Sudbury Star - Sudbury, Ontario
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Local Ripper author draws critics; Claim that Freemasons were behind murders sparks calls for a boycott

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Laura Stradiotto
Local News

A Sudbury woman says she has the answer to who was behind the notorious Jack The Ripper murders.

Self-published author Karen Trenouth points the finger at a group of aristocratic Freemasons in her book, Epiphany of the Whitechapel Murders.

Not surprising, some Freemasons are upset, while "Ripperologists" have slammed her theory, calling on readers to boycott her book.

But hateful e-mails and critical reviews don't discourage Trenouth, who is already working on her second book.

Trenouth said she discovered a missing piece of evidence in an old crime scene photograph posted on the Internet. In the photo next to one of Ripper's victims, Mary Jane Kelly, is a demonic idol.

Trenouth searched the Internet to see whether anyone had made the same observation. No one had.

"It really shocked me," said Trenouth.

"It meant I found something that everyone else missed. I went from there researching and investigating who my suspects were, why this wasn't in the post-mortem report because all the contents of the room were detailed and that wasn't mentioned."

Trenouth concluded the item was deliberately not included in the report because it directly implicated royalty - Prince Albert Victor.

"In my opinion, that was the only person who would warrant a cover up of that magnitude, where a distinguished police surgeon would falsify his report," said Trenouth.

The Knights Templar were accused of worshipping the devil in the 12th century. Prince Albert Victor was invested in the Order of the Royal Guarder, which adopted the doctrine of the Knights Templar, said Trenouth.

Trenouth said the Jack The Ripper murders were ritual killings, although they were not committed by the same person.

"The others were committed by a brilliant surgeon," she said.

Trenouth connects the Whitechapel murders of 1888 to the Cleveland Street Scandal, where several prominent aristocrats, including Price Albert Victor, were accused of being regular customers at a male brothel.

Her story unfolds with Mary Jane Kelly working as a servant girl at the Cleveland Street brothel when she discovers several of the male aristocrat customers are also engaging in pedophilia. When she notifies Scotland Yard, a team known as Jack The Ripper is sent to silence her.

Trenouth took time off her job as a personal support worker to investigate the Jack The Ripper mystery.