Blackout Ripper

Gordon Frederick Cummins (1913 or 1914 – 25 June 1942), known as the Blackout Killer and the Blackout Ripper, was an English spree killer who murdered four women in London in 1942. The Ripper tag came from similarities with the Jack the Ripper murders as both killers mutilated their victims. Cummins was born in York in late 1913 or early 1914. He married a theatre producer's secretary in 1936. He was a Leading aircraftman in the Royal Air Force where he was nicknamed The Count because of his claims to have noble heritage. Over six days in February 1942, Cummins took advantage of London's night-time blackout conditions to murder four women and attempt to murder two others. He mutilated the bodies of three of his victims. On Sunday 9...