Jack the Ripper Suspect – Hyam Hyams

On 29 December 1888, a month after the murder of Mary Kelly, Hyam Hyams was picked up by the Metropolitan police in Leman Street and taken to the Whitechapel workhouse infirmary, suffering from delirium tremens.

He spent the next 2 years in and out of lunatic asylums before eventually ending up at Colney Hatch in January 1890 where he remained until his death in 1913 from exhaustion and cardio-vascular degeneration.

Throughout Hyam’s incarceration he was described as, ‘Violent, threatening, noisy and destructive’. He continuously threatened other patients and members of staff, and on one occasion, when a medical officer was passing through the ward, crept up behind him and stabbed him in the neck with a makeshift knife.

Hyam’s records show that he had been violent towards his wife, and his mother. His records also note that he practiced self-abuse, and was previously addicted to drink. His wife stated that for the past 9 years he had suffered from periodical epileptic attacks, whereupon he became progressively more violent and delusional.

Hyam, who was described as 5ft 7″tall, medium build with brown hair and a large brown moustache, fits many of the eyewitness descriptions of the Ripper.

However, so did a lot of other people.

Conclusion: It is Highly unlikely that Hyam Hyams was Jack the Ripper.