Michael Barrett Research Paper

In 1993, Michael Barrett and his wife concluded that forging a diary of a famous serial killer would be the best way to spend their upcoming weeks. After much discussion between the Barrett couple, Michael Barrett believed that, if given the proper materials and time, he would be able to produce a fake diary containing the thoughts and actions of Jack the Ripper. Following countless hours of research, Barrett finally had the perfect subject to pin all the murders and the diary onto, James Maybrick, a cotton merchant who died from being poisoned by his wife in 1889. Michael Barret, being a poor scrap metal merchant his entire life, was finally going to have his big break being the “finder” of the Jack the Ripper diary. With good team collaboration,

Throughout the diary, all of Jack’s murders are described in incredible detail, portraying what was going through the serial killer's head throughout the entire incident. Though all this seemed so genuine and credible, Barrett made many flaws, which he admitted to in his confession. Yes, 5 years after publishing the fake diary, Michael Barret admitted to completely making up everything that he and his wife had written in the diary that they had published in 1990. No forensic techniques or any investigations were done on the diary beforehand, due to every publishing company finding this diary to be so believable, even though it was created in such a short and rushed time period. In Barrett’s confession, he points out multiple mistakes and direct quotes that he stole from the time around when James Maybrick was alive throughout the entire diary. First, he points out an ink blot that was made on page 6 of the diary due to Michael telling his wife an incorrect name while scribing for him. Barrett notes that later, on page 226, he directly quotes Punch Magazine saying “TURN ROUND THREE TIMES, AND CATCH WHO YOU