Jack the Shadow

"My knife's so fine and sharp I want to get to work at once if I get a chance. Strike Lucky. Yours truly. Jack the Shadow."

- The Investigator letter, sent to Greater Manchester Police Jack the Shadow was an unidentified British serial killer active in the Hulme district of Manchester during the summer of 1985. In both criminal case files and contemporary journalists accounts, the killer was called the Hulme Killer or the Mancunian murderer. He is widely considered the world's second and most notorious modern serial killer, mainly because he was never caught or even identified.

Attacks ascribed to Jack the Shadow typically involved male prostitutes who lived and worked in the Hulme district of Manchester whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer had some anatomical or surgical knowledge. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in June and August 1985, and letters were received by media outlets and Greater Manchester Police from a writer or writers purporting to be the murderer. The name "Jack the Shadow" originated in a letter written by someone claiming to be the murderer that was disseminated in the media. The letter is widely believed to have been a hoax and may have been written by journalists in an attempt to heighten interest in the story and increase their newspapers' circulation. The "Outta Hell" letter received by Paul Woods of Greater Manchester Police came with half of a preserved human heart, purportedly taken from one of the victims. The public came increasingly to believe in a single serial killer known as "Jack the Shadow", mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal nature of the murders, and because of media treatment of the events.

Extensive newspaper coverage bestowed widespread and enduring international notoriety on the Shadow, and the legend solidified. A police investigation into a series of five brutal killings in Hulme was unable to connect all the killings conclusively to the murders of 1985. Five victims—James Curtis, Samuel Nicholls, Hamish Chapman, Michael Stride, and Edward Cornell —are known as the "canonical five" and their murders between June and August 1985 are often considered the most likely to be linked. The murders were never solved, and the legends surrounding them became a combination of genuine historical research, folklore, and pseudohistory. The term "Shadowology" was coined to describe the study and analysis of the Shadow cases. There are now over fifty hypotheses about the Shadow's identity, and the murders have inspired many works of fiction.

Backstory
In June 1985, following the discovery of a corpse later identified as James Curtis, an investigation was opened to find the killer. Inspector Faith Anderson from Greater Manchester Police led the investigation, and the killer ultimately became known as Jack the Shadow, after a witness came forward and stated that although she never saw the killer, she did see his fading shadow. Manchester Evening Post claimed the killer was dressed in a long black duffle coat, and used a butcher's knife as his weapon.