Prisoner 1167 : The Madman Who Was Jack the Ripper

by James C.H. Tully

Presents, for the first time, evidence that suggests British authorities had Jack the Ripper in custody but released him and deliberately ignored information that might have led to his arrest and conviction for a string of murders of prostitutes.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Crime

386 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Scott L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The problem with attempting to solve a mystery 130 years after it occurred is that most of the evidence, physical and otherwise, has either disappeared or is degraded. The author of this book attempts to go through the paper trail of a known escapee from a British insane asylum to prove that person to be the famous "Jack the Ripper". While the author makes a good case with the paper trail that he uses, I still find there to be too much speculation and too many possibilities without fact. Therefore, this book joins the many others in the corpus of "Jack the Ripper" title - entertaining reading and speculative, but not definitive. The book is a good entertaining read, but not much else.

[Grunnada Gaigneur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been into this genre of writing. James Tully keeps you fascinated with each page turn. I am not convinced that this particular person was Jack the Ripper, but the author lays it out and presents it so well, you may be swayed to think that his postulations are possible.
Very well written and compelling. A must read if you like this sort of book.

[Zombaby Cera · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been intrigued by the Jack the Ripper mystery since I first read about it in junior high. This book really offers more substantial evidence than any of the other accusations that I've read about concerning the Whitechapel murders. Awesome read!

[J. Bryce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes a convincing case that This Man may have been "Jack the Ripper."

All fans of true-crime should enjoy this, but especially "Ripperologists."

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the books I picked up 'to read during lunch' while I was a librarian. I would generally choose a random new release, take it in the back room with me for lunch, and put it back after half an hour. This is one of the rare "random" books that I actually took home and finished. It was fascinating, and pretty convincing. I don't know if I totally believe his conclusions, but it made for a very interesting read.

Not for the overly squeamish, though not unneccesarily gruesome either.

[Kate Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a good number of "Ripper-ologist" books and this is by far at the top of my list. It has many of the same items that the other books have, the photos, the few facts surrounding the killings and so forth, however the theory that Jack the Ripper was this one man - Prisoner 1167 (I don't want to say too much if you're going to read it), well, it's still just a theory but an fascinating read.
The only drawback - it took me a good 25 to 30% of the book to really get into it, but it was worth the read and I highly recommend it.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very well-researched view of each of the 'Ripper' murders detailing all of the subsequent proceedings as well as the associated locales. The author then goes on to make a case for the fit of James Kelly, an escapee from a nearby lunatic asylum, with the timing as well as specifics of the killings. The presentation is very straightforward and matter-of-fact in terms of style, almost as if being reported for a newspaper or other type of publication.

[Kaydon_the_dino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself pleasantly surprised by the first 4/5 of this book. I both love and hate the mystery of Jack the Ripper because it can provide an interesting look at the late Victorian period but most authors choose instead to focus on the titillation aspect. But Tully manages to provide a nuanced and sympathetic portrait of both his candidate for the ripper and his victims. His candidate, James Kelly, also makes a bit more sense than others too.

But the last 1/5 is where we go a bit of the rails. Actually a lot. Tully casually throws out there that Kelly’s wife was obviously a sex worker because... there’s two different stories about where she had gone one night. It couldn’t be due to the fact that her family had just witnessed something horrible and traumatic and that Kelly is an unreliable narrator, no her family was covering for their daughter doing sex work. And then, of course, the murder of Mary Kelly was extra brutal because she was his wife’s sister... who moved away from her family to do sex work and took on her sister’s killer’s surname... because that’s just what you do and it’s makes much more sense than the fact that Kelly is a very common surname and finding two unrelated people in a densely populated area with the same super common surname wouldn’t be unheard of. Nope, not at all.

[shapeofaflyingdeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had to explain its own necessity. And it did/does. It goes on to satisfy an alarming number of Ripper criteria the most staggering of which was:
1. Why did the police expressly issued an APB for this subject’s actual name after the murder of
Mary Kelly in December 1888?
There was a lot of carving x-marks or hashtags into the faces of the victims.
And twice in this suspect’s vagabond life he walked the 200 mile one way walk from Liverpool to London.
He also had money and lawyers. Not much but some.

[greatgrayprairie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most compelling bit of evidence: Cops issued an APB under his expressed name after the November 9th pitieous murder of Mary Jane Kelly. Seems he actually had a sister in law named Mary Jane Kelly. The book alleges that he “took out” all the other females in search of her. He had already killed her sister his wife.

[Jeffrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you have issues sleeping, read this book. Actually, be careful, because if the book hits you in the face, you might break your nose.