The Atlanta Ripper: The Unsolved Case of the Gate City s Most Infamous Murders

As Atlanta finished rebuilding after the Civil War, a new horror arose from the ashes to roam the night streets.

Beginning in 1911, a killer whose methods mimicked the famed Jack the Ripper murdered at least twenty black women, from prostitutes to working-class women and mothers. Each murder attributed to the killer occurred on a Saturday night, and for one terrifying spring in 1911, a fresh body turned up every Sunday morning. Amid a stifling investigation, slayings continued until 1915. As many as six men were arrested for the crimes, but investigators never discovered the identity of the killer, or killers, despite having several suspects in custody. Join local historian Jeffrey Wells as he reveals the case of the Atlanta Ripper, unsolved to this day.

Jeffery Wells is a native Georgian. Educated in Georgia public schools, he went on to receive his bachelor's degree in history from the University of Georgia in 1996, when he graduated cum laude. In 2006, he received his master's degree in history from Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, where he received the William Ivey Hair Outstanding Graduate Student in History award. Beginning his teaching career in 1998, Wells has taught at the middle school, high school, technical college and community college levels. Currently, he is the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division chair at Georgia Military College, where he also serves as assistant professor of history. He has authored several books on Georgia history, including In Atlanta or In Hell: The Camp Creek Train Crash of 1900, also published by The History Press; Bigfoot in Georgia: Legends, Myths, and Sightings, published by Pine Winds Press; and Moments in McDonough History. In addition, he is the author of several articles on Georgia history. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Historians, the Southern Historical Association, the Georgia Old Capital Museum Society, the Old Campbell County Historical Society and the Genealogical Society of Clayton and Henry Counties. He resides in metro Atlanta.