Jack the Ripper: Australia's Killer (ATOM Study Guide)

In the autumn of 1888, a killer stalked the streets of London. His victims: a series of prostitutes in the poverty-stricken area of Whitechapel. The murders were to become the most famous unsolved crimes in history.

This horrific killing spree exposed the darkest recesses of Victorian London, leaving a city gripped in terror.

Eleven murders were investigated — five were believed to be the work of the same killer. Over 100 suspects have been put forward – from a prince, to a North American, from a royal doctor to a Polish boot maker. None have ever been proved conclusively. But why was this monster never caught?

More than 120 years later, modern science may just hold the key to cracking the case. On the other side of the world, Australian scientists have made a major breakthrough.

They've extracted DNA from a skull believed to be that of Australia's first known serial killer and a suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders: Frederick Bailey Deeming.

In Jack the Ripper: Australia's Killer (Franco di Chiera, 2011, 43 minutes), world-renowned forensic detective Robin Napper puts Deeming under the microscope — a suspect who has never been seriously investigated before. To crack this over a century old cold case, he must examine the scenes of the crimes, establish a solid motive, identify the method of killing, build a criminal profile and nail forensic evidence. His mission, to find out: Could an Australian killer be Jack the Ripper?

By exploring this case students are taken through the process of critically evaluating historical evidence, and coming to their own informed conclusion.

Jack the Ripper: Australia's Killer is a suitable resource for use with middle-upper secondary students in:

• History — critically analysing historical evidence
• Legal Studies — what is guilt beyond reasonable doubt?
• Media Studies — the documentary genre
• Psychology — profiling a serial killer
• English — analysing character