Jack The Ripper Sources

Name: Catherine Eddows Age: 44 Profession: Prostitute Date of Murder: 30th September 1888 Location of Murder: Mitre Square

Source A

Information: Catherine Eddows was born on April 14, 1842 in Wolverhampton. At the time of her death she was 5 feet tall, had hazel eyes and dark auburn hair. She had a tattoo in blue ink on her left forearm "TC." At the time of her death, Catherine Eddows was suffering from a kidney disease. Friends spoke of Catherine as an intelligent woman but who possessed a fierce temper. Report of the discovery of the body: "The body was on its back, the head turned to left shoulder. The arms by the side of the body as if they had fallen there. Both palms upwards, the fingers slightly bent. The abdomen was exposed. The throat cut across. The intestines were pulled out from the body and placed over the right shoulder. A piece of intestine about two feet long was cut from the body and placed between the body and the left arm. The face was very much mutilated. There was a cut about a quarter of an inch through the lower left eyelid, cutting completely through the eye. The upper eyelid on that side, there was a scratch through the skin on the left upper eyelid, near to the angle of the nose. The right eyelid was cut through to about half an inch. The throat was cut across about six or seven inches. We examined the abdomen, which had been cut open deeply in many places. I feel sure that there was no struggle, and believe it was the act of one person. The throat had been so deeply cut that no noise could have been made. I do not expect much blood to have been found on the person who had inflicted these wounds. The wounds could not have been self-inflicted.”

Name: Annie Chapman Age: 47 Profession: Prostitute Date of Murder: 8th September 1888 Location of Murder: 29 Hanbury Street

Source B

Information: 5' tall, with a pale complexion. She had blue eyes and dark brown wavy hair. Annie had excellent teeth (possibly two missing in lower jaw), was strongly built (stout) with a thick nose. She was under nourished and suffering from a chronic disease of the lungs (tuberculosis) and brain tissue. It is said that she was dying. These could also be symptoms of syphilis. Although she has a drinking problem she is not described as an alcoholic. Annie had been married in 1869 and had three children, but separated in 1884. A police report says it was because of her "drunken and immoral ways." John Chapman semi-regularly paid his wife 10 shillings per week until his death on Christmas day in 1886. Annie didn't take to prostitution until after her husband’s death. Prior to that she lived off the money he sent her and worked doing crochet work and selling flowers. Dr. George Bagster Phillips describes the body of Annie Chapman as he saw at 6:30am “The face was swollen and turned on the right side. The tongue stuck out between the front teeth, but not beyond the lips. The tongue was evidently much swollen. The body was terribly mutilated. The throat was cut deeply; that the incision through the skin were jagged and reached right round the neck... Between the yard (where found) in question and the next, smears of blood, relating to where the head of the deceased lay, were to be seen. The instrument used to cut the throat and abdomen was the same. It must have been a very sharp knife with a thin narrow blade, and must have been at least 6 inches to 8 inches in length, probably longer. They could have been done by such an instrument as a medical man would use. Those knives used by the slaughter men, might have caused these injuries. There was no evidence of a struggle having taken place.”

Name: Elizabeth Stride Age: 44 Profession: Prostitute Date of Murder: 20th September 1888 Location of Murder: Berner Street

Source C

Information: Elizabeth Stride was born Elisabeth Gustafsdotter on November 27 1843 on a farm north of Gothenburg, Sweden. At the time of her death she had a pale complexion, light grey eyes and had curly dark brown hair. All the teeth in her lower left jaw were missing and she stood five foot five inches tall. Mrs. Ann Miller, a bed maker at the lodging house says that Stride would work when she could find work and that a "better hearted, more good natured cleaner woman never lived." She made money by sewing and cleaning, received money from Michael Kidney and was an occasional prostitute. The official post-mortem report stated: “The body had a silk handkerchief round her neck, and it appeared to be slightly torn. I have since discovered it was cut. This corresponded with the right angle of the jaw. There was a deep, clear-cut incision on the neck. It was six inches in length and started two and a half inches in a straight line below the angle of the jaw, one half inch in over an undivided muscle, and then becoming deeper, dividing the sheath. The cut was very clean and strayed a little downwards. The arteries and other vessels contained in the neck were all cut through.” The day after the murder, a citizen mob formed outside of the Berner Street murder scene protesting the continuation of the murders and the seemingly slow work of the police to catch the Ripper. From here on in, the Ripper is public enemy number one, and Home Office begins to consider offering awards for his capture and arrest.

