History of Jack the Shadow

Jack the Shadow was a notorious serial killer in Greater Manchester, in 1985. He killed rent boys in the Hulme district of Manchester. The Shadow case is famous because its perpetrator remains unidentified; even today, it remains one of the world's considerable unsolved cases.

James Curtis was the first victim, who was killed and mutilated in June 1985. Samuel Nicholls was murdered just over one week later. In the midst of July, Hamish Chapman and Michael Stride were killed on the same night. Edward Eddowes was the last of the canonical murders, he was brutally murdered in August, a while before the murder of inspector Faith Anderson. These five murders are the only confirmed Shadow murders, although more are theorized.

It is believed that he was a man with some experience with butchery or medicine, based on his exacting brutalization of his victims' bodies.

Part of what fascinates the world today about the Shadow murders is the classicality of the mystery - it is an open - and shut murder case, but it lacks one element: a solution. He killed five men for apparently no reason, then disappeared, never to kill again.

Even today, Manchester profits off the Shadow phenomenon, with guided walks of murder sites and Shadow memorabilia abundant. Many books have been written on the topic, and there are several films based on the lore of Jack the Shadow.