Francis Spurzheim Craig
Francis Craig is a recent addition to the list of Ripper suspects. Craig, a reporter and journalist, was certainly present at the Ripper inquests, but a 2015 book suggests that he was, in fact, Jack the Ripper. In 1884, Craig married Elizabeth Weston Davies, but only months after their wedding it became clear that Weston Davies was a prostitute.
According to author Wynne Weston-Davies, in his 2015 book The Real Mary Kelly, Elizabeth Weston Davies left her husband and went into hiding in Whitechapel, under the name Mary Kelly. Craig followed her to Whitechapel, and took lodgings near where the murders took place. Weston-Davies suggests that Craig killed the other prostitutes to cover up his real plan and intent; to murder his wife.
Divorce papers certainly support the idea that Elizabeth Weston-Davies left her husband, and was a prostitute. Craig was a journalist, and could have written the well-known Ripper letters, and would likely have opted to send them out as the Ripper did; however, these letters are widely thought to be a hoax.
Several years after the Ripper killings, Craig committed suicide, leaving a note that stated that he had experienced great pain. He killed himself by slitting his own throat with a razor, although it took four days for him to die after being found by his landlady.
The British courts have granted the author and descendant of Elizabeth Weston Davies permission to exhume the body of Mary Jane Kelly for DNA testing. If Mary Jane Kelly was really Elizabeth Weston Davies, this would provide potential evidence for Craig’s motive. That said, the author, Wynne Weston-Davies, fails to successfully argue his case, providing no clear link between Elizabeth Weston Davies and Mary Jane Kelly.