Book launch of ‘One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper’

Sarah Bax Horton is a former government researcher who was educated at the University of Oxford. A former civilian volunteer with the City of London Police, she is akeen genealogist. She lives in South West London and is a member of the Society of Authors, the Whitechapel Society, and the Crime Writers’ Association.

‘While on a work sabbatical, I discovered that my paternal great-great grandfather Harry Garrett had worked on the Jack the Ripper case. My research convinced me thatthe police had done an outstanding job in trying to catch this most notorious of all serial killers. They identified a perpetrator who, owing to a lack of evidence, could not becharged with his crimes. This book is a tribute to those men who worked on the investigation.’

Inspired by her own police ancestor, Sarah Bax Horton brings her expertise in research to bear on the case. She identifies the perpetrator by linking eye-witness accounts of the killer’s distinctive physical characteristics to official medical records. Severe epilepsy and a broken arm had left this man unable to work early in 1888. The resulting serious physical and mental decline, the author contests, triggered him to kill.

Each of the six murders – from Martha Tabram to Marie Kelly – is discussed and reconstructed as perpetrated by this man, with his escalating violence clearly demonstrated.From how he accosted his victims to how he escaped.

“We have waited three decades for a book-length examination of Hyam Hyams and thankfully Sarah Bax Horton has given us one - and what an excellent job she has done. A well- researched, well-written, and long-needed book-length examination of alikely suspect.” Paul Begg, author of Jack the Ripper