New Season of Netflix’s ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Will Explore One of the Biggest Cold Cases of All Time

Netflix’s Unsolved Mysteries is tackling one of the biggest cold cases of all time. Season 4 of the true-crime and mystery series will explore the story of notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper, who killed five women in London in 1888. 

‘Unsolved Mysteries’ Volume 4 premieres July 31 

Netflix’s revival of Unsolved Mysteries premiered in 2020. The new version of the show switched up the format of the cult favorite series, ditching the host and focusing on just one case per episode. But like the original, it featured a mix of unexplained deaths, strange disappearances, and paranormal occurrences. 

The new season, which has five episodes and premieres July 31, will stick with that formula, delivering the show’s “most unique volume yet,” Unsolved Mysteries co-creator Terry Dunn Meurer told Netflix’s Tudum.   

“We have a wide variety of cases in the next batch: a severed head that has not been identified, a woman who died mysteriously in a basement, a mysterious flying creature that has been spotted around the Chicago area, [and] a young woman who suffered a brutal death and her killer has escaped justice,” Meurer said.

‘Unsolved Mysteries’ looks at the Jack the Ripper case

In addition to largely unknown cases, Unsolved Mysteries Volume 4 will also take a closer look at a series of crimes that have baffled people for years. One episode will explore “the famous case of Jack the Ripper, which has never been solved,” Meurer said. 

Jack the Ripper terrorized the Whitechapel neighborhood in London’s East End beginning in late August 1888. Between then and November, the unidentified killer brutally murdered five women and mutilated their bodies, all within a relatively small geographic area. A person claiming to be the killer also sent several taunting letters to the authorities in which he referred to himself as Jack the Ripper. 

“Jack the Ripper frightened people in a way that no killer had ever done before,” someone says in the trailer (via YouTube) for the new season. 

The brutality of the Jack the Ripper murders was terrifying. The sense of fear was stoked by the enthusiastic coverage in the city’s press. Newspapers gravitated to the sensational story and helped create the idea of Jack the Ripper in people’s minds. 

Despite a strong police response, no one was ever arrested for the Ripper murders. Over the years, a number of suspects have emerged, including a lawyer named Montague Druitt and a Polish barber named Aaron Kominski. Others have accused Prince Albert Victor, a grandson of Queen Victoria, and author Lewis Carroll of the crimes. However, there is little evidence supporting those claims.  Fascination with Jack the Ripper and his crimes has also sparked a macabre tourist industry revolving around visits to the places where the victims lived and died.

Unsolved Mysteries Volume 4 premieres July 31 on Netflix. 

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