EPISODE 5: THE SUSPECTS ## PART ONE: THE CONTEMPORARY SUSPECTS ### CHAPTER 1: THE MACNAGHTEN MEMORANDUM In 1894, six years after the murders, Sir Melville Macnaghten wrote a confidential memorandum. Macnaghten was the Assistant Chief Constable of Scotland Yard, and his document named three men he believed were the most likely suspects in the Ripper case: 1. Montague John Druitt 2. Aaron Kosminski 3. Michael Ostrog The memorandum was never meant for public consumption. It was written to refute a newspaper's claim that a man named Thomas Cutbush was the Ripper—Macnaghten wanted to show there were better suspects. But over the years, the document leaked, and the three names became the foundation of Ripper speculation. Each man had compelling reasons to be suspected. Each also had compelling reasons to be dismissed. --- ### CHAPTER 2: MONTAGUE JOHN DRUITT Druitt was Macnaghten's preferred suspect. A thirty-one-year-old barrister and schoolteacher, Druitt came from a respectable family in Dorset. He'd been educated at Winchester and Oxford, played cricket for the MCC, and seemed destined for a successful career in law. But something went wrong. In November 1888—shortly after the Kelly murder—Druitt was dismissed from his teaching position at a school in Blackheath. The reason was never recorded, though speculation has ranged from homosexuality to financial irregularities to mental instability. On December 31,...