Episode 738: The Atlanta Ripper | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid. My name's kind of like an automatopia.
Do you know what I mean? Ash. Ash. It is a little bit. Can't you hear that? My kids love that word. I know. Uh, I was
playing hideand go seek with one of them the other day and we were hiding in a closet and she just kept going on the
monopia on the monopia and I was like, "Shut the [ __ ] up. You're going to get us caught.
>> Get us caught." >> And then the other kids just like stopped seeking us. >> Yeah. That they do that a lot.
>> Yeah. >> Um, playing playing hide-and-seek with my children is really a risk that you
you take, you know. >> Also, one of them is so good that it's like dangerous actually because I'm
like, we may never find her. >> Yeah. There's times when I'm like, I should put a little uh jingle bell, a
little apple >> air tag on her. >> I'm going cat. You're going mom. >> Yeah. >> I'm like, a jingle bell.
>> A little jingle bell on her. >> We could also lay out a saucer of milk for her.
>> Like or we could just give her her little bracelet with the Apple Air Tag on it. Oh, also speaking of cats, thank
you so much everybody um for helping me with the tips about um like ceramic bowls and all that for feline acne. We
do all of that and he still has feline acne. He's just got really persistent acne.
>> And now he's on prednazone and ointment and liquids and all that stuff. It's really great. It's awesome. She showed
me a clip from the office this morning. >> She was explaining that she she was like, you know, and now Remy needs like
this ointment twice a day and he's on this and he's on that. And I immediately thought of the the part in the office
where Angela has Dwight go to like, you know, take care of her cat, Sparkles. And she's like, she just she's like,
well, he's diabetic, so you have to roll the insulin. Don't shake it. And you have to put the ointment at the base of
his tail. And then Dwight just like murders the cat. >> Yeah, that's crazy. >> I immediately thought about it and I had
to show her the clip because that's just who I am as a person. >> And honestly, that's who I am. I'm
Angela. Um, also you're going to hear two old episodes on Christmas, like we're rerunning Elena's favorite
episodes the week of Christmas. >> In one of those episodes, you'll hear me say that I don't like cats. I need to
remind all of us that people grow and I don't want to hear it. Okay, I just needed to get that out.
>> It's true. It's fine. You >> I'm going to get so many messages like, I you one time you said you hated cats
and now you have three. Do you hurt them? >> Yeah, that is precisely what's going to
happen. I don't. >> It's just the >> Do you know how much money I spent for them to shave Remy's chin and give me
all kinds of ointments and prednazone? >> They shaved my cat's chin. >> She's become that person that sits there
and says, "Let me just show you a couple pictures of my cats." So, she loves those cats. I love them so much. That's
what I mean. Like, you've become that person since this that episode. >> Yeah, you could message me nice stuff,
but don't don't be like, "OH MY GOD." >> YEAH. Just don't don't get mad at You probably will still, but I just wanted
to say >> some people will. But you know, >> and you know what, listener, weirdo
listening, it's not you. >> It's not you. You, you know, it's not you. >> It's not you.
>> You know, >> you're not the problem. It's not you. >> You're not the problem. It's not you.
>> But there are problems. >> And it's not you. >> And you're not them. >> You listening right now, wherever you
are, you are not the problem. >> Unless it's one of you. >> Unless you are the problem.
>> All right. Anyway, I just really wanted to get that all out. What's up with you,
Red? Big Red. >> What is up with you, >> Big Red? It's almost your [ __ ] birthday. It is almost my birthday.
>> I know what we're doing. >> And I have no idea what we're doing, which is fun. That's a fun thing.
>> I'm drunk on PA. >> I'm drunk on PA. And you know what? And it's the end of the year. I always like
I always love the end of the year cuz I love a fresh slate. Yeah, I agree. >> And I think there's a lot of cool stuff
that's happening next year. >> Yeah, there is fun stuff. >> Really good stuff. I mean, January pops
off with another ghost concert. So, I am >> Oh, when are you going >> for this? It's at the end of January.
>> Oh, damn. >> But yeah. >> Okay, I'll be there. I love that. >> In Connecticut.
>> Hell yeah. Connect. >> Cannot wait. >> Let's go. Excited for that. >> Debb is coming to this one, which I'm
really excited. Her first ghost concert. >> I cannot wait to see photos of that night. I'm going to die. She's purely
video of >> Deborah. Deb Deborah is a real one because she's like, "Well, you love
Ghost so much and I've heard some of their songs and I like them." Yeah. >> So, I want to go because you love it so
much and I want to go where you love things. >> Deb is a quintessential best friend.
>> She really is. Like, just know that about >> Debb. She rides hard. >> She does. And so, that's going to be
fun. And then there's a bunch of other really cool stuff. >> There's so much fun stuff.
>> Some things we we really can't say right now, but there's cool stuff. >> But you'll see. And speaking of awesome
stuff, did you see our [ __ ] awesome billboard in Times [ __ ] Square? a giant billboard that
Sirius was so nice and they paused the billboard for us. They paused it for 5 minutes so we could take pictures.
>> We never had that experience in the past. >> Never been offered that. >> We just had to watch it flick by really
quick and we were like, "Hey, it's so cool that we have one, but oh, where'd it go?"
>> Yeah, you wait another 45 minutes. This one we got to experience. >> We got to literally sit there like look
at it, stare at it, take really take in the moment. It it like was such a different experience because you got to
like take in the entirety of it. >> Yeah. It was >> And with Sam and Colby. >> Yes.
>> So that was fun. >> No, it was really fun. And that was just really cool of them to do. We love being
at Sirius. >> We do. It's been so late. >> Uh and that was just great. So we hope
you guys dug that episode. Um if you haven't listened to it yet, make sure you watch Sam and Col's video of our
investigation and then listen to our episode for the debrief. It's like a really fun little um you know meal and
dessert platter. >> Yeah. It's like um it's like going to watch a movie at the Lux level.
>> Yeah. There you go. Just serving it up, you know. >> Remember that? I haven't done that in a
long time. >> I haven't either actually cuz I haven't been to like the actual movie theater.
>> No, I can't. I think the last time I was at the movie theater, I saw Wicked at uh
like the old Wicked. I still haven't seen part two. >> Oh, yeah. >> I'm a little wicked out.
I didn't want to say it because I'm always that person. >> That's okay. I'll say
>> [ __ ] Like >> I think it's an incred like I've never seen the play. I want to see the play.
>> But cuz so I don't even know what happens in part two, but I just need a minute.
>> Yeah, I think that >> Yeah, I just I think I just needed a minute. But, you know, my kids love it,
so I think it brings me to a little better of a place with it. But >> yeah, >> it really was all-encompassing for a
while. It just became like it it was the zeitgeist for a while. >> Yeah. Like the press tour.
>> It was crazy. It >> was a lot. And you you thought you could get away with it, but you go scrolling
on TikTok and it's like your entire Tik Tok feed if you just say the word wicked, which I don't know if you guys
know, but we live in Massachusetts and we use the word wicked >> all the [ __ ] time.
>> 100 times a day. >> That was wicked bad. That was wicked scary. I'm wicked man.
>> Yeah, exactly. >> And every time you say it, your phone is like, "Oh, wicked. You want to see
wicked videos? You want to talk to Ariana? You want to talk to Cynthia? Like >> like I don't I'm sorry. Not right now.