Name: Mary Jane Kelly Age: 25 Profession: Prostitute Date of Murder: 9th November 1888 Information: Location of Murder: Miller’s Court

Source D

She was 5' 7" tall and stout. She had blonde hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. Said to have been “possessed of considerable personal attractions." Dr. Thomas Bond produced the official post-mortem "The body was lying naked in the middle of the bed. The breasts were cut off, the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. The muscles and blood vessels of the neck were severed all round down to the bone. The bed clothing at the right corner was saturated with blood, and on the floor beneath was a pool of blood covering about two feet square. The wall by the right side of the bed and in a line with the neck was marked by blood which had struck it in a number of separate splashes. The neck was cut through the skin and other tissues right down to the vertebrae, the fifth and sixth being deeply notched. The blood was produced by the cutting through of the cartoid artery, which was the cause of death. The injury was inflicted while the deceased was lying at the right side of the bedstead."

Name: Mary Ann Nichols Age: 42 Profession: Prostitute Date of Murder: 31st August 1888 Location of Murder: Berner Street

Source E

Source F – Letter to police on 27th September 1888

Dear Boss,

Information: Born Mary Ann Walker on August 26, 1845 in London. At the time of her death the East London Observer guessed her age at 30-35. At the inquest her father said "she was nearly 44 years of age, but it must be admitted that she looked ten years younger." 5'2" tall; brown eyes; dark complexion; brown hair turning grey; five front teeth missing; two bottom-one top front, her teeth are slightly discoloured. She is described as having small, delicate features with high cheekbones and grey eyes. She is described by Emily Holland as "a very clean woman who always seemed to keep to herself." She is also an alcoholic.

The Times reported: “Five teeth were missing, and there was a slight laceration of the tongue. There was a bruise running along the lower part of the jaw on the right side of the face. That might have been caused by a blow from a fist or pressure from a thumb. There was a circular bruise on the left side of the face which also might have been inflicted by the pressure of the fingers. On the left side of the neck, about 1 inch below the jaw, there was a cut about 4 inches in length, and ran from a point immediately below the ear. On the same side, but an inch below, and commencing about 1 in. in front of it, was a circular incision, which terminated at a point about 3 in. below the right jaw. That incision completely severed all the tissues down to the vertebrae. The large vessels of the neck on both sides were severed. The cut was about 8 inches in length. The cuts must have been caused by a long-bladed knife, moderately sharp, and used with great violence. No blood was found on the breast, either of the body or the clothes. There were no injuries about the body until just about the lower part of the abdomen. Two or three inches from the left side was a wound running in a jagged manner. The wound was a very deep one, and the tissues were cut through. There were several incisions running across the abdomen. The injuries were form left to right and might have been done by a left handed person. All the injuries had been caused by the same instrument."

I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they haven’t. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I get caught. The last job was grand work. I gave the lady no time to squeal. How can they catch me now? I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is fit enough I hope ha. ha. The next job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police officers just for fun. My knife's so nice and sharp I want to get to work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck. Yours truly Jack the Ripper Dont mind me giving the nickname PS They say I'm a doctor now. ha ha

Source G Suspect Name: Dr Thomas Cream

Source H Suspect Name: Severin Klosowski

An American doctor who had been arrested for poisoning prostitutes and writing false letters to the police. He was hanged in 1892 for murdering prostitutes. His last words were ‘I am Jack…’ However, he was in prison at the time of the last ripper murders.

