The "Dear Boss" letter was a message supposedly written by the famous unidentified serial killer from the Victorian era known as Jack the Ripper. The letter was sent to the Central News Agency of London and had a date of 25 September 1888. It was marked with a postmark and received by the Central News Agency on 27 September. The letter was then sent to Scotland Yard on 29 September.

Although many people question whether the letter is real, it is considered the first written message signed by Jack the Ripper. This letter led to the unidentified killer being known by the name Jack the Ripper.

Content

The "Dear Boss" letter was written in red ink, was two pages long, and contains several spelling and punctuation errors. The author clearly intended to mock the efforts of investigators and hint at future murders. The letter reads:

I keep hearing the police think they have caught me, but they have not yet stopped me. I laughed when they acted clever and claimed they were on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron made me very angry. I dislike prostitutes, and I will not stop harming them until I am caught. The last job was very well done. I gave the woman no time to scream. How can they catch me now? I enjoy my work and want to begin again. You will hear from me soon with my strange plans. I saved some red ink from a ginger beer bottle after the last job, but it became thick like glue and I could not use it. I hope the red ink I have now is enough. Ha, ha. The next job I do, I will cut off the woman’s ears and send them to the police officers for fun. Keep this letter hidden until I complete more work, then share it directly. My knife is very sharp, and I want to begin my work immediately if I get the chance. Good luck. Yours truly, Jack the Ripper

Do not worry about me mentioning the trade name.

P.S. I was not able to post this letter earlier because I had red ink still on my hands. Curse it. I have not been caught yet. They say I am a doctor now. Ha, ha.

Media publication

At first, the letter was thought to be one of many fake letters claiming to be from the killer. However, after the body of Catherine Eddowes was found in Mitre Square on September 30, investigators noticed that part of her right ear had been cut off. This supported the writer's claim in the letter to "clip the lady's ears off." In response, the Metropolitan Police printed many flyers that included copies of the letter and the "Saucy Jacky" postcard, hoping someone might recognize the handwriting. Many local and national newspapers also printed parts of the "Dear Boss" letter. These efforts did not help find any useful information.

After the "Dear Boss" letter and the "Saucy Jacky" postcard were published, both became widely known around the world. These items were the first time the name "Jack the Ripper" was used to describe the killer. The name became popular with the public. In the weeks after their release, police and newspapers received many fake letters that claimed to be from "Jack the Ripper," most of which copied phrases from the original letters.

Authenticity

After the Ripper murders, police officials believed that the "Dear Boss" letter and the "Saucy Jacky" postcard were clever tricks created by a local journalist. At first, these ideas were not widely shared, as the public believed newspaper reports that the unknown killer had sent messages to taunt the police and warn of more murders. This communication became one of the long-lasting mysteries of the Ripper case. Today, scholars disagree about whether any of the letters are real. The "Dear Boss" letter is one of three most often linked to the killer, and many writers have tried to prove who the killer was by comparing the letter’s handwriting to that of suspects.

Like many other documents from the Ripper case, the "Dear Boss" letter was missing from police records after the investigation ended. It may have been kept as a keepsake by an officer. In November 1987, the letter was returned anonymously to the Metropolitan Police, and Scotland Yard retrieved all documents about the Whitechapel Murders from The National Archives at Kew.

In 1931, a journalist named Fred Best claimed that he and a coworker, Tom Bullen, from The Star newspaper, had written the "Dear Boss" letter, the "Saucy Jacky" postcard, and other fake messages pretending to be from the Whitechapel Murderer—whom they named Jack the Ripper—to keep the public interested in the case and increase newspaper sales.

Calligraphy and linguistic analysis

In 2018, Andrea Nini, an expert in language analysis from the University of Manchester, said he strongly believed that the "Dear Boss" letter and the "Saucy Jacky" postcard were written by the same person. He explained that there is strong evidence from the way the language was used to show both pieces were written by the same person. In the past, others had suggested this possibility based on similar handwriting, but this had not been proven for sure.