>> Not right now. I'm tired. >> I'm tired. Okay. >> And then all I could hear, which is like
the most incredible note, but I'm jealous I can't do is >> that note. >> How she is I'm not taking away from the
talent because the talent is like unmatched. >> And I love it. It's just I It was just I
think it's a lot all at once. Sometimes it's the marketing >> that >> that can get to be too much. sometimes
they don't know when to stop. >> But I I'm not going to be able to avoid spoilers for a long time. So, I do need
to go see the second part cuz I want to hear your thoughts cuz we've seen >> uh John and I have seen the musical a
bunch of times. We both love it and then we took the girls to see it like a couple years ago
>> and they keep almost ruining it for me and then they're like, "Oh, wait. Tit hasn't seen it.
>> Ti hasn't seen it." They like catch themselves live. I'm like, "I'm actually very impressed with your ability to hold
that back." >> They hold back spoilers. They do. But yeah, the Cynthia Aribo's note in
Defying Gravity, I remember going into this thinking like I'm a little scared because I'm just like really partial to
Adena Menzel hitting that note. >> Can anyone hit it like Adel Dazim? I don't. >> And literally said, hold my beer.
>> And she said, "I can." And I said, "Respect." She said, "Watch this immediately."
I I just have to I just saw you being >> that her no good deed is by far the most
amazing thing in the world. Like >> see and we haven't seen it. >> I don't even know what that means.
>> Well, we're going to know what it is. So, no good deed killed it apparently. >> Let's go.
>> We'll watch it after this. Don't worry about it. >> I know. We're going to watch it.
>> Um but Cynthia Reva's voice is insane. >> All right. So, I think we should get
into this story. It's massive trigger warning for this story. >> Um, >> lots of racism just abound here.
>> Um, it's it's a rough one, but it's an important story to tell cuz it's also unsolved.
>> Oh. >> Um, and even though it is from the early 1900s, I think it's I don't think anything
>> Not the 1900s. Not the year. I know >> you just sounded like a young a young No, this is like 1906, so it's actually
like 1900s. >> Yeah, it's we're talking about the Atlanta Ripper case. Um >> I've heard of this case, but I don't
know all the details. >> It's I truly believe just like the Jack the Ripper case, which we will mention
in this a lot because it really kind of came off the back of that. >> Oh, >> I think it can be solved. Yeah,
>> I really don't think that any case is like fully out of the realm of being solved. It's just how you approach it.
>> I fully >> There's always something. >> There's always one little p like string
to pull >> and technology is crazy. Uh, exactly. And in this one in particular, I'm going
to be quoting like a lot of uh investigators who uh were uh wildly racist and I'm going to be quoting a lot
of newspapers which were uh >> wildly racist and uh they use language which I will not be using um because I
am a white person who does not use that language. Great. So, I will change that language so that I don't have to say
something that is completely inappropriate and something that does not align with my love beliefs. Um, so
just so you know that. So, I'll tell you I'll say like here they said something gnarly, but I'm going to say this so you
know, just so the context is there because I don't want to erase the fact that this was wildly racist.
>> Yeah. >> Um, but I'm just not going to say certain words cuz icky. Um, but yeah, so
yeah, just trigger warning. All of that is in here. It's a rough one. >> All right.
>> Uh, so in 1888, let's go back there for a minute. That's a familiar year. Yep.
>> 1888, Jack the Ripper. Remember that guy? >> I do. >> He terrorized the White Chapel
neighborhood of London's East End. He did. >> We've talked about him a few times. Um,
he honestly introduced the idea kind of to the world of a human who kills out of
a compulsive need and won't stop until they're either caught or die. Mhm. >> Um, the Ripper killings in White Chapel
ended by the close of 1988. It was a pretty quick spree. Uh, but the concept of like a Ripper killer has lived on and
on. >> Yeah. We've covered a few. >> Yeah. And for more than a century has at various times been attributed to
unidentified killers who commit like really brutal, gruesome murders. They They tend to get the Ripper moniker.
>> I get I'm thinking of the Chicago Ripper. >> Exactly. like there's always those that
pop up. Um during the second decade of the 20th century, an unidentified serial killer was believed to have operated in
Atlanta, Georgia, uh over here in the US, brutally killing at least 20 black women. Now, due to the similarities
between the White Chapel victims and the victims in Atlanta, the Georgia press dubbed their killer the Atlanta Ripper,
an anonymous monster whose presence literally held the city's black population in a grip of fear. For a
period of roughly 5 years, the Atlanta Ripper killed with regularity on the city streets, slashing, mutilating, and
otherwise brutalizing the bodies of the women that they killed. >> Despite having at least six viable
suspects, >> investigators were never able to conclusively identify who the Atlanta
Ripper was. And the murders are solving. Yeah. Um, and the city at this point was
boiling over with racial tensions and civil war resentment even because that's the time period we're in.
>> Oh, yeah. >> The Atlanta Ripper became also kind of a convenient scapegoat for domestic
violence and racially motivated murders. >> Yeah. >> Uh, which may have undermined
investigators abilities to solve the crimes at the time. >> There was just so much [ __ ] going on.
>> Yeah. >> And so much racism. Now, in the wake of the American Civil War, the reconstruction effort across the
American South was focused largely on the cities, which had been completely devastated to near completion by the
Union Army, nearing the war's end. >> Uh, in Georgia, a lot of the state's reconstruction was focusing on
rebuilding Atlanta in particular. Uh, it was the largest city in the state. It had been kind of the economic and social
hub. They wanted to get that back on track. >> I was so hoping you'd say the word hub.
>> I love hub. >> I It is a hub, you know. I like when things are hubs. >> I love being a hub.
>> It feels good. I like being a hub. >> I'm not a hub. Well, maybe I am a hub for something.
>> Maybe you're a hub. I don't really No, I don't want to be a hub. >> You're a hub for emotional um support.
>> Oh my god. Thanks. >> For me, you're my hub. >> This morning, Alina told me I can't die
because she wouldn't go on. And I said, "That's a lot of pressure." >> I said, "You literally like don't take
risks." >> Like, be be safe. >> Exactly. >> I said, "No risks." >> No risks. So the economic shift from
agricultural work to industrial and intellectual labor meant that anyone needing steady employment which included
the large number of now newly freed enslaved people Yeah. migrated to cities in search of work. This migration led to
major increases in city populations. And in Atlanta alone, the population of black citizens rose from less than
10,000 just after the war to around 35,000 by 1900. That's actually insane. >> Significant growth. So this huge
increase of black atlant were was directly related to the educational and economic opportunities that simply
couldn't be found elsewhere. But a secondary thing that made this migration happen was the community and social
networks that arose from the population increase. By the end of the 19th century, black enclaves like Sweet
Auburn and the West End had become like havens for black businesses, academics, and activists that would become very
essential to the civil rights movement of the early to mid 20th century. So this all kind of led to further growth
and further progress. Uh despite this progress in stability though, Atlanta like a lot of southern regions would
remain mostly segregated for many decades after the Civil War and resentment was still a regular part of
life. >> Yeah. >> The tension between black advancement and white resentment for that came to a
head in 1906 when an event known as the Atlanta Race Massacre laid bare the disparity between black and white
existence in Atlanta. I mean, anything that's labeled a massacre, yeah, should horrify you. Hoping to capitalize on the
growing fears of, you know, what was being touted as black-on-white crime at the time,
>> oh man, >> a number of Atlanta newspapers, which I've already up, >> published articles in the fall of 1906
that magnified or simply made the [ __ ] up examples of black residents attacking
white residents. Just lies. >> That's nice. On September 22nd, two Atlanta newspapers published articles
claiming that four white women had been sexually assaulted by black men. Now, we've seen this happen before.
