Jack the Ripper and the Case for Scotland Yard's Prime Suspect

by Robert House

  5. “Extraordinary Outrage at Bow. Attack on a Dressmaker,” Eastern Post and City Chronicle, March 31, 1888.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Quentin L. Pittman, “The Importance of Fairy Fay, and Her Link to Emma Smith,” posted at www.casebook.org/dissertations/importance-fairy.html.

  8. “Extraordinary Outrage at Bow. Attack on a Dressmaker,” Eastern Post and City Chronicle, March 31, 1888. Two of the other Whitechapel murders also occurred on or near Jewish holidays. The attack on Annie Millwood took place on the first day of Purim, which was scheduled to begin after sundown on February 25. The murder of Annie Chapman took place on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, a holiday during which Jews believe that God passes judgment on all humanity and the wicked receive a judgment of death.

  9. “Alleged Fatal Stabbing Case in Whitechapel,” Eastern Post and City Chronicle, April 7, 1888.

  10. Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002), chap. 2, n. 25.

  11. “Horrible Affair in Whitechapel,” People (London), April 15, 1888.

  12. Ibid.

  13. “Horrible Murder in Whitechapel,” Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, April 8, 1888.

  14. “A Brutal Murder,” Walthamstow and Leyton Guardian (UK), April 14, 1888.

  15. “Horrible Murder in Whitechapel,” Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, April 8, 1888.

  16. MEPO, Report of Inspector Edmund Reid, in Stewart Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2000), 4.

  17. Ibid.

  18. “Inquests,” Times (London), April 9, 1888.

  19. “The Horrible Murder in Whitechapel,” Morning Advertiser (London), April 9, 1888.

  20. “The Latest Whitechapel Mystery,” Eastern Post and City Chronicle, April 14, 1888.

  6. Martha Tabram

  1. “The Theatre. Mr. Richard Mansfield at the Lyceum,” Daily News (London), August 6, 1888.

  2. “A Dull Bank Holiday,” Star (London), August 7, 1888.

  3. “The Whitechapel Murder,” Eastern Post and City Chronicle, August 18, 1888.

  4. “Supposed Murder in Whitechapel,” Daily News (London) and other papers, August 8, 1888.

  5. “A Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 11, 1888.

  6. “Dreadful Murder in Whitechapel,” East London Advertiser, August 11, 1888.

  7. “Whitechapel Mystery,” Echo, August 13, 1888.

  8. “Brutal Murder of a Woman,” Morning Advertiser, August 8, 1888.

  9. Report of Inspector Reid, MEPO, August 24, 1888.

  10. “The Whitechapel Tragedy. Verdict of the Coroner’s Jury on the Revolting Murder,” Star, August 24, 1888.

  11. “The Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 25, 1888.

  12. Report of Inspector Reid, MEPO, August 16, 1888.

  13. Report of Inspector Reid, MEPO, September 24, 1888.

  14. “The Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 25, 1888.

  15. Ibid.

  16. “Whitechapel Mystery. Soldiers Parade at the Tower,” Echo, August 13, 1888.

  17. Report of Inspector Reid, MEPO, September 24, 1888.

  18. “The Murder Mystery. A Clue at Last,” Echo, August 17, 1888; and Report of Inspector Reid, MEPO, September 24, 1888.

  19. MEPO, summary report by Donald Sutherland Swanson, dated September 1888.

  20. “A Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 11, 1888.

  21. “Brutal Murder of a Woman,” Morning Advertiser, August 8, 1888.

  22. “Whitechapel Mystery,” Echo, August 10, 1888.

  23. “The Whitechapel Murder. Inquest,” Evening News (London), August 10, 1888.

  24. “A Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 11, 1888.

  25. MEPO, summary report by Donald Sutherland Swanson, September 1888.

  26. “A Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 11, 1888.

  27. Ibid.

  28. “Alleged Fatal Stabbing Case in Whitechapel,” Eastern Post and City Chronicle, April 7, 1888.

  29. “A Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 11, 1888.

  30. “Dreadful Murder in Whitechapel,” East London Advertiser, August 11, 1888.

  31. Illustrated Police News, August 18, 1888, cited in Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002), 18.

  32. Daily Telegraph, August 23, 1888, found at www.casebook.org/official_documents/inquests/inquest_tabram.html.

  33. “Whitechapel Mystery,” Echo, August 10, 1888.

