Portrait of a Killer

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Portrait of a Killer - Jack the Ripper: Case Closed (ISBN 0-425-19273-3) is a 2002 book by crime novelist Patricia Cornwell which presents the author's theory that British painter Walter Sickert was the 19th-century serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. Unlike her Kay Scarpetta novels, this work is non-fiction.

The book was released to much controversy, especially within the British art world, where Sickert's work is admired, and also among Ripperologists, who strongly dispute her research methods and conclusions. Cornwell has lashed back at her critics, claiming that if she were a man or British her conclusions would have been accepted, and she has also made remarks indicating that those who study the Ripper case would rather the mystery not be solved.

[edit] Her theory

She contends Sickert had the psychological profile of a killer. She asserts that many of his paintings and sketches follow a violently misogynistic theme. Cornwell's belief is that Sickert was unable to have intercourse because of botched surgery to correct a fistula on his penis. However Cornwell provides no evidence for either the fistula or the surgery. The killings coincide with the marriage of Sickert's close friend and mentor, the famous painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who later distanced himself from Sickert, even suing Sickert later in life. Cornwell claims this marriage and the end of the friendship provided the spark which exacerbated his awareness of his disabilities and ignited a latent anger against the opposite sex.

Departing from common belief among experts that most of the Ripper's letters were hoaxes, Cornwell believes that the letters contain specific information related to crimes, and as such are unlikely to be from anyone other than the Ripper. Cornwell cites Sickert's artistic genius as useful for crafting the Ripper's letters by disguising handwriting and varying sketching styles. She also points to Sickert's paintings and sketches, some of which show women in prostrate poses that Cornwell claims are similar to victims at their crime scenes.

In recent speeches, Cornwell says that new evidence has come to light since her book. Paper manufacture experts now assert that reams of paper supposedly used by Jack the Ripper to write several letters to Scotland Yard and paper purchased by Sickert's mother bear the same small-press watermark. She also claims that there are matches in the cutter's marks, which are a result of the rough cutting of each quire (or small package) for packaging. A 'quire' was usually of 24 sheets.

[edit] Responses from critics

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Though Cornwell's book sold well, many "Ripperologists" and other critics argued that Cornwell's theory was far from persuasive.

Critics also note that Cornwell admits that she did not have a theory about the murders until about a year before her book came out and is convinced that the first name mentioned to her as a possible suspect must be the one who really did it. They note that, unlike authors of popular crime fiction, criminal investigators generally don't get to pick the person whodunnit before they do the research.

Critics point out that most, if not all, of the Ripper letters are considered hoaxes by all other authorities, so trying to prove that Sickert wrote one or more of them doesn't prove that he killed anyone (or, at least (seeing as how several of the Ripper letters of all status of credibility mention killing someone, and some of them actually resemble murders committed outside the Ripper's usual stalking grounds, and occasionally outside English soil itself) that he did not kill any of the Ripper's victims).
The evidence she claims supports the idea that Sickert had a disfigured penis also supports the more accepted theory that he had a fistula in his anus.[1]
Details in the letters and supposedly seen in the paintings she claims only the killer would know were published in newspapers and a book released in France. Sickert could have easily got hold of the book in question, as he also lived in France off and on. In fact, evidence shows that he was probably in France on the nights of four of the five Ripper murders.[2]
The fact that she invested a reported 1 million dollars during her research would precipitate a well known figure being named as the guilty party in her work.