>> Yep. >> Causing the racial tensions to simply boil over. >> Um, this is something I'm sure you're
thinking, EMTT. >> Yep. >> And by the way, later that was already known to be a complete [ __ ] lie.
>> Yep. Like that kid was brutalized, tortured, and murdered for no other reason besides him being
>> his skin color >> a little black boy. >> Yep. >> That the end like period. So this should
already make your senses go up, especially in this time period and in this place.
>> Yeah. So following that publication, white men and boys began assembling in mobs across Atlanta with estimates
raging between 10,000 to 15,000 of them patrolling the streets. >> That many white men.
>> These I'm saying these angry mobs besieged black neighborhoods. Like all these enclaves I just talked about,
destroying blackowned businesses, attacking black men at random, pulling them from street cars, chasing them down
the street. By the end of the night on September 22nd, this is horrifying. The end of the night, an estimated 25 to 30
black men had been killed by these mobs. God >> with countless others terrorized or
injured. >> Just because of these articles. >> It's like unthinkable. And the fact that
it wasn't even true. >> Yeah. >> Makes a million times. >> Or that's the thing. They had like no
like some of these things were >> I'm sure they were conflated. >> Yeah. I was going to say they were
either exaggerated or made up these articles. like they ranged in that. >> Despite the governor having mobilized
state troops to quell the chaos with local police and fire departments supporting their efforts, the violence
continued into the next day, finally coming to an end on September 25th a few days later. It's unknown how many black
Atlantans died during the massacre, but for many among the community, the violence obliterated any hope that they
could successfully integrate with or be welcomed by their white neighbors. Like this was clear at this point, like this
is not happening. >> And it's like you don't [ __ ] want to at that point. >> How can you ever trust that this would
never happen again, >> right? And some left the city bound for safer locations at this point around the
US and others just retreated into those enclaves that they had already built a community in.
>> Yeah. Like safe havens. >> Yeah. So the shocking displays of racism, cruelty, and violence of the
1906 massacre left the majority of black Atlantans in a constant state of hyper vigilance. At this point,
>> they were fearful for their safety, safety for their friends, their neighbors, their families. But it also
affirmed the feeling that a lot had about what was going on here. That there was two separate Atlantas here. And this
literal and figurative segregation would become a pretty critical piece of the Atlanta Ripper murders and the new south
as it moved into the 21st century in the late 19th century as Americans were struggling with this like post-war
>> just like racial tensions and violence and just like uncertainty and resentment
and >> shittiness. >> Things weren't things weren't solved. >> No, they were not they weren't solved.
They weren't solid. They weren't feeling good. News of a vicious killer in London
was now making its way to the states. >> Jack, >> we know Jack. The shocking crimes of
Jack the Ripper started dominating the American headlines, too. And by the early 1900s, Jack the Ripper had become
kind of a household name, and the concept was looming pretty large in the minds of a lot of people. A lot of
readers were fascinated by this mystery or just terrified by the brutality of the whole thing. And it's unlikely that
many of them recognized the role that like class stratification and racial tensions were going to have in this
whole thing. Yeah. >> But Jack the Ripper's victims were believed to be like we know sex workers.
That was their occupation and believed to be what people called women of very low social status.
>> Yeah. That was the big class thing. >> Women that I'm sure Jack the Ripper assumed would be missed by very few
people. Um, and it's a a population of women who were frequently victimized um, and rarely saw justice out of it. And in
simple terms, one of the reasons that Jack the Ripper's identity still remains a mystery to this day.
>> It is still a [ __ ] mystery. Don't get her started. >> Don't get me started.
>> Don't send her that article that said they solved it. They did not. And she will start talking to you about
mitochondrial DNA for seven years. >> It's true. I will. And that's not a bad thing.
>> No, it's not. But go back to the Tobias Forge episode when we talk about Skelea
and Or Kelly one. We put it in there too. Either one of those. Go to both of them.
But specifically the Elisa one that we just did. The Jack Harer stuff was fascinating.
>> It's true. So there you go. If you want to know more about that. Uh but the reason why it still remains a
mystery to this day and is unsolved is kind of similar to what Atlanta was going through. He existed in two
separate Londons, one for the wealthy middle class and one for the poor and destitute.
>> Mhm. >> The fact that his victims were for from a lower social class, that was not an
accident. It's not like he just wandered in there and was like, "Well, I'll just
do this." Yeah. >> They were likely chosen because, among other things, it was unlikely that
London police would work very hard to solve the murders, >> right? because they consider that a
quote and quote highrisisk job >> and they are less than >> and it's a major factor in this case,
the Atlanta Ripper case as well. >> Yeah, it sounds like it would be because violence against black men and women
have become such a common occurrence in Atlanta following the 1906 massacre. It's actually difficult to pinpoint
exactly when these Ripper murders began. Some believe it began with the murder of
29-year-old Dela Reed on April 5th, 1909. >> That's such a pretty name, Dela. Dela
Reed. Isn't that like it just it's pretty >> it flows. Yeah. >> Yeah. Dela's brutalized body was found
in a trash pile. >> That's >> a trash pile on Ranken Street. >> She died from what is only known known
and like recorded as a pulmonary hemorrhage. >> Okay. >> So, they don't like they don't know
exactly what occurred that led up to this, but she was in a trash pile. Like she was
clearly killed. You also have to wonder how much effort was put into finding out
actual cause of death. >> Now, a few months later in September, the body of an unidentified, still to
this day, black woman was discovered in Peach Street Creek, also murdered. >> By the end of the year, the murders had
picked up in frequency. Bodies were being discovered at a rate of one one per month at least.
>> Wow. >> Uh in the weeks and months that followed, more bodies were discovered.
Estella Baldwin was discovered in March, dead from a quote concussion of the brain. Uh, in April, it was Georgia
Brown. She was shot by an unknown asalent. The next day, it was Maddie Smith, also shot by someone unknown. The
following month, the bodies of Levvenia Austin, Francis Lampkin, and Eliza Griggs were all found within days of one
another. >> Wow. >> All shot to death. >> Oh, these are all very different causes
of death. It sounds like >> that's a lot of them. So all of them um or all of them except the first Estella
Baldwin and Dela Reed have at least gunshot wounds. >> Yeah. >> Um Dela Reed, we don't know. Yeah,
>> because it's pulmonary hemorrhage. So I have no idea. And again, this is from
1906, like 1909, so it's recorded. >> And we have Estella Baldwin, who was dead from a concussion of the brain,
which to me sounds like one for trauma. So we have some different and also none of these also go with the ripper
moniker. >> Exactly. >> Because usually that's when we think of a ripper we and we think of like
stabbing and mutilation, you know, mutilation. >> Um >> so again like you just pointed out the
differences in the manner of deaths here. >> It's pretty unlikely that all these were
done by the same person, but they're attributed a lot of times to this >> interesting. But with the 1906 massacre
so fresh in everyone's memories, the frequency and brutality with which black women were killed in the streets of
Atlanta only contributed to the apprehension and terror felt throughout the entire community. Um, also the
legend of Jack the Ripper was just continuing to permeate the United States media and the similarities in, you know,
like gender and manner of death and like the victim profiles were what led a lot
of people to think this is a ripper killer. >> Okay. >> So, the first murder that's like really
attributed like those those first ones that I mentioned are like sometimes attributed. This one's like the one
that's generally attributed to the Atlanta Ripper is 35-year-old Rosa Trice. Uh, her body was discovered a
short distance from her home on January 26th, 1911. Her body was found near the Southern Railway tracks. Her head beaten
badly with a blunt instrument, fracturing her skull and jawbone. >> Oh god. >> And her throat had been slashed. It was
It severed the jugular vein. >> Oh [ __ ] Police arrested Rosa's husband, John, for the murder, but he was
released a few days later when investigators and the coroner's inquest failed to find any evidence connecting
him to his wife's murder. >> Yeah. >> Now, less than a month later on February 19th, the Ripper had killed again. This
next victim was a young black woman whose throat was cut and her skull was bashed in as well. Same exact thing. The
discovery of another body in the woods, having suffered the exact same wounds as
the first victim, seemed evidence that this might be the start of something. >> Yeah.
