I have written two books on individuals who were serial murderers. The first was The Postcard Killer, J. Frank Hickey, and the second was The Mail Order Serial Killer, Harry Powers. In both instances, each of the victims was White. I discovered other serial murders that have received scant attention, where African-Americans were victims. The first manuscript I have made available concerns The Atlanta Ripper, co-written by Robert Bing.
As an attorney of thirty years with an interest in criminal law, I was intrigued by the article “The Atlanta Ripper”. Therein, the authors describe their objective methodology in determining that much more likely than not, a number of Atlanta murders of black females in the early 1900’s were committed by a black serial killer. The issue of black-on-black crime has been only casually courted by the popular media. The possibility of a black serial killer–think Jack the Ripper–is virtually not embraced. This is a disservice to the public whose knowledge of serial killing is largely confined to white males preying on white females and gleaned from the confines of motion picture and tabloid journalism. This is a greater disservice to the black community. Without a developed belief system from which to operate, police will have neither the focus nor the experience to optimally function. All will be better served if critical light is further trained on this phenomenon. To deal with the problem, one must acknowledge a problem exists.
Albert Edwin Clark
Attorney at Law
Dr. McLaughlin,
I found your research on The Atlanta Ripper quite interesting and an easy read. I enjoyed it very much and found it interesting that in the map it looked as if though there was an altering between east and west? I look forward to reading your future publications.