker 2: Ah, at an estate sale last week. The owner couldn't wait to get rid of it, so I got it for cheap. Said that there was some sort of weird curse on it.

6:50 Speaker 3: Oh, well, now you have to tell me.

6:54 Speaker 2: Oh, just something about it being the actual knife used by None other than Jack the Ripper? Can you believe such nonsense?

7:05 Speaker 3: You know, I've read so many reports and theories on who he was, but I've never heard anything about an actual knife.

7:13 Speaker 5: Oh, it gets better.

7:15 Speaker 2: Apparently, whoever owns the knife, every 13 years since 1888, is possessed by the spirit of the Ripper and... kills five women!

7:28 Speaker 5: Ha ha! Always on the anniversary.

7:31 Speaker 3: Well, that's a little morbid. And you think the person who sold you this believed it?

7:38 Speaker 2: Cut the price in half just to get rid of it.

7:42 Speaker 3: When exactly did the first murder take place?

7:46 Speaker 2: You know, I had to look that up. It was on August 31st, 1888, when the first victim was discovered. Mary Ann Nichols. Her throat was sloshed.

7:59 Speaker 3: And weren't they all prostitutes? Yes.

8:03 Speaker 2: And every 13 years, there have been a series of murders of young women.

8:08 Speaker 3: And they all lead back to this scalpel?

8:13 Speaker 2: So I was told. But I can't say exactly that they do. And you must admit, it is an interesting story.

8:23 Speaker 3: Yes. Tomorrow is April the 3rd.

8:29 Speaker 2: And my research told me the last set of murders was 13 years ago.

8:36 Speaker 7: Now, naturally, I didn't believe any of it.

8:50 Speaker 2: Naturally. But please, tell me what happened.

8:54 Speaker 3: I didn't tell Lucy about the story. Only that you had given me a special birthday present. I put the scalpel away, intending on framing it and displaying it in the shop.

9:06 Speaker 2: What happened?

9:08 Speaker 3: I had the first dream.

9:12 Speaker 4: No, no, no.

9:20 Speaker 1: No, no.

9:22 Speaker 3: Stay, stay back. Stay, stay back.

9:25 Speaker 1: Get away.

9:25 Speaker 3: No, no. No, don't make me.

9:29 Speaker 1: Please.

9:30 Speaker 3: Please, no. No.

9:32 Speaker 5: Caleb, wake up.

9:34 Speaker 3: What's going on?

9:35 Speaker 6: You were having a nightmare.

9:39 Speaker 2: No.

9:40 Speaker 3: No, Lucy, not a nightmare. Something worse.

9:46 Speaker 5: Do you want me to fix you something?

9:48 Speaker 1: No, no.

9:49 Speaker 3: No, I'm okay.

9:53 Speaker 5: What was the dream about?

9:56 Speaker 3: I was... walking in the park. The one a few blocks from here. I saw a woman.

10:06 Speaker 5: Another woman? Caleb, how could you?

10:11 Speaker 3: No, nothing like that. When I got closer to her, I noticed... I saw her face. It was covered in blood. There were long cuts across her face and throat. I looked down and saw my hand. My hand. Holding a.

10:35 Speaker 1: a.

10:35 Speaker 3: a scalpel.

10:38 Speaker 1: Scalpel.

10:52 Speaker 2: But Caleb, it was just a dream.

10:54 Speaker 3: Was it? I couldn't sleep, so I got up and noticed that my shoes, the ones I was wearing that day, were by the door, covered in mud.

11:10 Speaker 2: What does that prove?

11:11 Speaker 3: It had rained that evening, after I returned home from the shop. I had not been out since the rain began. So how did the mud get on my shoes?

11:38 Speaker 1: Although not considered one of the canonical five victims, many theorists have said that Jack's first murder was of Martha Tabram, found on the staircase in He had been stabbed 39 times.

11:58 Speaker 1: I'll be back shortly with Act 2. The author A. A. Milne once said, No doubt Jack the Ripper excused himself on the grounds that it was human nature.

12:30 Speaker 2: Here, let me refresh your drink.

12:33 Speaker 3: Thank you, Jane. You know, I don't know what I would have done had you not been home.

12:41 Speaker 2: And where else would I be? You forget, my practice has always been here at my home.

12:49 Speaker 3: And you are a fine psychologist. I remember how much Lucy admired you.

12:55 Speaker 2: And I thank you, Caleb. Now, continue with your story. What happened the next morning?