>> But after the second body was found, no new murders were found um in March and
April. So, it seemed like, okay, those happened very quickly. >> Um but maybe maybe that was just a
coincidence. But on the morning of May 28th, the body of Mary Bell Walker was discovered on Gabaldi Street. Mary had
left the home of her employer the evening before after a long day of work, but she never arrived home that night.
The next morning, when her sister realized that she hadn't returned, she set out to look for her, but she didn't
have to look far. Uh Mary's body was discovered in an unused field just 25 yard from her home. 25 yard
at all. Her throat had been cut with what the press described as quote a jagged edge. Oh,
>> but there was no additional clues as to who killed her. A coroner's inquest was
held the next day, but without any evidence or information about her death, nothing really came of it.
>> That's so sad. >> Investigators and community members barely had time to react or even respond
to Mary Bell Walker's death when the killer had struck again. On June 15th, the body of Addie Watts was discovered
by the Southern Railway. Her skull was bashed in first with a brick, then with a railroad coupling pin.
>> Oh my god. >> And her throat was deeply slashed. Um, as in many of the other cases, two local
men were arrested for the murder, but both were let go a short time later because there was just lack of evidence
connecting them to the crime. >> Yeah. Now, it's important to note that despite several murders that could be attributed
to the same killer, >> the the the Atlanta press was, and again, at this time of high racial
tensions, whiteowned, white controlled, they had yet to address the murders in any meaningful way.
>> Wow. >> Despite the fact that like it seems like this is a serial killer. >> Shocking from where we sit today, but
like sadly not shocking for the time being. >> No. And in fact, while the deaths were
clearly described and investigated as murders, the papers rarely gave more than a few lines to the stories, offered
little or no follow-up, and in some cases didn't even bother to find out the name of the victim.
>> Are you [ __ ] kidding me? >> Yep. >> These women had their li like their throats literally slashed open,
>> skulls bashed in, and you can't even bother to print their name and like respect. Now, while the concept of a
serial killer was still not quite defined at all in the minds of most Americans,
>> it took a long time for that to happen. >> Thanks to Jack the Ripper, >> the public had come to understand that
it was entirely possible for one person to be responsible for seemingly random murders. Like, that was becoming a thing
that people were like, "Oh, fuck." Yeah. But throughout late 1910 and 1911, few if any public figures or institutions
had voiced any concern that such a thing could be happening in Atlanta's black community, despite the fact that it
clearly was. And it's like, not only are you not respecting these women who lost
their lives in such a brutal manner, you're also not paying any regard for this community to like be on the lookout
and be vigilant and be safe and >> you know what I mean? Like >> that's the thing. But that's your
responsibility >> literally and that's all they need is some like to be informed
>> but they don't >> people didn't want that they don't want >> they don't want people to be on the
lookout >> n want them to be safe >> horrifying it's a horrifying concept >> now the failure of the press to fully
acknowledge the alarming rate of murder in Atlanta is not only one of the reasons the killing spree went on for so
long but also one of the reasons why the Atlanta Ripper case is still pretty unknown to this day not just the killer
The case itself is pretty >> it's a name that I've heard before for sure, but I really don't know a lot
about it until sitting here today. >> Kind of like one of those that just under the rug,
>> which is crazy. You've only told me a few >> of the killings so far, and it's like
awful. >> But just one day after Addy Watts's murder, the Atlanta Journal finally
wrote about the alarming trend and the potential for having a serial killer. They didn't call it that, in their
midst. The journal article states, "On account of the number of recent murders of they say something different, black
women, uh, quote, "Police advanced the theory that Atlanta has an insane criminal, something on the order of the
famed Jack the Ripper, which also the famed Jack the Ripper." Have you ever heard of the term infamous, notorious,
>> like what? >> Like famed. That gives him like spotlight. Uh despite this, other
newspapers, however, remained less thorough in their coverage. According to Jeffrey Wells, the journal's main
competition, the Atlantic Constitution, quote, "Still reported the death of Watts as it had the other murders as
isolated incidents with no connection and certainly no mention of a serial killer."
>> It's like weird that we mentioned the exact same thing last week and the week
before that and the week before that. >> Yeah. And it's the same manner of death.
So, the noticeable discrepancy between how the papers covered the murders continued a few weeks later when the
body of Lizzie Watkins was discovered in the brush at the corner of White and Lawson Streets on June 27th. She was
killed the same exact way as the other victims. According to Wells, the Atlanta Journal quote gave front page attention
to the city's newest arch criminal, going so far as to begin examining the sim similarities between the murders.
The Atlantic Constitution, on the other hand, continued their trend of sparse coverage. Uh, and he said only this time
it managed to add its own spin, citing that it was certain the death was the result of alcohol or drugs.
>> Um, her throat was open. >> Yeah. >> And what >> is this? So, all of them. >> Oh, okay. Okay. For sure. While many
among the press and police had speculated that the murders were committed by a killer similar to Jack
the Ripper, there had yet to be any evidence or witness that could tie the cases together, which is hard. This
changed on July 2nd when the Ripper struck again, but left an eyewitness. >> Oh, [ __ ]
>> On the evening of the 2nd, 40-year-old Lena Sharp and her 20-year-old daughter,
Emma Lou, >> shut the [ __ ] up. I love a double name like that. >> It's so cute.
>> Really cute. They left their home for the market to do some shopping together.
As they made their way back home, a man stepped out from the bushes on Seabard Avenue, not far from the sharp house.
The man greeted the two women, and before they could respond, he raised a brick high above his head and brought it
down hard on Lena's skull, dropping her to the ground. >> And she's with her daughter.
>> Yep. Emloo attempted to run, making it only a few steps before she was grabbed
from behind. And he said, "Don't be afraid. I never hurt girls like you. >> Oh. >> Before driving a knife deeply into her
back and slashing at her wildly. >> What the [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> Emloo. >> Emiloo.
>> Oh. As Emiloo slumped to the ground, bleeding profusely now from these wounds, she watched helplessly as this
man went back to her mother, who was laying unconscious on the ground a few feet away, and started slashing at her
before finally slashing the knife across her throat from one side to the other several times. Oh my god.
>> The man then went back to Emiloo, intending to kill her as well, but then heard the sound of running footsteps and
he hovered over her for several seconds and then ran off into the darkness and people came to Emiloo's rescue. That is
the scariest [ __ ] I've ever [ __ ] heard. And for him to say, "Don't be afraid. I never hurt girls like you."
And before stabbing and slashing her, like what? >> What the [ __ ] That isn't I don't even know. I don't even know.
Now, Emma Lou Sharp suffered very serious injuries and required multiple surgeries, but she was still able to
give police a description of her attacker. >> Wow. >> According to Emma Louu, the killer was a
quote well-dressed black man who she described as a quote giant, well over 6 feet in height. Wow.
