Prisoner 1167: The Madman Who Was Jack the Ripper [Paperback]

James C. H. Tully (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1998

As Ripperologist James Tully reveals, the most convincing candidate for the notorious Victorian serial killer was a convicted murderer and escaped mental patient -- Prisoner 1167 of the notorious Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum -- yet his file was kept sealed when the police failed to apprehend him after the last Ripper killing.
-- Why are "Prisoner 1167"'s government files still classified almost seventy after his death?
-- How do his alias and profession link him to the notorious first letter from "Jack the Ripper"?
-- What are the similarities between his murder of his wife in 1883 and the Ripper killings in 1888?
-- Why was Broadmoor contacted about him immediately after the most gruesome of the Ripper's murders?
-- Why does this man, the Home Office's only named suspect, never appear in either case records or the press?
-- Why did the London Police fail to catch him and how did he remain on the run for forty years?

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

After 15 years of research, Tully, a Ripperologist, reveals that James Kelly (1860-1929) was the notorious Jack the Ripper. Convicted of killing his wife in 1883 and sentenced to death, Kelly got a reprieve when he was certified insane. He was sent to the Broadmoor Asylum until he escaped on January 23, 1888. He disappeared until he showed up at the gate of the Broadmoor Asylum on February 11, 1927. Officials there claimed they didn't know where he'd been for the past 39 years. Tully's investigation attempts to show otherwise. In trying to prove his case, Tully gets bogged down in providing meticulous details of Jack the Ripper's crimes, including the coroners' inquests on each of the eight victims. His reasons for doing so are to point out that one victim, Elizabeth Stride, was not killed by Jack the Ripper but by someone else who made it look that way. Although most of the files have been made public, we will have to wait until 2030 to see whether Tully has correctly identified Prisoner 1167 (the number assigned to Kelly at Broadmoor) as Jack the Ripper. Government files on Kelly are sealed until then. Recommended only to those who have a strong interest in the Ripper.?Michael Sawyer, Clinton P.L., Iowa
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Tully's authoritative inspection of one suspect in the Jack the Ripper affair is fascinating but almost indecently graphic. James Kelly, an upholsterer, was the convicted murderer and documented eviscerator of his wife, who he believed, on the apparent basis of his acquaintance with the local strumpetry, was a prostitute. That accusation was false, but it dovetails with the Ripper's supposed motives, since his victims were all prostitutes. Further, Kelly's trade gave him experience with sharp implements, if not the Ripper's seeming surgical dexterity and anatomical knowledge. Ultimately, there is no way of unequivocally proving that Kelly or any other suspect was the Ripper. Tully gives us rip-roaring true crime reading, at any rate, for all its earnestness and documentation. Bear in mind that the descriptions of Kelly's as well as the Ripper's enormities are explicit to the point of inducing real queasiness. Mike Tribby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub; Pbk. Ed edition (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786705434
• ISBN-13: 978-0786705436
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #338,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read on the subject, and a fascinating hypothesis., August 13, 1998

By 

Paul S. [e-mail] (Allentown, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prisoner 1167: The Madman Who Was Jack the Ripper (Paperback)

Tully theorizes that Jack is really James(John)Kelly, an inmate of the Broadmoor, commited for murdering his wife by stabbing her in the neck. The notable fact is that he escaped from that facility in 1888 prior to the first of the Whitechapel murders. Here is a true madman, a paranoid who deeply distrusts women, has a history of a violent attack in early Ripper style, and is on the loose in London at precisely the correct time. Tully's case is bolstered by the very strange actions of the constabulary, whose attempts to recapture Kelly were half-hearted at best; orders being given, for instance, that if identified Kelly was not to be arrested(???). Unfortunately, there is little beyond these coincidences to make the case. As usual many questions are raised, but answers are in limited supply. Still, I recommend this book for its very plausible argument and excellent style.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read on the subject, and a fascinating hypothesis., August 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Prisoner 1167: The Madman Who Was Jack the Ripper (Paperback)

Tully theorizes that Jack is really James(John)Kelly, an inmate of the Broadmoor, commited for murdering his wife by stabbing her in the neck. The notable fact is that he escaped from that facility in 1888 prior to the first of the Whitechapel murders. Here is a true madman, a paranoid who deeply distrusts women, has a history of a violent attack in early Ripper style, and is on the loose in London at precisely the correct time. Tully's case is bolstered by the very strange actions of the constabulary, whose attempts to recapture Kelly were half-hearted at best; orders being given, for instance, that if identified Kelly was not to be arrested(???). Unfortunately, there is little beyond these coincidences to make the case. As usual many questions are raised, but answers are in limited supply. Still, I recommend this book for its very plausible argument and excellent style.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lack of evidence appears the hallmark of this work., August 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Prisoner 1167 : The Madman Who Was Jack the Ripper (Hardcover)

Though this work excellently represents the history of a madman, it is missing the necessary evidentiary links which tie in the suspect to the facts. There is nothing which, in a compelling way, brings the suspect even close to the victims and the evidence which is well documented. It was an enjoyable read nontheless.