Suspected by police at the time of the murders. He had poisoned his two wives in the past. He had trained as a doctor, but was working as a doctor near Whitechapel

Source I Source K Suspect Name: M J Druitt A lawyer and a teacher, he had trained as a doctor in the past. His own family believed that he could be Jack the Ripper. He committed suicide in December 1888, after which there were no more murders. Source J Suspect Name:

Prince Albert Victor The Grandson of Queen Victoria, he was known to hang around in gay bars in Whitechapel. Albert was a keen hunter, but suffered from a brain disease. He discreetly married a woman that his family disapproved of. Mary Kelly had worked for him for a while. Did she know his secrets?

Suspect: Alexander Pedachenko Name A Russian doctor who was working in a women’s hospital in London. He left London for Russia shortly after the last murder. He was sent to a mental hospital in Russia for the murder of a woman in St. Petersburg.

Witness Name

Near Which Murder?

Time

Appearance of Suspect

Source L

Emily Walter

Annie Chapman

2:00 A.M.

•

Foreigner aged 37, dark beard and moustache. Wearing short dark jacket, dark vest and trousers, black scarf and black felt hat.

Elizabeth Long

Annie Chapman

5:30 A.M.

•

Dark complexion, brown deerstalker hat, possibly a dark overcoat. Aged over 40, somewhat taller than the victim. A foreigner of "shabby genteel" (i.e. good clothes, but worn out)

J. Best and John Gardner

Elizabeth Stride

11:00 P.M.

• •

5'5" tall, English, black moustache, sandy eyelashes, weak, wearing a morning suit and a hat. They saw the man kissing Stride in a doorway: “... they did not appear willing to go out. He was hugging and kissing her, and as he seemed a respectably dressed man, we were rather astonished at the way he was going on with the woman”

•

Small, black coat, dark trousers, middle aged, round cap with a small sailor-like peak. 5'6", stout, appearance of a clerk. No moustache, no gloves, with a cutaway coat. Both the man and the woman he was with seemed sober and were kissing. Marshall heard the man remark to the woman, “You would say anything but your prayers.”

William Marshall

Elizabeth Stride

11:45 P.M.

•

•

Aged 25-30, 5'7", long black coat buttoned up, soft felt hat, broad shoulders. Maybe a young clerk, frock coat, no gloves. Well spoken and dressed (“… I am certain that he wasn’t what I should call a working man or anything like us folks that live around here.”). Came up to Packer, a fruit seller, with a woman resembling Stride and said, 'I say, old man, how do you sell your grapes?”. Turning to the woman, the man asked, 'Which will you have, my dear, black or white? You shall have whichever you like best”

Matthew Packer

Elizabeth Stride

12:00 12:30 P.M.

P.C. William Smith

Elizabeth Stride

12:30 A.M.

•

Aged 28, cleanshaven and respectable appearance, 5'7", hard dark felt deerstalker hat, dark clothes. Carrying a newspaper parcel 18 x 7 inches.

James Brown

Elizabeth Stride

12.45 A.M.

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5'7", stout, long black diagonal coat which reached almost to his heels.

•

First man: Aged 30, 5'5", brown haired, fair complexion, small brown moustache, full face, broad shoulders, dark jacket and trousers, black cap with peak. Second man: Aged 35, 5'11", fresh complexion, light brown hair, dark overcoat, old black hard felt hat with a wide brim, clay pipe. Schwartz believed he was witnessing a domestic attack on the woman by the first man, while the second was an accomplice. 15 minutes after he passed by, Stride was found dead in the same spot.

•

Israel Schwartz

Elizabeth Stride

12:45 A.M

Joseph Lawende

Catharine Eddows

1:30 A.M.