>> With tremendous breath of shoulders, an exceptionally strong and sinnuy arms.
sineu um that's like a like fibrous tissue that connects like bone to bone or muscle to bone. It's like fibers.
Okay. >> So I think like I don't know if she means like gangly >> gangly or like Yeah. Um, so the uh an
article in the Atlanta Journal noted, "While the ordinary um, and I won't say that murder attracts little attention,
the police department was upon the alert last night, doubtfully expecting a repetition of the long series of crimes
which have baffled every effort of the detectives." >> Okay, now >> these newspaper headlines are insane.
>> They're wild. Like, >> yeah, >> while the regular murder of a black person isn't cause for alarm. Yeah. Oh,
all right. Yeah. Now, Lena Sharp's murder and Emiloo's description of the killer finally only gave Atlanta
investigators something to work with in their investigation with one detective declaring, "It's the work of the same
man." And there seems to be little doubt that the fellow has tried a double crime
on a single night, >> which also is a little Jack the Rippery. It is a double event. Except with Jack
the Ripper, >> it wasn't really planned. >> I won't go into it. I don't think it was
planned. I think it was he [ __ ] up and then he had to satisfy. Yeah, he's a completionist. So,
>> I think that's a widely held belief. >> I think so, too. >> Um, but while the la latest attack
seemed to confirm the suspicions of many that it was the same man, it also elevated the story in the eyes of the
press. Right. >> The Atlanta Journal expanded their coverage. And um, even their rivals, the
Atlanta Constitution, who seemed to suck at all this, could no longer ignore the
story. But that wasn't all. News of the killer had also begun to spread to other
states. A few days later, papers from as far away as New York were reporting on,
quote, "Atlanta's Jack the Ripper," noting the inability of local investigators to stop the murders and
the toll it was taking on the city's black community. Uh, the New York Times reported, "Tonight, there are a few
black women on the street, and black cooks and housemaids are refusing to work after dark in cases where they have
any distance to go to their homes afterwards." So, while the national press coverage
had an undeniably racist tone, >> yeah, >> it cemented two important things in the
public eye. >> First, that there was a quote madman as methodical and cunning as Jack the
Ripper operating in Atlanta's black community. And second, that investigators seemed either uninterested
or completely incapable of doing literally anything to stop it. >> Yeah. >> And in truth, the murders were hardly
ingenious or cunning. Like that's they're not like like I Jack the Ripper is not ingenious or kind. He's pretty
cunning like and pretty quick and pretty like does it under the cover of darkness
and all that. >> Um >> this really wasn't that. >> Yeah. >> Atlanta's white police force didn't
prioritize solving violent crimes when they were committed against non-white people. That's just the way it is.
Fortunately, the expanded press coverage did put some pressure on investigators though, to the extent that a serious
effort was mounted to identify and catch the killer before he could kill again. >> Okay.
>> Not because they felt like it was like morally something that they should do,
but because they felt presser from now, the national press kind of roasting them
for it. >> Unfortunately, he would take several more lives before this killing spree
came to an end. Um, within a few days, investigators had developed a basic profile for the man they believed to be
the killer, but were careful not to attribute all the women killed in Atlanta that year to the Ripper.
>> Um, coroner Paul Donahoo told reporters, "While a number of black women have been
killed in the city, the work of the Ripper seems unmistakable." According to Paul, a peculiarity
to say it's so hard to say concerning the crimes is that all of his victims have met their deaths on a Saturday
night. >> Interesting. >> Which is a clue. That's a big clue. >> Uh leading police to believe it was only
a matter of days before the killer struck again. That should also give you a little bit of a clue like he's working
during the week. He works on these days. Like maybe he doesn't, you know, he's doing something on Sundays.
>> He can't do these things. Investigators theory that the killer only took victims
on Saturday held true, at least for the short term. On Saturday, July 8th, Mary Yel left the home of her employer, WM
Selker, around 8:30 p.m. and headed home after a very long day of work. Mary had
only went about a block or so when she heard a whistle as she passed by a dark alley. Oh. and stopping to see who was
trying to get her attention, she watched as a quote large, well-built black man,
which is exactly the description from the last one, emerged from the darkness and walked towards her. Mary screamed
and ran back to her employer's home, where she told her employer what happened. Selker grabbed his revolver
and ran to the spot where Mary had seen the man and was dis surprised to find that the man was still standing in the
alley. >> Oh. So he raised his pistol and demanded that this guy raise his hands. But
instead, the man quickly turned and quote, "Ran like a flash down the alley and into the vacant lot where Selker
lost sight of him." That's so freaky. >> He was just standing there waiting >> and ran like a flash.
>> Yeah. When he returned to his house, Selker phoned the police and both he and
Mary gave descriptions of her wouldbe asalent, who investigators believe was the same man responsible for the other
deaths. >> Yeah. Um, it's also like of note like these women, a lot of them are just
coming home from like a long [ __ ] day of work. >> Yeah, they're exhausting >> and they're running into this [ __ ]
Like that sucks. >> It does. It's awful. >> If the killer had been following some
compulsion to kill on Saturdays or if there was a reason he killed on Saturdays, he ignored that in the case
of the next victim. Ah, >> I also wonder if he started possibly released somehow or leaked that he only
killed on Saturdays and he said, "Well, I have to switch that up." >> On the morning of Tuesday, July 11th,
Will Broglin was on his way to work as a laborer when he came upon what appeared
to be signs of a considerable scuffle having taken place somewhat sometime earlier. There were deep drag marks in
the soft dirt. So, we followed the marks and eventually discovered the body of Satie Holly.
>> Like the others, Sadi's skull had been crushed with a large rock and her throat
was sliced from one side to the other. Unlike the others though, it looked like the killer had taken Sadi's shoes.
>> What? Which is like a strange little side quest. >> Had he or like had somebody else
>> perhaps, you know what I mean? Since her body was >> Yeah. out there. Maybe somebody needed
shoes. Was being weird. >> Maybe he took them. >> Maybe he took them, though. >> Now, the discovery of yet another body
so soon after the attempted attack on Mary Yel set off alarms not only within Atlanta's black community, but within
the other populations as well. uh having already begun covering the story now finally like in earnest the press
started tracing the murders back and discovered that the Ripper killings likely began for far earlier than anyone
had previously thought. >> Oh, >> as at least as far back as Rosa Trice's murder in January because remember
before they weren't even considering those. Um, also the realization prompted a new round of outrage from Atlantans,
all wanting to know why the murders hadn't been connected until now and demanding to know what the police were
going to [ __ ] do about it. >> Uh, one reporter wrote, "The police department has nothing to say in
explanation of its inability thus far to cope with the situation." >> Yikes. In the meantime,
uh, the black community are holding mass meetings and are appealing to the governor, the mayor, and the law-loving
citizens to help them in capturing the guilty party. So, they're doing the work.
>> Mhm. Of course, >> basically. >> Now, given the newly applied pressure and all the growing outrage that was
happening, it's likely no coincidence that just one day after Satie Holly's murder, police arrested 27year-old Henry
Huff out of nowhere. They're like, "Oh my god, found him." >> Yeah. and held him as a quote suspicious
character in the death of Holly. >> Like I think you guys are suspicious. >> I think so, too. Now, according to
investigators, there was quote strong circumstantial evidence against Huff, including the fact that he was known to
have a romantic relationship with Satie, had been seen with her on the night of her murder, was seen late that evening
wearing bloody clothes, and had a wound on his head, which he claimed to have received in a pool room fight. That is
also pretty evidence. Now, despite their certainty that Huff was Sades killer, just one day later,
police arrested Todd Henderson on suspicion of being the Atlanta Ripper. >> Okay. Like Huff, Todd Henderson was also
black and vaguely fit the description of the killer as given by Emiloo Sharp. And
investigators claimed to have quote strong circumstantial evidence connecting him to the crimes.
