alphabet murders
Timetable
Attack Timetable
The Alphabet Murders are a series of crimes based on the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 to 1891. Like all murders using Jack the Ripper’s approach, they have two distinguishing features: they measure time in terms of the day of the year and the days until the end of the year and show 2:1 relationships.
Typically, 2:1 dates are subtracted from one another to arrive at a 2:1 relationship. The six Freeway Phantom Murders, for example, make three numbers: 66, 74, and 140, with 140 equal to the sum of the other two.
Here, the approach is different: The killer converted the day of the attack into initials—two sets of initials for the day of the arrack, but only one if the calculation uses the days from the attack to the end of the year. The initials produce the 2:1 relationships.
Because the killer used dates above the value of a victim’s initials, he added padding. The second table shows this padding in a reduced font.
Day of Attack
Day of Attack Expressed in Initials and Values
Predicting the Third Attack
Could the Rochester police have predicted the date of the attack on Michelle Maenza? The short answer is yes.
The attack on Carmen Colon occurred on 16 November 1971, 45 days before the end of the year. Using initials and padding, we get CCMMM, with the initials having a value of 6 and the padding -MMM—having a value of 39. If the killer intended to keep his design symmetrical, the final date would be MMCCC, with the initials having a value of 26 and the padding, CCC, having a value of 9. November 26 is the 35th day before the end of the year and the likeliest date for the third attack.
But the killer gave us another clue. Just as the victims were Roman Catholics, the letters M and C are Roman Numerals, with M having a value of one thousand and C having a value of one hundred. Thus, MMCCC is a Roman number with a value of 2300 (W X 100), and MMMCC is a number with a value of 3200 or ( M + C) X 200.
The killer used the 2:1 relationships to confirm the validity of this approach.
The attack could occur in 1973 or 1974. If two attacks happen in the same year, the final attack will be in 1973; on the other hand, if the last two attacks occur in successive years, the final attack will be in 1974.
The police should have prepared for an attack on 26 November 1973, and if that failed to materialise, they should have expected an attack on 26 November 1974.
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