However, one retired detective who had no qualms about naming the pressman responsible was ex-Detective Chief Inspector John George Littlechild, who, on the 23rd of September 1913, replied to a letter from George Sims seeking information about the murderer’s identity.
WAS TOM BULLEN THE CREATOR OF JACK THE RIPPER?
“With regard to the term “Jack the Ripper”, Littlechild wrote, “it was generally believed at the Yard that Tom Bullen of the Central News was the originator but it is probable Moore, who was his chief, was the inventor…Poor Bullen occasionally took too much to drink…One night when Bullen had taken a “few too many” he got early information of the death of Prince Bismarck and instead of going to the office to report it sent a laconic telegram “Bloody Bismarck is dead” On this I believe Mr Charles Moore fired him out.”
The man whom Littlechild refers to as “Tom Bullen” was, in fact, Thomas J. Bulling, and he was, indeed, employed at the Central News in 1888 at the time of the Whitechapel murders.
In fact it was he who had forwarded the letter to Scotland Yard on the 29th of September.
A THIRD MISSIVE FROM THE KILLER
Interestingly, it was also he who notified Chief Constable Williamson of a third missive from “Jack the Ripper” that, he said, had been received at the agency on the evening of Friday the 5th of October.
Bulling didn’t actually forward the letter this time but sent a transcription of it along with the envelope in which it had been enclosed.
His accompanying note read:-
“Dear Mr. Williamson
At 5 minutes to 9 o’clock tonight we received the following letter the envelope of which I enclose by which you will see it is in the same handwriting as the previous communications.”
He then painstakingly transcribed the entire letter in which reference was made to the discovery on the 2nd of October of the headless and limbless torso of a woman in the foundations of the New Scotland Yard, that was then being built between the Embankment and Whitehall, which the press had dubbed “the Whitehall mystery.”
“Dear Friend
In the name of God hear me I swear I did not kill the female whose body was found at Whitehall. If she was an honest woman I will hunt down and destroy her murderer. If she was a whore God will bless the hand that slew her, for the women of of Moab and Midian shall die and their blood mingle with the dust. I never harm any others or the Divine power that protects and helps me in my grand work would quit for ever. Do as I do and the light of glory shall shine upon you. I must get to work tomorrow treble event this time yes yes three must be ripped . will send you a bit of face by post I promise this dear old Boss. The police now reckon my work a practical joke well well Jacky’s a very practical joker ha ha Keep this back till three are wiped out and you can show the cold meat
Yours truly
Jack the Ripper
Yours truly
T. J. Bulling
WAS THERE A THIRD LETTER?
The fact that Bulling chose to send the police the envelope but not the actual letter is, to say the least, intriguing; and the fact that he took the trouble to copy the letter in full, rather than just forward the original is puzzling.
Unless, of course, there was no third letter as Bulling had composed it himself.
THIS LETTER NOT MADE PUBLIC
What is also intriguing is that the police appear to have asked the Central News not to make this third letter public, and, in consequence, it did not receive the same amount of publicity that the original “Dear Boss” letter and the “Saucy Jacky” postcard did.
Perhaps it was this letter that led the police to suspect Bulling of being the author of the correspondence?
There have also been suggestions that there were similarities between Bulling’s handwriting and the handwriting of the Dear Boss letter.
DID JOHN MOORE WRITE IT?
The other suspected author, according to Littechild, was John Moore – although Littlechild refers to him as Charles Moore – who, at the time, was the manager of the Central News.
Either way, the Central News played an integral part in the name Jack the Ripper becoming widely used for the unknown perpetrator of the Whitechapel murders, and there is no doubt that the agency profited enormously from the stories it was selling to the newspapers.
HOAX LETTERS SENT IN
And it didn’t take long for the name to permeate the public consciousness as hundreds of hoaxers reached for their pens and began composing their own letters from the perpetrator, many of which were sent to the police, thus almost overwhelming their investigation with a veritable tidal wave of bogus correspondence, whilst, at the same time, enabling the newspapers to wring every ounce of sensationalism from the correspondence.
As Truth put it on Thursday the 11th of October 1888:-
“It is an ill wind,” &c., and the Whitechapel horrors have proved a perfect godsend to the daily papers, occurring, as they have done, during the dead season. But what a fearful amount of trash has been written about them! No sooner was a letter signed “Jack the Ripper” published, than hundreds of ghastly jokers at once addressed similar letters to the authorities, whilst “constant readers” wrote to their favourite organs to prove that the writer of the silly letter must have been the murderer…On the doctrine of probabilities, it is long odds against the murderer having written the “Jack the Ripper” letters. He may have, and so may thousands of others.”