Did Jack the Ripper die in Dundee?

Was Jack the Ripper executed in Dundee?

The trial of William Bury in March 1889 was historically significant for two reasons.

Firstly, he was the last man to be hanged in Dundee.

Secondly, he may have been the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper.

Bury went on trial for the murder of his wife Ellen, who he claimed had hung herself after a night of heavy drinking.

Investigators went to the couple’s Union Street home and discovered Ellen’s mutilated remains crammed inside a wooden box.

Chalk graffiti on the back door of the flat stated: “Jack Ripper is at the back of this door” and on the stairwell: “Jack Ripper is in this seller”.

It is thought to have been written by a young boy who was never identified.

The High Court trial lasted 13 hours, with a break for supper.

It emerged Bury had been no stranger to the court and had been spotted listening intently to trials and other proceedings in the weeks leading up to his wife’s death.

By 10.40pm the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty. The mandatory sentence was death by hanging.

The day after his execution on April 24, The Courier printed an editorial on capital punishment.

“There are still to be found persons who profess that when one murder has taken place, a second should follow,” it read.

“Yesterday’s proceedings amounted to nothing less than cold-blooded murder.”

Claims Bury was Jack the Ripper began appearing in the press around the time of his arrest.

He had lived in Bow, near Whitechapel, at the time of the notorious killing spree, and the murder of his wife had similarities to the murders of the Ripper’s victims.

William Bury was acquitted at a recreation of his trial by law students from Dundee and Aberdeen universities.

The 2018 mock hearing used modern forensic science techniques, rather than solely medical evidence as was the case in 1889.