13:01 Speaker 3: I left before Lucy woke up. I didn't think that I could face anyone, especially her, that morning. It wasn't until I opened the shop that I found out what happened. Well, good morning, Officer Tate. How are things in the 21st Precinct?

13:30 Speaker 8: Not so well today, Caleb.

13:33 Speaker 1: No?

13:34 Speaker 3: What seems to be the matter? Haven't you seen the news this morning? I usually don't watch the news.

13:42 Speaker 8: Probably a good thing that you did miss it. We've had rather a horrible murder in Hyde Park this morning.

13:49 Speaker 2: What?

13:50 Speaker 3: What sort of murder?

13:53 Speaker 8: The kind that makes me question what sort of world we're living in now.

13:58 Speaker 3: Well, who was the victim? Her name was Ariel.

14:02 Speaker 8: Ariel Mumfries. She was, well, you know, one of those.

14:09 Speaker 3: One of those what?

14:12 Speaker 8: Let's just say that she made her living in the oldest profession, if you get my meanings.

14:19 Speaker 3: I didn't think we had anyone like that around here.

14:23 Speaker 8: Unfortunately, we do. And this one was, well, to be blunt, carved like a Thanksgiving turkey. The medical examiner counted 39 stab wounds.

14:36 Speaker 3: And no one? No one saw anything? Not a thing.

14:53 Speaker 5: Caleb, what's wrong? You haven't touched your dinner.

14:56 Speaker 3: I'm not sure, Lucy. I suppose hearing about that murder this morning has my stomach upset.

15:04 Speaker 5: It was horrible, but we mustn't let bad news spoil our dinner.

15:08 Speaker 3: Bad news? Lucy, a woman was murdered in Hyde Park last night.

15:16 Speaker 6: And there isn't a thing we can do about it.

15:18 Speaker 5: Now come on, finish your dinner.

15:24 Speaker 3: Well, she was right No, Jane, she was so callous about it I've.

15:32 Speaker 2: Never known her to be like that So what happened?

15:35 Speaker 3: Nothing At least for about a week I did notice that Lucy wasn't sleeping well For that matter, neither was I I kept going back to that story you told me About the scalpel.

15:51 Speaker 2: Did you come up with any conclusions?

15:53 Speaker 3: Nothing At least not until a week later. Good morning, Caleb. Officer Tate, you look like you've been up all night. I have.

16:13 Speaker 8: Been ringing doorbells and talking to everyone in the neighborhood and getting absolutely nowhere. It's frustrating.

16:21 Speaker 3: Still no suspects in the murder last week?

16:24 Speaker 8: Last week? You really don't watch the news? There has been another one.

16:30 Speaker 3: Another one?

16:31 Speaker 8: Miss Shirley Braham, age 27, and on the other side of Hyde Park. Her throat was slashed wide open, practically decapitating her.

16:42 Speaker 3: And again, no one heard or saw anything.

16:45 Speaker 8: Just like before. I don't want to say it, but it looks like another Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper.

17:00 Speaker 2: And what did you think?

17:01 Speaker 3: I wasn't sure. I remembered not being able to sleep the night before.

17:10 Speaker 2: Did you go out at any time?

17:13 Speaker 3: No, no, not that I remembered.

17:16 Speaker 2: And what about Lucy?

17:18 Speaker 3: Lucy? She was just as callous as before. But I didn't notice one thing. Which was? The scalpel. I had framed it and put it up in the shop. That evening, when I came home after hearing about the latest murder, I saw it sitting in the sink. And this time, there was blood on the blade.

18:01 Speaker 1: There has been much speculation as to the identity of the killer. It had been suggested that he or she was a doctor or butcher, based on the evidence of weapons and the mutilations that occurred, which showed a knowledge of human anatomy. Many theories have been put forward suggesting individuals who might be responsible. One theory links the murders with Queen Victoria's grandsons, Prince Albert Victor, also known as the Duke of Clarence, although the evidence for this is insubstantial. I'll return shortly with our final act.

18:54 Speaker 1: The surviving police files on the Whitechapel murders allow a detailed view of investigative procedures in the Victorian era. A large team of policemen conducted house-to-house inquiries throughout Whitechapel. Forensic material was collected and examined. Suspects were identified, traced, and either examined more closely or eliminated from the inquiry. More than 2,000 people were interviewed Upwards of 300 people were investigated and 80 people were detained. The Commissioner of the City Police, Sir James Fraser, offered a reward of 500 pounds for the arrest of the Ripper.

19:50 Speaker 2: I think I need another drink.

19:52 Speaker 3: And then, what happened last week? That was the clincher.