  34. Ibid.

  35. “A Whitechapel Mystery,” East London Observer, August 11, 1888.

  7. Polly Nichols

  1. “The Whitechapel Murder,” Times (London), September 4, 1888.

  2. Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002), 44.

  3. Neal Shelden, The Victims of Jack the Ripper (Knoxville: Inklings Press, 2007), 9.

  4. Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 45.

  5. James Greenwood, In Strange Company: Being the Experiences of a Roving Correspondent (London: Vizetelly, 1883), 158–160.

  6. “Amadeus” (correspondent), Tower Hamlets Independent, February 4, 1882, cited in William J. Fishman, East End Jewish Radicals, 1875–1914 (London: Duckworth, 1975), 58.

  7. Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 35.

  8. “The Whitechapel Murders,” Times (London), September 24, 1888.

  9. Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 35.

  10. Leonard Matters, The Mystery of Jack the Ripper: The World’s Greatest Crime Problem (London: Hutchinson, 1929), 36.

  11. “The Whitechapel Murder: Inquest Resumed,” Echo, September 3, 1888.

  12. Ibid.

  13. “The Whitechapel Murder,” Daily Telegraph, September 3, 1888.

  14. “The Whitechapel Murders,” Times (London), September 18, 1888.

  15. “The Murder in Whitechapel,” Evening Standard (London), September 3, 1888.

  16. Daily Telegraph, Monday, September 3, 1888.

  17. MEPO, Report of Inspector J. Spratling, August 31, 1888.

  18. “Whitechapel-Road Murder: To the Editor of the Echo,” Echo, September 5, 1888.

  19. “The Whitechapel Murder,” Times (London), September 3, 1888.

  20. “The Whitechapel Murder: Funeral of the Victim,” Echo, September 6, 1888.

  8. The Police

  1. CID Report, October 19, 1888. Cited in Stewart P. Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2000), 29.

  2. Echo, September 5, 1888, www.casebook.org/press_reports/echo/18880905.html.

  3. “Leather Apron,” Star, September 5, 1888.

  4. “Leather Apron. Mysterious Murders in London Credited to a Strange, Half Crazy Character,” Atchison Daily Globe, September 5, 1888.

  5. Report by Inspector Joseph Henry Helson, Local Inspector, CID, J Division, September 7, 1888; Ref MEPO 3/140, ff. 235–238.

  6. Stewart P. Evans and Donald Rumbelow, Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates (Stroud: Sutton, 2006), 10.

  7. Paul Begg and Keith Skinner, The Scotland Yard Files: 150 Years of the C.I.D. 1842–1992 (London: Headline, 1992), 98.

  8. A. P. Moore Anderson, Sir Robert Anderson K.C.B, LL.D., and Lady Agnes Anderson (London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1947), 23.

  9. Ibid, 34.

  10. Evans and Rumbelow, Jack the Ripper, 18.

  11. Anderson, Sir Robert Anderson K.C.B, LL.D., and Lady Agnes Anderson, 37.

  12. Sir Robert Anderson, The Lighter Side of My Official Life (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1910), 92.

  13. Ibid, 91, and Evans and Rumbelow, Jack the Ripper, 21.

  9. Annie Chapman

  1. Neal Shelden, The Victims of Jack the Ripper (Knoxville: Inklings Press, 2007), 13.

  2. Ibid., 16–17.

 
3. Stewart P. Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2000), 7.

  4. Ralph Finn, No Tears in Aldgate (London: Robert Hale, 1963), 124.

  5. Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002), 79.

  6. Ibid., 80–81.

  7. “The Whitechapel Murders: The Inquest,” Times (London), September 11, 1888.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 82.

  10. Robin F. Rowland, “The Killer Stalked a Foul and Stinking Neighborhood,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), August 30, 1988.

  11. “The Whitechapel Murder: The Adjourned Inquest,” Times (London), September 13, 1988.

  12. “Inquests,” Times (London), September 20, 1988.

  13. “The Whitechapel Murders,” Daily Telegraph, September 20, 1988.

  14. Ibid.; and “Inquests,” Times (London), September 20, 1988.

  15. “Another Whitechapel Murder,” Echo, September 8, 1988.