•

Aged 30, 5'7", fair complexion, brown moustache, salt-and-pepper coat, red neckerchief, grey peaked cloth cap. Sailorlike.

Mary Ann Cox

Mary Jane Kelly

11:45 P.M.

• •

Short, stout man, shabbily dressed. Billycock hat, blotchy face, carroty moustache, holding quart can of beer She saw Mary Kelly entering Kelly’s room with the man. Mrs Cox called out “good night Mary Jane,” but Kelly, who was “very drunk,” could scarcely answer, although she did manage to say “good night.”

•

Aged 34-35, 5'6", pale complexion, dark hair, slight moustached curled at each end, long dark coat, collar cuffs of astrakhan, dark jacket underneath. Light waistcoat, thick gold chain with a red stone seal, dark trousers and button boots, gaiters, white buttons. White shirt, black tie fastened with a horseshoe pin. Dark hat, turned down in middle. Red kerchief. Jewish and respectable in appearance. Seemed surprising that such a man was with Mary Kelly. In his statement to the police he said: “Kelly said to me: ‘Hutchinson, will you lend me sixpence?’ When I refused, she said: ‘I must go and find some money’ and headed off. A man coming in the opposite direction tapped her on the shoulder and said something to her. They both burst out laughing. I heard her say: ‘All right’ to him and the man said: ‘You will be alright for what I have told you’. He then placed his right hand around her shoulder. He also had a kind of small parcel in his left hand with a kind of strap around it. She said: ‘All right, my dear. Come along. You will be comfortable’. He then placed his arm on her shoulder and she gave him a kiss. They both went to her room”

George Hutchinson

Mary Jane Kelly

2:00 A.M.

•

•

• Sarah Lewis

Mary Jane Kelly

Previous Day

“I was going along Bethnal Green Road with another female and a Gentleman passed us he turned back & spoke to us, he asked us to follow him, and said if we would follow him he would treat us – he asked us to go down a passage – he had a bag he put it down saying what are you frightened of – he then undid his coat and felt for something and we ran away – He was short, pale faced, with a black small moustache, about forty years of age – the bag he had was about a foot or nine inches long – he had on a round high hat – he had a brownish long overcoat and a short black coat underneath – and pepper & salt trousers”.

SOURCE N: Part of an article in the East End Observer describing the murders of Martha Tabram and Polly Nicholls The two murders which have so startled London within the last month are singular for the reason that the victims have been of the poorest of the poor, and no adequate motive in the shape of plunder can be traced. The excess of effort that has been apparent in each murder suggests the idea that both crimes are the work of a demented being, as the extraordinary violence used is the peculiar feature in each instance. SOURCE O: Part of the Coroner’s report of the death of Polly Nicholls The body has not been dissected, but the injuries have been made by someone who had considerable anatomical skill and knowledge. There are no meaningless cuts (like in the Tabram murder). It was done by one who knew where to find what he wanted, what difficulties he would have to contend with, and how he should use the knife. No unskilled person could have know where to find the organs, or to have recognised them when they were found. No mere slaughterer of animals could have carried out these operations. SOURCE P: The report of Dr Frederick Blackwell on the body of Elizabeth Stride The deceased was lying on her left side across the passage, her face was looking towards the right wall. Her legs were drawn up, her feet close against the wall of the right side of the passage. The neck and chest were quite warm, as were also the legs, and the face was slightly warm. The hands were cold. The right hand was open and on the chest. It was smeared with blood. The left hand, lying on the ground, was partially closed, and contained a small packet of cachous [breath fresheners] wrapped in tissue paper. There was no money on the body. The appearance of the face was quite placid. The mouth was slightly opened. In the neck there was a long incision which commenced on the left side, two and a half inches below the angle of the jaw, cutting the windpipe completely in two.

