James Maybrick

Biography

James Maybrick (24 October 1838 – 11 May 1889) was a Liverpool cotton merchant. After his death, his wife, Florence Maybrick, was convicted of murdering him by poisoning in a sensational trial. The "Aigburth Poisoning" case was widely reported in the press on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1992 Maybrick was accused of being the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper, based on the discovery of a diary which contained an account allegedly written by Maybrick himself. Critics countered the diary and confession are a hoax, and forensic tests were inconclusive. Michael Barrett, who claimed discovery of the diary, also swore a statement saying the diary was a forgery, but the Ripper hypothesis retains defenders.

There have also been attempts to link Maybrick to the murders of the Servant Girl Annihilator, who killed several women during 1884 and 1885 in the city of Austin, Texas.

In his book They All Love Jack, writer, researcher, and filmmaker Bruce Robinson produced an argument that it was James’s brother, Michael Maybrick, who was the true poisoner who killed James.