>> Okay. In his statement to the press, Sergeant Lanford told reporters while he
believes Henderson to be the ripper and guilty of several murders, if not all of
the crimes attributed to attributed to the fiend, he nonetheless found the evidence against Huff so compelling that
he quote thought best to have him before the jury as well. >> So like just pick. So in simple terms,
in their rush to show that like, hey, nope, we got it. We're not we we got it. We know who it is. We've been working on
this. We are not incapable. We are not not caring about this. Like, here we go. We got it. Progress. In the rush to do
that, Atlanta's police arrested two men who vaguely matched the description of the killer and held them both for the
same crimes, determining it was best to just shove them in front of a jury and be like, you guys decide who did it,
>> A or B. >> Which is like, that's literally your job. >> Yeah, >> that's literally your job.
>> Yeah. You can't put that on the jury. So, for a time, the residents of Atlanta
breathed easy, believing that the Rippers killing spree had come to an end. >> Too simple.
>> Maybe one of these guys did it. >> Too simple. >> In fact, following Sades murder in July,
there was a six-w weekek stretch of times that there was no murders. >> That's actually a pretty long time.
>> Which did lead many to believe that whether it was Huff or Henderson, the real killer had been caught. One of them
was it. Huff was indicted by a grand jury in early August for the murder of Satie Holly with investigators
announcing quote at least one of the Ripper crimes is no longer a mystery for the evidence against Henry Huff is so
conclusive that there is no doubt that he will be convicted of the murder of Satie Holly.
>> That's a bit of a stretch. I'm like I think we have circumstantial evidence but
>> and unfortunately the jury didn't agree with that the evidence against Huff was
all that compelling. I'm actually surprised >> and he was eventually acquitted for
murder. But I'm actually truly shocked by that. >> Now, ultimately, Henry Huff would be one
of several black men arrested on quote strong circumstantial evidence that they were the Atlanta Ripper.
>> That was apparently not so strong. >> Others included Todd Henderson, John Daniel, and Bud Wise. All of whom bore a
slight resemblance to the man who attacked Emma, um but otherwise had no connection to the murders and despite
investigators strong belief in their guilt, would eventually be acquitted or simply released.
>> Wow. Um, as in the case of Henry Huff, the timing of the arrests and indictments of the other suspects comes
after the public outcry over law enforcement's complete inability to catch the killer.
>> Makes sense. >> It's possible that one or more of these arrests could have satiated the public
demand for action had the killings not continued while Huff and the other suspects were in custody.
>> That does present a problem. >> That presents a problem. On the morning of August 31st, nearly 7 weeks since the
last Ripper victim was discovered, the body of 20-year-old Mary Anne Duncan was discovered by the railroad tracks just
outside of Atlanta in a community known as Bland Town. Like Satie Holly, Duncan's shoes had been removed. Oh,
>> okay. >> And were nowhere to be found. Her throat had been slit from one side to the
other. Uh, and a month later, Ellen Maddox, a cook for a family in Inman Park, was walking home from work when
she was struck from behind with a blunt object. She lived. Okay. >> Um, the next day, the uh papers reported
on the assault, saying, quote, "She was attacked from behind, her head almost crushed, and her face beat out of all
resemblance to a human being." >> Oh, wow. And she lived. >> She was rushed to the hospital. Um, and
despite the severity of her injuries, which were described right there, she was able to give a statement to police,
but she never saw her asal asalent. >> Okay. >> Uh, Maddox, it turned out, was lucky.
Before the end of the year, the bodies of Ava Florence, Minnie Wise, and Mary Putnham would also be discovered in
locations across Atlanta, all under the same circumstances. Head beaten, throat slashed, all of it.
>> So, it sounds like he comes up from behind to throw you off. He takes them by surprise.
>> By late 1911, public outcry over the continued failure of law enforcement to catch or even identify the actual killer
as opposed to very convenient scapegoats that they were trying to shoehorn in here had reached a fever pitch. As the
public continued to put pressure on the city government, letters from concerned citizens began arriving at city hall
with offers to help catch the ripper. How sad is it that they wouldn't even have faith in their police force and
they were like hey do you want me to take a take a crack at it? >> Literally the implication is that well
investigators don't have the ability to so why don't I help >> since you guys can't step aside.
>> In response Mayor Courtland Wyn published an editorial in the city paper to say among other things Atlanta is
known throughout the country as one of the most law-abiding cities of its size in the United States and its police and
detective departments are second to none. According to Wells, leaders, and this is why, according to Wells, leaders
in the black community used this time to renew their calls for help and for the hiring of black detectives to assist in
bringing the murderers because maybe black detectives would care. >> Yeah. For their part, investigators
deflected responsibility and directed their anger at the black community for wanting it to be solved. They made
strange and even racist comments to reporters suggesting black residents were somehow responsible for catching
the killer. Are you [ __ ] kidding me? Mhm. One unnamed, which convenient. One unnamed detective told reporters in late
November 1911, "We won't get to the bottom of this thing until we get some help from the he said something else,
but I'll say black community." >> Oh, honey, name them. >> He said, "These murders are being
committed among the lower class of He said something else. I'll say black people. The detective insisted, quote,
"Ignorant, brutal beasts that know nothing else. Their acquaintances are afraid to talk, but if there were a
little money slip to them, we could find out invaluable clues, and I wager we would land the murders." This isn't
something I say often, but I really hope that guy choked and died. >> I also hope he choked.
>> Cool. >> Choke, [ __ ] Yeah. uh that not only is that the most racist thing ever, um but
also he's literally saying the only reason we the literal detectives whose job description and paycheck is because
we're supposed to be solving these >> we can't solve this because the citizens who are being terrorized are not solving
it for us. >> That's literally what he's saying, babe. He's saying the community that is being
terrorized Yeah. >> isn't solving it. >> Yeah. >> So, we can't solve it and that's on
them. >> Yeah. When white people are killed, we're also expected to solve the the
murders. >> Of course. Yeah. Of course. That goes same way. >> Hello. Like, what?
>> Now, overt what a douchebag. overt and wildly explicit and egregious racism aside, there's something
uniquely reprehensible about blaming victims for the violence perpetrated against them and implying they are also
to blame for allowing the killings to continue. Like >> you guys should have stopped this
>> like this. >> We're busy. >> The levels of depravity. >> Yeah. on the investigation side of this
and also on a like murderer side and investigation side. The levels of depravity are no no bounds.
>> It just makes me wonder like how people can be so gross. >> Yeah. >> And suck so much. Like I'm like how are
you such a hateful [ __ ] >> That's how you suck people and how do you not realize how much you suck? Now
not surprisingly, the implication was entirely untrue. In fact, even before the press or law enforcement had
identified the murders as likely being the work of the same killer, Atlanta's black community had activated already
and were working together to warn of the dangers posed to women on the streets. I'm sure following Mayor Wyn's editorial
defending the police, leaders in the black community intensified their efforts to protect themselves and their
families and community, advocating for better protections, raising money that could be offered as a reward for
information leading to an arrest, like actually doing the physical work. How sad that they had to do that because
nobody else would. They probably would have done it anyways because their community.
