Not wishing to trail behind in comparison to their forefathers, the Americans got in on the serial killing lark soon after Jack started tearing up the streets of London with the so-called Servant Girl Annihilator, also known as The Austin Axe Murderer (not quite as elegant a nom de plume, you can see why he or she never caught on). During the years 1884 and 1885 eight people were murdered by - according to the New York Times - "some cunning madman, who is insane on the subject of killing women". Sounds kinda familiar, right? Kinda like someone who could be a painter, woman or milk man? Huh? Huh? Yes, of course there's somebody who reckons that this psychopath and Jack The Ripper are one and the same. We're not sure how he managed to get away from Whitechapel and emigrate to Texas without anybody catching on, but anyway. In her book Jack the Ripper: The American Connection, Shirley Harrison lays out her argument that Jack The Annihilator - ooo, good wrestling name - was one James Maybrick, a cotton merchant from Liverpool who was later convicted of poisoning his wife. Which he totally did do. Whether he also killed five London prostitutes and eight American civilians is a little more up for debate, although London authorities questioned several cowboys at the time. Then again all the evidence that implicated Maybrick (a supposed diary of his which acts like a confession, a pocket watch engraved with "I am Jack") turned out to be phonies, so.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
