Files may hold clues to Jack the Ripper

Published: Nov. 9, 2008 at 12:26 PM

LONDON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Authorities say newly released documents from Britain's first criminal asylum could shed light on the identity of Jack the Ripper.

Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire, England, has opened all archives more than 100 years old, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Broadmoor was home to Thomas Hayne Cutbush, a leading suspect in Britain's most infamous unsolved murder case, the Telegraph reported.

Jack the Ripper, as he was commonly known, killed and mutilated at least 11 women in the East End of London between 1888 and 1891.

Cutbush, who suffered delusions thought to be caused by syphilis, was pronounced insane and committed to Broadmoor in 1891 after he stabbed one woman and tried to stab another, the Telegraph reported.

After Cutbush was detained at Broadmoor, the Ripper killings ceased. The Telegraph said Cutbush's Broadmoor file contains clues possibly linking him to the killings.

One of the hospital documents describes Cutbush as having "brilliant blue eyes" and a limp, which matches the description of a witness who claimed to have seen Jack the Ripper, the Telegraph reported.

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