19:58 Speaker 2: September 30th? Yes, I do recall hearing about those... Well, I think that murder is not a strong enough word for what actually happened.

20:10 Speaker 3: Two women on the same night, less than a mile from each other.

20:17 Speaker 2: And just like the two that Jack the Ripper murdered.

20:20 Speaker 3: No, no, Jane. Not just murdered. Butchered. Practically torn apart.

20:27 Speaker 2: But why do you think what I told you about the scalpel and some maniac near your home have anything to do with the other?

20:34 Speaker 3: Because of where I found myself tonight.

20:39 Speaker 2: Where was that, Caleb?

20:42 Speaker 3: Standing at the edge of Hyde Park with a scalpel in my hand, covered in blood.

20:58 Speaker 5: And you think that you killed someone? A most remarkable.

21:02 Speaker 2: Job, my dear.

21:04 Speaker 3: Lucy, what are you doing here?

21:09 Speaker 2: My plan worked beautifully.

21:11 Speaker 3: What plan?

21:13 Speaker 5: Caleb, I'm surprised at you. You honestly believe that story of Jack the Ripper? Are you kidding me?

21:22 Speaker 3: But the murders, they are real.

21:27 Speaker 2: Simply a happy coincidence, you pathetic little man. I came up with this wonderful plan to drive you insane.

21:38 Speaker 5: You still love me, don't you, Jane?

21:41 Speaker 2: Of course I do.

21:42 Speaker 3: But why?

21:43 Speaker 2: For the oldest reason of all, Caleb. Money. Money.

21:49 Speaker 3: Money.

21:51 Speaker 5: Lots of money.

21:53 Speaker 2: And we want it.

21:55 Speaker 5: Well, I want it.

21:57 Speaker 6: Lucy, you were half right about the murders and the legend of the scalpel.

22:02 Speaker 4: Lucy!

22:03 Speaker 1: Lucy!

22:04 Speaker 3: Be careful with that. You may cut yourself.

22:07 Speaker 5: Oh, don't be stupid. I did my own research.

22:10 Speaker 6: You see, I found a date stamped into the steel of the blade.

22:16 Speaker 5: 1888.

22:17 Speaker 2: So, Caleb really murdered those other girls?

22:23 Speaker 5: Are you kidding? Caleb? He could barely kill a spider. No, not Caleb.

22:29 Speaker 1: Oh.

22:31 Speaker 3: No, no, no, not you.

22:34 Speaker 5: Both of you.

22:34 Speaker 6: Should know that history is written by men. Who's to say that Jack wasn't really Jacqueline? And today is November 9th, the anniversary of the murder of Mary Jane Kelly.

23:15 Speaker 1: Mary Jane Kelly was discovered lying on the bed in the single room where she lived at 13 Miller's Court off Dorset Street, Friday, November 9th, 1888. The monstrosity of her death is very hard to articulate. Her face had been, quote, hacked beyond all recognition, end quote, with her throat severed down to the spine and the abdomen almost emptied of its organs. Her uterus, kidneys, and one breast had been placed beneath her head and other organs from her body placed beside her foot, about the bed, and sections of her abdomen and thighs upon a bedside table.

24:02 Speaker 1: The heart, was missing from the crime scene. And as the old saying goes, the heart wants what the heart wants. I'll return with a final word. Jack the Ripper features in hundreds of works of fiction, and works which straddle the boundaries between fact and fiction, including The Ripper Letters and A Hoax Diary. The Ripper appears in novels, short stories, poems, comic books, games, songs, plays, operas, television programs, and movies. More than 100 non-fiction works deal exclusively with the Jack the Ripper murders, making this case one of the most written about in the true crime genre.

25:14 Speaker 1: Our cast included Patience Adams, Crimson McKenzie, William Stafford, and Winslow Swan. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan.

25:30 Speaker 1: And now, a preview of our next tale.

25:36 Speaker 8: But don't you hear her?

25:38 Speaker 1: She must be somewhere nearby.

25:40 Speaker 4: Henry, there is no child anywhere around. Please come inside.

25:48 Speaker 3: Little girl!

25:49 Speaker 8: Show yourself!

25:50 Speaker 1: It's alright! We don't want to hurt you!

25:55 Speaker 3: Are you telling me, Ruth, that you don't hear her?

25:58 Speaker 4: No, Henry, I don't. Because there is no child.

26:09 Speaker 1: This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully.

26:29 Speaker 3: Epilogue.

26:31 Speaker 2: The butler did it.