The Jack the Ripper investigation produced the first formal character profile of a killer
The hunt for Jack the Ripper in 1888 produced the world's first formal criminal profile, using the nature of the wounds to predict the killer's personality and habits.
Police surgeon Thomas Bond created the first recorded offender profile during the 1888 Whitechapel murders, correctly theorizing that the killer was a solitary man prone to 'periodical attacks of homicidal and erotic mania.' Despite never catching the culprit, the Metropolitan Police employed surprisingly modern techniques, including systematic house-to-house inquiries and the collection of forensic material.
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