>> One uh announcement read, "Stay indoors and your lives will be saved for venturing out at night moans only to
invite this monsters ravages." >> But how sad is that though? Because so many people had to work into the night
and then go home and they were saying stay at work. People have to live families. And
>> now by January 1912, the Atlanta Press was reporting that at least 15 women had
been killed by the Ripper. Wow. >> Yet, investigators were no closer to catching this person than they were one
year earlier when Rosa Trice's body was discovered. >> Worse yet, the murders continued almost
as though they were on schedule. Really, >> in January, the body of Pearl Williams
was discovered in a field um adjacent to Chestnut and West Fair Streets just a few blocks from her home. That seems to
be another thing. >> And what the Atlanta Constitution said was dead from a ghastly wound in her
throat. >> Police arrested a man named Frank Harvey for the murder based on his having known
the victim, having been discovered wearing clothes with blood on blood on them and as having a quote sharp potato
knife on him when he was arrested. >> It's unclear what became of him. >> Huh. >> Because he doesn't appear to have been
convicted of Williams death and nothing really came out of it. >> Disappears everywhere. It's very strange
that so many people were walking home with blood on their clothes. >> Yeah, that is a little weird.
>> I do hate that. >> That is a little weird. On February 17th, the body of 17-year-old Alice
Owens was discovered in a gully not far from the city limits. Her throat was cut. Her body was mutilated. Alice's
husband, Charlie, was quickly arrested for the murder, and despite insisting he was innocent, he was convicted of his
wife's murder and sentenced to a life term in a chain gang. Whoa. Now, it's here that the story of the Atlanta
Ripper becomes more like nebulous. >> Okay. >> Uh, this is when it gets like a little
like it has like a mythical quality to it at this point. Oh, >> because in early April, the body of
18-year-old Mary Kates was discovered in a field just beyond the city limits as well. Um, the Atlanta Journal said
murdered and mutilated after a hard struggle. Mary's throat had been cut, her clothes were ripped to shreds from
the killer. Um, and the killer had quote mutilated her body about the breast and
below the waist, which is very Jack the Ripper. Y >> in their description of the murder, the
press added yet another detail to the increasingly again mythical description of the killer, noting that, quote, "The
mutilation of the girl's body was evidently done with a surgical instrument, and the Slayer had some
anatomical knowledge as one of the organs was deafly removed." >> Interesting. >> Yeah. Now, in the months that followed,
other bodies of young black women were discovered, some bearing similarity to the earlier Ripper victims, while others
were a little less obvious to match up with the Ripper's preferred victim profile.
>> That last murder feels so disconnected from the >> It's literally Jack the Ripper.
>> Yeah. Whereas the other ones like there's blunt force trauma, there's jagged l
>> usually it's trauma to the head, throat cut, >> right? and some and maybe like stabs and
slashes, but >> yeah, >> but not like surgical level cuts. >> Yes. >> Very strange.
>> That's weird. >> That's why it takes on a little bit of you're like >> that's not the same person.
>> Is that like what? And also as time passed other bodies were discovered outside of Atlanta that bore the
hallmarks of the Ripper and many that didn't. >> Okay. Like after a bit of time, the
press began ascribing the Ripper moniker to unsolved murders of young black women
outside of Atlanta, regardless of whether there was any evidence or any kind of like similarities to the early
Ripper ones, like it just kind of all got thrown into one pot. >> Yeah. uh you know just liberally ascribing
blame to an increasingly mythical and kind of legendary killer at this point became a problem for investigators when
they did make an arrest in one of the cases in the summer of 1912. In August, police arrested Lton Brown for the
murder of Eva Florence, one of the victims that was assigned to the Ripper in late 1911. The arrest was based
largely on his having known the victim and his wife's statement that he'd been out on the night of the murder. Okay.
>> And she discovered him burning some of his clothes the next morning. >> That's suspicious.
>> Pretty suspicious. After a lengthy interrogation, Brown confessed to the murder of Florence. According to Brown,
he quote, "He knew Florence had $3.50 and that he killed her for the money." >> Okay.
>> While it's entirely plausible that Brown did kill Florence for the money that he
believed she possessed, the more he spoke to investigators, the more questionable his confession probably
should have become. In addition to confessing to Florence's murder, he claimed to have witnessed the murders of
several other Ripper victims, not as the killer or a participant, but as a spectator who was quote merely passing
by and chance to see the crimes. >> What? >> Which what >> how would you even know that they were
happening? >> With each day that passed, he offered a new information about his knowledge of
the Ripper murders. But rather than becoming increasingly skeptical of the ra veracity of these claims, which they
should have been, investigators, who were very eager to close this case, interpreted his statements as further
evidence of his guilt. >> Okay. In fact, despite a city physician declaring Brown quote, undoubtedly
insane. Sounded like it. Detectives quickly set about building their case against him and enthusiastically
declared they had quote gathered evidence which indicates strongly that Brown is the Jack the Ripper for whom
the entire police department has been searching for an entire year. >> I don't know. And remember, he's saying
that most of these he just happened upon while they were happening, >> right? >> Like what are the odds of that?
>> Like come on. >> Pretty low. Uh the majority of the case against Loten Brown was based on a
statement given to police by two women who both claimed to be his wife. >> He's a philander.
>> One of them said quote that the whole time she had lived with him, she believed that he was the murderer and it
was a great relief to her that he was caught and was behind bars. >> Oh wow. I mean that must have been
absolutely [ __ ] terrifying. >> Yeah. Brown offered nothing in response to the claims or how he was related to
these two women at all, which investigators took as evidence of fact rather than evidence of mental illness.
>> Yeah. Um his trial began in October with investigators enthusiastically claiming
they had caught the Ripper and they were certain he was going to be convicted. But just as in the cases of Huff,
Henderson, and the others who were accused of being the Ripper, the jury saw Brown for what he was, a mentally
ill man whose claims and confessions were clearly unreliable. Right. >> Also, the defense offered at least one
witness who quote testified that Brown had been forced into a partial confession by police and that he was
prone to hallucinations and would confess to almost anything out of pressure. >> Oh wow, that's so sad.
>> Yeah. After a lengthy trial, the jury deliberated a pretty short amount of time and acquitted Len Brown of the
murder charges. >> Wow. I did not see that going that way. And the murders continued into the
following year and would go on for nearly a decade. >> A decade >> before they slowly petered out by the
1920s. The problem was though was that the press and to a lesser extent the police
labeled like what whatever they were labeling as a ripper murder. It had become so vague and non-suspecific.
I don't know why I couldn't say that. that by the mid- teens, it was impossible to know whether the murders
were committed by the same man who terrorized Atlanta between 1911 and 1913 or whether maybe it was a few different
people and these were not all connected like which ones were part of >> like Jack the Ripper has the canonical,
you know, series of murder >> of murders and that we can kind of rely on as being like for sure
>> and there's so much evidence linking all of >> there's a lot of evidence linking and
some people even question a couple of those, you know what I mean? Like it happens. But this one didn't even they
had like a very >> loose, >> confusing set of canonical ones that they could attribute to him.
