Van Gogh Murdered for His Mother
Four London murder victims were discovered just before and on Vincent van Gogh’s mother’s birthday of September 10:
His first murder as himself on Sept. 5, 1873.
His third murder as Jack the Ripper on Sept. 8, 1888.
Another murder the same night, but as himself, also on Sept. 8, 1888.
His final murder as both himself and as Jack the Ripper, depositing a woman’s headless and legless body in Whitechapel on Sept. 10, 1889—his mother’s 70th birthday!
Van Gogh Lived & Murdered in London
In May of 1873, fifteen years before the Jack the Ripper murders, Vincent was transferred to London at the age of 20. It was believed he first lived in a boardinghouse in the Battersea area. He then moved in August to the nearby Brixton area, and a few weeks later on September 5, the body parts of an unidentified woman were found floating in the River Thames. It was believed she was murdered in the Battersea area. Vincent had moved and then had murdered. Vincent had committed his first murder.
Nine months later, during the same time Vincent was rejected by his landlady’s 19 year old daughter, another woman was murdered, and her lower body was all that was found floating in the Thames. Vincent had committed his second murder. He would return to London years later again and again to add to his murder total.
A Gap in the Ripper Letters Matches Van Gogh’s Ear Cutting
The first letter believed to be from Jack the Ripper arrived in London on September 24, 1888, and the next, on Sept. 27, provided the name of Jack the Ripper. In October, 84 Ripper letters were then received in London, and in November, 62 were received. Then in December, only 9 were received—the last letter for 1888 being received on Dec. 23.
Over this time, Ripper letters arrived nearly every day, with the longest gap being 5 days. The next letter received after the Dec. 23 letter was not until 16 days later on Jan. 8, 1889. Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear on the night of Dec. 23 and was admitted to the hospital early the next morning. He remained in the hospital until his release on Jan. 7, just one day before the next Ripper letter arrived in London on the 8th.
The Ripper letters stopped on Dec. 23 because Vincent had cut off his ear and was then in the hospital and incapable of sending Ripper letters. The Ripper letters then started up again on January 8, the day after Vincent was released from the hospital. Vincent van Gogh was Jack the Ripper.
Vincent van Gogh Created the Jack the Ripper Name
In a letter to his sister, Wilhelmina, in June 1888, two months before the first Jack the Ripper murder, Vincent wrote about how he looked in a recent self-portrait, noting that his yellow straw hat was “like a hannekenmaaier’s.”[i] The Dutch word hannekenmaaier was where Vincent revealed the beginnings of his new name without his sister knowing it. A footnote to this letter defined the word as: “‘Little Jack the Mower (or Reaper),’ seasonal laborer who in past centuries came to Holland from Western Germany as mowers or harvesters.”
Little Jack the Mower is only slightly interesting, but the second option, Little Jack the Reaper, is enormously more interesting. Vincent van Gogh was referring to himself as Little Jack the Reaper. As he murdered over the months of 1888, he would refine the name until he got it just right, dropping the “Little” and adjusting “Reaper” to “Ripper” to match his use of the knife. Vincent van Gogh created Jack the Ripper.
See the details of these matches and many more in VINCENT ALIAS JACK.