  16. “The Whitechapel Crimes: Killed by Emotion,” Star, September 13, 1988.

  17. “The Whitechapel Murder. (Inquest),” Times (London), September 14, 1988.

  18. Ibid.

  19. “Inquests,” Times (London), September 20, 1988.

  20. Ibid.

  21. Ibid.

  22. “The Whitechapel Murders,” Lancet, September 29, 1988.

  23. “News from Whitechapel,” Daily Telegraph, September 10, 1888.

  24. Walter Dew, I Caught Crippen: Memoirs of Ex-Chief Inspector Walter Dew, C.I.D., of Scotland Yard (London: Blackie and Son, 1938).

  25. Report to Home Office, October 29, 1888, HO 144/221/A49301C, ff. 163–170.

  26. “A Riot against the Jews,” East London Observer, September 15, 1888. “On Saturday” refers to the previous Saturday, September 8.

  27. “Yesterday’s Whitechapel Tragedy,” Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper, September 9, 1888.

  28. “The Editor’s Draw: Slaughtering the Jews,” Evening News, September 11, 1888. Hutt’s letter was dated September 10.

  29. “The Whitechapel Murders. Inquest on Mrs. Chapman,” Evening Standard, September 13, 1888.

  30. “The Whitechapel Horrors: Scenes at the Inquest,” East London Advertiser, September 15, 1888.

  31. George Sims (“Dagonet”), Sunday Referee, September 16, 1888, www.casebook.org/press_reports/dagonet.html.

  32. “Notes of the Week,” Jewish Chronicle, September 14, 1888.

  33. Jewish Standard, September 14, 1888, http://forum.casebook.org/showpost.php?p=124935 &postcount=2.

  34. Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 124.

  35. “The Whitechapel Murders,” Daily Telegraph, September 20, 1888.

  36. Letter from Sir Charles Warren, dated September 15, 1888.

  37. Sir Charles Warren, September 19, 1888, report to Ruggles-Brise, HO 144/221/A49301C/8.

  38. Phillip Sugden cites Public Records Office MEPO 3/3153, ff. 1–4.

  10. Elizabeth Stride

  1. From a report by Chief Inspector Donald S. Swanson to the Home Office, dated October 19, 1888, and from “Whitechapel,” Star, October 1, 1888.

  2. Donald Rumbelow, The Complete Jack the Ripper (London: Penguin, 2004), 53.

  3. “The Murders at the East End,” Times (London), October 2, 1888.

  4. Ibid.

  5. “The East End Murders,” Times (London), October 3, 1888.

  6. Ibid.

  7. “The East End Murders,” Times (London), October 3, 1888.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002), 196.

  10. MEPO 3/140/221/A49301C, ff. 215–216.

  11. HO 144/221/A49301C, ff. 148–159.

  12. “London Tragedies. Berner Street Inquest,” Daily Telegraph, October 6, 1888.

  13. “The East End Murders,” Times (London), October 6, 1888.

  14. Ibid.

  15. “The Inquest,” Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, October 2, 1888.

  16. “The Whitechapel Murders,” Morning Advertiser, October 6, 1888.

  17. “London Tragedies. Berner Street Inquest,” Daily Telegraph, Sunday, October 6, 1888.

  18. “The Whitechapel Horrors: Horrible Murder of a Woman Near Commercial Road,” Evening News, October 1, 1888.

  19. “Two More Murders at the East End: Statements by Residents,” Daily News, October 1, 1888.

  20. Ibid.

  21. “Two More Murders at the East End: The Murder in Berner Street,” Daily News, October 1, 1888.

  22. Report of Frederick Abberline, November 1, 1888.

  23. Die Tsukunft, August 12, 1887, quoted in Martin L. Friedland, The Trials of Israel Lipski: A True Story of a Victorian Murder in the East End of London (New York: Beaufort, 1984), 118.

  24. “Two More Murders at the East End: Statements by Residents,” Daily News, October 1, 1888.

  25. Dave Yost, “Elizabeth Stride: Her Killer and Time of Death,” in Ripperologist, no. 21, February 1999.

  26. Donald Swanson’s report to the Home Office on the Stride murder, October 19, 1888. Stewart Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2000), cites Ref. HO 144/221/A49301C,

  ff. 148–159.

