Atlanta Ripper
{{short description|Unidentified serial killer}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2020}}
{{Infobox murderer
| name = Atlanta Ripper
| victims = 15–21
| date = 1909 and 1914
| country = United States
}}
The Atlanta Ripper was an unidentified serial killer{{Cite web|last=Johnston|first=Lori|date=2020-09-11|title=The Unsolved Atlanta Ripper Case|url=https://medium.com/the-true-crime-edition/the-unsolved-atlanta-ripper-case-2e9e73c67ef1|access-date=2020-11-18|website=Medium|language=en}} who is suspected of killing at least fifteen Atlanta women between 1909 and 1914.{{Cite web|last=Merryweather|first=Cheish|date=2020-10-02|title=8 Deadliest Serial Killers (By Kill Count) Who Were Never Caught|url=https://crimeviral.com/2020/10/8-deadliest-serial-killers-by-kill-count-who-were-never-caught/|access-date=2020-11-18|website=Crime Viral|language=en-US}}
Background
On May 28, 1911, the body of Belle Walker, a cook, was found 25 yards from her home on Garibaldi Street in Atlanta by her sister after she failed to return home from work the previous night. Her throat had been cut by an unknown person, and the crime was reported in the Atlanta Constitution under the headline "Negro Woman Killed; No Clue to Slayer."{{cite web | last = Fennessy | first = Steve | title = Atlanta's Jack the Ripper | work = CL Atlanta: Creative Loafing | date = 26 October 2005 | url = https://creativeloafing.com/content-185128-cover-story-atlanta-s-jack-the-ripper | access-date = 3 April 2012}} Four weeks later, the body of another victim, Addie Watts, was also discovered with her throat slashed.{{harvnb|Brown|2022|p=27}}
As news of the murders continued to spread, the black population of Atlanta were filled with terror.{{harvnb|Newton|2004|p=137}} On July 3, after the eighth consecutive killing, The Baltimore Sun reported that news of the murders caused few black women to be on the streets at night and black service workers were refusing to go to work after dark.{{Cite news|date=1911-07-04|title=The Atlanta Ripper 8 Victims|pages=1|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20280005/the-atlanta-ripper-8-victims/|access-date=2021-05-05}}
News reports also noted the similarities of the victims in the case. By the end of 1911, fifteen women, all black or dark-skinned, all in their early 20s, had been murdered in the same manner. The victims were all described as "good looking" and "neatly dressed", with many of them having received an education. The murders were all described as having been committed with a knife or other sharp object, with their gruesomeness being of particular note. The murderer would rip, tear and mutilate the bodies of the victims after death. One victim, 40-year-old Lena Sharpe, was described as having had her head almost severed.
Search for suspects
The search for the serial killer, named "the Atlanta Ripper" by the press, found six different suspects but no convictions were ever made, nor was the crime ever solved.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1911/07/03/archives/eight-victims-now-of-atlanta-ripper-mulatto-women-slain-and.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=01B1BCAF4D1FC6C475D837D8324F5CD3&gwt=pay|title=Eight Victims Now of Atlanta Ripper; Mulatto Women Slain and Mutilated on Eight Consecutive Saturday Nights.|date=July 2, 1911|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 12, 2018}} The "Ripper" may have had as many as 21 victims, but there is no conclusive proof that the murders were carried out by one person.{{harvnb|Wells|2011|p=72}}
It was reported that the daughter of one of the victims, who was also attacked by an assailant and recovered, caught sight of the attacker. She described him as a large, black man who was powerfully built and neatly dressed.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Cited works and further reading
- {{cite book|last=Blundell|first=Nigel|title=Encyclopedia of Serial Killers|year=1998|orig-year=1997|publisher=PRC Publishing|isbn=978-1-856-48328-5}}
- {{cite book|last=Brown|first=Alan|title=Georgia Legends & Lore|year=2022|publisher=History Press|isbn= 978-1-467-15178-8}}
- {{cite book|last=Newton|first=Michael|title=The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes|year=2004|publisher=Facts on File|isbn=978-0-816-07818-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Underwood|first=Corinna|title=Murder and Mystery in Atlanta|year=2009|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-614-23341-1}}
- {{cite book|last=Wells|first=Jeffrey|title=The Atlanta Ripper: The Unsolved Story of the Gate City's Most Infamous Murders|year=2011|publisher=The History Pressg|isbn=978-1-609-49381-3}}
External links
- Contemporary [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-the-atlanta-ripper19th/20280667 news article] pertaining to the Atlanta Ripper
- 2023 Atlanta News First [https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/01/17/atlvault-atlanta-ripper-terrorizes-city-100-years-ago/ documentary] upon the Atlanta Ripper
{{Atlanta history}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:20th-century American murderers
Category:Serial killers from Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Unidentified American serial killers