>> Yeah. >> According to Wells, quote, "There were some events that were attributed to what
would become the Atlanta Ripper that ended up not being the work of the Atlanta Ripper and ended up being the
work of disgruntled husbands and boyfriends." >> Oh, which damn woof. In most cases,
there was little to no evidence left behind in the more two more than two dozen cases eventually ascribed to the
Atlanta Ripper. Uh, in fact, the handful of suspects arrested and brought to trial for the crimes all were acquitted
by white juries, which was wild, for lack of evidence. >> That actually is wild cuz I didn't even
think of the fact that it was not necessarily >> a jury of their peers. It was white
juries, lack of evidence, which is a remarkable occurrence given the racial tensions and just like what was going on
in Atlanta at the time. Tells you how little there was. >> Well, and it's like how many other
stories have we heard where >> it's a jury of white people who are just like, "Yeah, they did it." But
>> yeah, they did it. Sure. There's barely any evidence, but Yeah. Yeah. So, this
is really, like you said, remarkable. >> Very interesting. And to this day, we don't know who committed those murders.
How sad is that? And which ones are even the work of the same person? >> Well, and honestly, it's a result from
zero effort being put into any of these cases. >> Just hearing that one detective that
summed it all up. >> How he talked about this, you're just like, "Got it." >> And feeling confident to talk to a
reporter like that >> really does show that the force's attitude at the time had to have been
pretty >> similar. Rancid >> and rancid. Yeah. >> Like that's really sad because that
could absolutely be a solved case. There was eyewitnesses could have that's the thing. There was eyewitnesses there
definitely could have solved this. >> And it seems to me like it is a serial killer situation because as we know
serial killers there are like certain tenants that seem to be ringing true with them where like
>> they usually don't kill outside of their race. It happens. That has absolutely
happened but it's rare. And this seems like we could this is a serial killer because it's like the same kind of
victim profile that's happening here, you know, like >> Yeah, it's interesting all of a sudden
black women and then like like the throat and the >> Yeah, the throat being slashed and it
seems like there's the same kind of modus operandi that's happening here. >> But then it is so strange that whoever
this was like started taking the shoes. >> I know that's two of the women that we
talked about if I remember. >> Two that I could that I could see. >> Interesting. Yeah. I don't know what
that's about. >> I I think every murder that we talked about today is not necessarily
>> No, I think there's definitely a few that we talked about that are totally outside of
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Wow. That's really really awful that because of people's lack of humanity,
this case isn't solved. >> Yeah. >> And I think it could be. You never know. >> Just saying.
>> You never know. Maybe somebody will revisit it someday and find a little connection that
>> like you said that little thread you start to pull to unravel. >> Exactly. >> Wow. What a sad case.
>> I know. >> Random fun fact. >> Random fun fact. Hold on. >> We need one for this one for sure.
>> Let's find a random fun fact. >> I don't know this one. >> I know. >> You knew the last one. What was it?
Dinora. >> Um Dan or Dan. Durian. >> Durian fruit. >> Okay, but hold on. That's not the fact
for today. Random fun fact. Jenner a tour. Let's go. Oh, this is fun. The word Lego
is formed from the Danish word leot, which means play well in English. In Latin, it means putting together.
>> Oh, I I always wondered if Lego was like cuz it's all capitals, so I wondered if
it stood for something. >> Yeah, you're right. >> But it's just from a Danish word.
>> I love that. >> Fun. I think um Lego is like a uh I think they they use it very specifically
people who are very into Legos cuz we watched Lego Master with the girls. What do you mean? They use it like um they
use it almost like a verb. >> Like I'm legoing. >> Yeah. Like I think it's there's a
there's a specific like terminology that they that they use. >> Huh. >> I think I might be wrong. You guys can
tell me. Uh if you're Lego if you're Lego lovers. >> Yeah. Um because I remember I I like
noticed it and I was like, "Oh, that's interesting. >> That is interesting." >> All right. So, that's that's a good one.
I like that. >> Well, that's what I got for you today. So, uh we hope you keep listening and we
hope you keep it, but not so weird that you don't Lego some Legos and not be a racist.
>> Lego. Bye. Woo.

During the second decade of the twentieth century, an unidentified serial killer was believed to have operated in Atlanta, Georgia, brutally killing at least twenty Black woman. Due to the similarities between the Whitechapel victims and the victims in Atlanta, the Georgia press dubbed their killer “the Atlanta Ripper,” an anonymous monster whose presence held the city’s Black population in a grip of fear. For a period of roughly five years, the Atlanta Ripper killed with regularity on the city streets, slashing, mutilating, and otherwise brutalizing the bodies of the women they killed. Despite having at least six viable suspects, investigators were never able to conclusively identify the Atlanta Ripper and the murders remain unsolved. References Atlanta Constitution . 1912. "Negro woman slain; suspect arrested." Atlanta Constitution, January 21: 5. Atlanta Constitution. 1912. "Jack the Ripper believed to be a modern Bluebeard with 12 wives as victims." Atlanta Constitution , August 11: 1. Atlanta Journal. 1910. "Deaths." Atlanta Constitution, April 5: 10. —. 1911. "Antoher negress killed; black butcher at work?" Atlanta Journal, June 16: 14. —. 1911. "Black 'Jack the Ripper' slays another negress." Atlanta Journal, July 2: 7. —. 1911. "Has 'Jack the Ripper' fallen into dragnet?" Atlanta Journal, July 13: 4. —. 1912. "Jack the Ripper caught at last, say detectives." Atlanta Journal, August 10: 1. —. 1911. "'Jack the Ripper' foiled in 8th attempt Saturday." Atlanta Journal, July 9: 3. —. 1912. "Negro woman murdered just outside the city." Atlanta Journal, April 8: 20. —. 1911. "One of the Ripper crimes is no longer a mystery." Atlanta Journal, August 4: 11. —. 1911. "Rosa Trice foully murdered." Atlanta Journal, January 23: 9. —. 1911. "Will "Jack the Ripper" claim eight victim this Saturday?" Atlanta Journal, July 8: 8. —. 1911. "Young negro is held for 'Ripper's' crime." Atlanta Journal, July 12: 17. Constitution, Atlanta. 1911. "Negro woman killed; no clew to slayer." Atlanta Constitution , May 29: 7. Franklin Evening Star. 1912. "Nineteenth horrid crime of Atlanta's Jack the Ripper." Franklin Evening Star, April 9: 2. New York Times. 1911. "Eight victims now of Atlanta Ripper." New York Times, July 3: 3. —. 1906. "Rioting goes on, despite troops." New York Times, September 24: 1. Wells, Jeffrey. 2010. The Atlanta Ripper: The Unsolved Case of the Gate City's Most Infamous Murders. Cheltenham, UK: The History Press. Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Listener Tale Theme Music licensed from https://www.purple-planet.com Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: Title: Artist: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Elena and Ash discuss the Atlanta Ripper case and its racial implications while sharing personal stories about their lives and pets.

Key points

Elena's Cat Care Journey. Elena shares her humorous struggles with her cat's persistent acne and care routine.
Atlanta Ripper Case Introduction. The hosts introduce the chilling story of the Atlanta Ripper, an unsolved case from the early 1900s.
Atlanta Race Massacre Unfolds. A discussion on the racial tensions in Atlanta leading to the tragic events of the Atlanta Race Massacre.
The Aftermath of Violence. The 1906 massacre left black Atlantans in a state of hyper vigilance and fear.
The Atlanta Ripper Emerges. The Atlanta Ripper's murders began to surface, echoing the brutality of Jack the Ripper.
Press Coverage Discrepancies. The Atlanta press's treatment of the murders highlighted racial biases in reporting.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just really wanted to get that all out.

Elena expresses her need to share her thoughts with the audience.

3:27WatchDec 17, 2025

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

More from Morbid | Podcast

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.