  27. Inquest testimony of P.C. Smith, reported in “London Tragedies. Berner-Street Inquest,” Daily Telegraph, October 6, 1888.

  11. Kate Eddowes

  1. Inquest testimony of Frederick William Williamson, ref. Coroner’s Inquest (L), 1888, no. 135, Catherine Eddowes inquest, 1888 (Corporation of London Records Office), cited in Stewart P. Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2000), 200.

  2. Inquest testimony of Louis Robinson, as printed in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 209–210, and “The London Tragedies. Mitre Square Inquest,” Daily Telegraph, October 12, 1888.

  3. From inquest testimony of George H. Hutt, printed in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 210, and “The London Tragedies. Mitre Square Inquest,” Daily Telegraph, October 12, 1888.

  4. Toni L. Kamins, The Complete Jewish Guide to Britain and Ireland (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001), 60.

  5. “The East End Atrocities: The Mitre Square Murder, Inquest and Verdict,” Daily News, October 12, 1888.

  6. Neil Bell, “Jack by Gaslight,” Ripperologist, no. 58, March 2005.

  7. Inquest testimony of P.C. Watkins.

  8. “The London Tragedies: Mitre Square Inquest,” Daily Telegraph, October 12, 1888.

  9. “The East End Murders,” Times (London), October 5, and “The East End Murders,” Times (London), October 12, 1888.

  10. Times (London), October 5, 1888, as printed in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 221.

  11. Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002), 176.

  12. Dr. F. Brown, Inquest, in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 204–207, 221–224.

  13. Derek F. Osborne, “A Curious Find in Goulston Street,” Ripper Notes, www.casebook.org/dissertations/rn-curious.html.

  14. Daniel Halse, Inquest testimony, Times (London), October 12, 1888; and report of Donald S. Swanson to the Home Office, November 6, 1888, ref. HO 144/221/A49301C, ff. 184–194, cited in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 185–188.

  15. P.C. Long, inquest testimony, Times (London), October 12, 1888.

  16. Daniel Halse, inquest testimony, Times (London), October 12, 1888.

  17. Commissioner Charles Warren, Report to Home Office, written November 6, 1888, in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 183–184.

  18. P.C. Long, inquest testimony, Times (London), October 12, 1888.

  19. Commissioner Charles Warren, report to the Hom
e Office, written November 6, 1888, in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 182–184, ref. HO 144/221/A49301C, ff. 173–181.

  20. Report of Donald Swanson submitted to the Home Office, November 6, 1888, in Evans and Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion, 185, ref. HO 144/221/A49301C, ff. 184–194.

  21. Halse, inquest testimony, Times (London), October 12, 1888.

  22. Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 254.

  23. Charles Warren, letter to Godfrey Lushington, October 10, 1888, in Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 256.

  24. Israel Zangwill, “Zangwill’s Ghetto. Petticoat Lane on a Sunday Morning,” Star (New Zealand), November 18, 1899.

  12. Lonesome October

  1. “The Whitechapel Horrors: East London in a Panic,” East London Observer, October 6, 1888.

  2. The letter is in Scotland Yard’s Crime Museum. Philip Sugden cites Public Record Office, MEPO 3/3153, ff. 1–4.

  3. Letter to Godfrey Lushington at Home Office, October 10, 1888, National Archives, Commissioner’s letters file, MEPO 1/48.

  4. Sir Robert Anderson, “The Lighter Side of My Official Life,” Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, March 1910.

  5. “The Littlechild Letter,” discovered by, and property of, Stewart Evans.

  6. Stewart P. Evans and Donald Rumbelow. Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates (Stroud: Sutton, 2006), 113.

  7. Report of James McWilliam, head of Detective Department, City of London Police, October 27, 1888, cited in Stewart P. Evans and Keith Skinner, The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2000), 181.

  8. Sir Robert Anderson, “The Lighter Side of My Official Life,” Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, March 1910.

  9. Philip Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper (New York: Carroll and Graf, 2002), 300.

  10. “Apprehensions Sought,” Police Gazette, October 5, 1888.

  11. Report of James McWilliam to Home Office, October 27, 1888.

  12. Report of Chief Inspector Donald S. Swanson, November 6, 1888, to Home Office.

  13. Sugden, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, 291.