SOURCE Q: The evidence of Elizabeth Long at the inquest into the death of Annie Chapman; she was describing the man seen talking to Annie before she was killed He was dark complexioned and was wearing a deerstalker hat. I think he was wearing a dark coat but I cannot be sure. He was a man over forty, as far as I could tell. He seemed to be a little taller than the deceased. He looked to me like a foreigner, as well as I could make out. He looked what I should call shabby genteel. SOURCE R: Part of an article published in a local newspaper after the murders of Polly Nicholls and Annie Chapman My informant demanded at that time that the police force on the spot should be strengthened and some kind of order created on the streets by night. He warned that murder would ensue if matters were left as they were. He was referred from one police office to another, but without making any impression. Then came the first murder. He went again to the police and warned them that there would be more mischief unless they could clear the streets of the open and defiant ruffianism, which continued to make night hideous. Then came another murder. The main thoroughfares of Whitechapel are connected by a network of narrow, dark and crooked lanes. Every one apparently containing some headquarters of infamy. The sights and sounds are an apocalypse of evil. SOURCE S: A police leaflet published after the murders of Elizabeth Stride and Kate Eddowes POLICE NOTICE TO THE OCUPIER On the morning of Friday, 31st August, Saturday 8th, and Sunday, 30th of September, 1888, women were murdered in or near Whitechapel, supposed by someone residing in the immediate neighbourhood. Should you know of any person to whom suspicion is attached, you are earnestly requested to communicate at once with the nearest Police Station Metropolitan Police Office, 30th September 1888.

SOURCE T: Part of a letter from the Home Secretary to the Mile End Vigilance Committee on 17 September 1888 The practice of offering reward for the discovery of criminals was discontinued some years ago because experience showed that such offers of reward tended to produce more harm than good. The Secretary of State is satisfied that there is nothing in the circumstances of the present case to justify a departure from this rule. SOURCE M: Part of an article published in The Times after the murder of Mary Kelly The murders, so cunningly continued, are carried out with a complete ruthlessness which altogether baffles investigators. Not a trace is left of the murderer, and there is no purpose in the crime to afford the slightest clue. All the police can hope is that some accidental circumstance will lead to a trace which may be followed to a successful conclusion.

Source V – Typical Street in the East End of London, 188

Source U – Police discover the body of Mary Ann Nichols, from newspaper at the time.

Source W – Typical alley in the East End of London, 188

Glossary

Glossary

Abdomen: area between the chest and the hips that contains the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen.

Abdomen: area between the chest and the hips that contains the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and spleen.

Carotid artery: the major blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain.

Carotid artery: the major blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain.

Complexion: the colouring of a person's face

Complexion: the colouring of a person's face

Crochet: A kind of needlework made with a hooked needle and thread or yarn

Crochet: A kind of needlework made with a hooked needle and thread or yarn

Immoral: someone who does not follow the idea of right and wrong.

Immoral: someone who does not follow the idea of right and wrong.

Incision: Another word for cut

Incision: Another word for cut

Mutilated: to cut up, destroy, or alter radically.

Mutilated: to cut up, destroy, or alter radically.

Post-mortem: a thorough examination of a corpse to find out the cause and manner of death

Post-mortem: a thorough examination of a corpse to find out the cause and manner of death

Saturated: Completely filled with a liquid of some kind.

Saturated: Completely filled with a liquid of some kind.

Stout: heavily built, not thin.

Stout: heavily built, not thin.

Syphilis: A sexually transmitted disease that, left untreated, can cause damage to the nervous system, heart, or brain and ultimately death.

Syphilis: A sexually transmitted disease that, left untreated, can cause damage to the nervous system, heart, or brain and ultimately death.

Tuberculosis: An infectious bacterial disease transmitted through the air that mainly affects the lungs. A major killer in the 19th Century.

Tuberculosis: An infectious bacterial disease transmitted through the air that mainly affects the lungs. A major killer in the 19th Century.

Vertebrae: The bones that form the spine.

Vertebrae: The bones that form the spine.