Michael Ostrog
Michael Ostrog | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Michael Ostrog (c. 1870s) | |
| Born | c. 1833 |
| Died | after 1904 (aged c. 70/71) |
| Other names | Bertrand Ashley Michael Orloff |
| Occupation(s) | Scam artist, fraudster |
| Convictions | Theft, scamming, fraud, robbery, attempted murder |
| Criminal penalty | Various |
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Michael Ostrog[a] (c. 1833 – after 1904) was a Russian criminal and Jack the Ripper suspect, first proposed in a memorandum by Sir Melville Macnaghten in 1894.
Ostrog was a swindler with a profuse police record who perpetrated multiple scams and frauds, but it was never proven that he committed any murders. According to 21st century investigations, during 1888 he was imprisoned in France, and such a circumstance would rule out his participation in any of the Whitechapel murders.
Biography
[edit] | This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (July 2025) |
Ostrog was born in the Russian Empire around 1833, and little is known about his early life. He emigrated to England, and first became known by the authorities after he committed a robbery at the University of Oxford using the pseudonym of 'Max Grief'; he was convicted and sentenced to ten months in prison. The following year, he was imprisoned again, this time for three months after committing multiple frauds in Cambridge. In December 1864, he was convicted of fraud again, and sentenced to eight months in prison. In August 1866, he was jailed for seven years after a series of robberies, mostly stealing gold watches from a jewellery store in Maidstone.[1]
In 1873, Ostrog was released from prison and soon began committing thefts once again. He was arrested and taken to the police station in Burton upon Trent, where he resisted and tried to fire a gun upon the officers. In January 1874, as a result of robberies, contempt and attempted murder, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was released in 1883. Four years later, in July 1887, he stole the trophy from a cricket contest, and was sentenced to six months in prison.[1]
Once he was released in March 1888, prison authorities considered Ostrog to be reformed; however, an article published by Police Gazette was argued that he was very dangerous. In September of that year, he committed another robbery in Paris, France. He then left and returned to England, where he was admitted to an asylum in Surrey in 1891. After this seclusion, he continued to periodically leave and enter prisons for thefts, scams and frauds until 1904, the year any information about him ceases to be published. It is presumed that he died about this time.[1]
Whitechapel murders suspect
[edit]
Ostrog was a professional scammer who used costumes to improve the chances for a successful scam. He also used a variety of aliases for the same purpose, always seeking to surround himself with an air of mystery, and spread all kinds of lies about his life and activities. One of his most creative hoaxes was to repeatedly claim that he worked as a surgeon in the Russian Navy. However, this was just another of his numerous inventions.[2]
Even though in the memorandum of the Scotland Yard chief, Sir Melville Macnaghten, Ostrog was identified as a Jack the Ripper suspect, the investigators did not find evidence of violent crime in his past, much less homicide. His record of illegal activities only included theft and scams, making him a white collar criminal.[3][4]
In 1894, Ostrog was mentioned in the "Macnaghten Memorandum", as a likely perpetuator of Jack the Ripper's crimes.[5] In 2001, Philip Sugden, an expert on the Jack the Ripper case, located police records in which it was stated that Michael Ostrog had been charged with minor crimes and imprisoned in France in 1888, during the period of the Whitechapel murders. This gives him an alibi that excludes him as a possible suspect.[6]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Michael Ostrog, suspect, sitio digital Casebook Jack the Ripper.
- ^ Paul Begg, Jack the Ripper the uncersored facst, Editorial Robson, Londres, Inglaterra (1988), págs. 197-198.
- ^ Stewart Evans, Keith Skinner, The ultímate Jack the Ripper Soucebook, Editorial Constable and Robinson S.A, Londres, Inglaterra (2001), págs. 652-653.
- ^ Nuria Janire Rámila, La maldición de Whitechapel, Editorial Aladena, Barcelona, España (2010), pág. 285.
- ^ Melville Leslie McNaghten, Days of my Year, Editorial, Hard Press, Londres, Inglaterra (reimpresión 2012).
- ^ Philip Sugden, The complete history of Jack the Ripper, editorial Da Capo Press, Londres, Inglaterra (1994).
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]- Biography of Michael Ostrog with some photos of the suspect
- Michael Ostrog (b. 1833, suspect) on the digital site Casebook: Jack the Ripper
