General Information

Following the murders of Jack the Ripper there were many hoax letters, claiming to come from the serial killer. Many researchers argue however, that the ‘From Hell” letter is one of a handful of possibly authentic writings, and the reason for this is that it was delivered with a small box containing half of a human kidney.

Additional Information

The text of the letter is as follows:
From hell
Mr Lusk
Sor
I send you half the
Kidne I took from one women
prasarved it for you tother piece
I fried and ate it was very nise. I
may send you the bloody knif that
took it out if you only wate a whil
longer.

signed
Catch me when
you Can
Mishter Lusk.

The author of the letter did not sign it with the pseudonym ‘Jack the Ripper’, distinguishing it from the earlier “Dear Boss” letter, the “Saucy Jacky” postcard, and their imitations. The ‘From Hell’ letter is also written at a much lower literacy level than the other two, though scholars debate whether this is deliberate.
The original letter, as well as the kidney that accompanied it, have been lost along with other items that were originally contained within the Ripper police files.