Thomas Hayne Cutbush: A Victorian Madman
Steven BullockA composite image made of Thomas Hayne Cutbush based on descriptions of the man.
Who was he?
Thomas Hayne Cutbush was born in 1866 in Kennington, England. His father died when he was young, and Cutbush was raised by his mother and aunt.
He worked numerous jobs as a young man to support his family, but he also studied medicine, often poring over medical textbooks for hours at a time.
But in 1888, Cutbush reportedly went insane, suffering delusions that were thought to have been caused by syphilis that he contracted.
Though doctors attempted to treat him, Cutbush became convinced that the medical professionals were trying to poison him. So, he escaped the clinic where he was held and allegedly stabbed a nearby girl and threatened another.
Cutbush was eventually recovered by the police, and sent to the Broadmoor high-security psychiatric hospital after he was declared insane in 1891. He stayed there until his death in 1903, still suffering from violent delusions.
Why is he one of the Jack the Ripper suspects?
In 1894, shortly after the last of the known Ripper murders, British tabloid The Sun (no relation to the modern tabloid) released a series of articles that suggested that they’d uncovered the identity of Jack the Ripper — and that he was Thomas Hayne Cutbush.
The tabloid may not have specifically named Cutbush, but reporters used enough details about the “mental patient” that people would know who he was.
In modern times, author David Bullock is so convinced that The Sun correctly guessed the identity of Jack the Ripper that he wrote an entire book about it, The Man Who Would Be Jack.
Does the case against him hold up?
Not really.
The purported evidence tying Cutbush to the Jack the Ripper murders is that he was a violently insane person with access to medical textbooks who may have lived in the vicinity of the killings. Though some in the press at the time suspected Cutbush, he was dismissed by police investigating the case.
Also, Cutbush didn’t appear to match the physical description of the real serial killer, based on witness statements.
Assistant Chief Constable Sir Melville Macnaghten even prepared memoranda refuting Cutbush as a likely suspect and advancing several other theories about the identity of Jack the Ripper.
But while many would see this as evidence for Cutbush’s innocence, others believe Macnaghten may have had other reasons for protecting Cutbush, as Cutbush’s uncle was a superintendent in the Metropolitan Police — and that same uncle would go on to shoot himself in 1896.
