Jack the Ripper - Whitechapel in the 1880's.

Introduction

It was the month of August, the year of 1888, the destination of Whitechapel, a killer who got the name as Jack the Ripper for his horrifying murders. The name “Ripper” associated well with what he actually did to his victims, he didn’t just murder them, he had to go further. He brutally murdered five women in the East End of London. The women he aimed at were around the age 40, apart from one of his victims, who were only 25 years of age. These victims were prostitutes that sold their body for money so that they could sleep inside in the warm for just one night. Well the five victims weren’t so lucky on the nights they were murdered.

Whitechapel in the 1880’s

It was mainly Jewish people who lived in the area of Whitechapel. This was because the rent for houses was very low, as the area had very bad living conditions. Also, few questions were asked about the Jews as well, so the Jews had another reason to be in the grotty area.

The living conditions of Whitechapel during this time were terrible. “Filthy men and women living on gin, where collars and clean shirts are unknown; where every citizen wears a black eye and never combs his hair.” This shows how both men and women drunk alcoholic drinks, well lived on the drink. This also shows how their shirts were always dirty and never washed and showed the average appearance of a man “wears a black eye…never combs his hair.” There were these public houses called Doss Houses. The Doss houses provided overnight stay in the warm. Most of the room in these houses were rented out to single families at up to 8d per night. There was an average of seven people to a room, adults, sons and daughters would sleep on the floor. The only toilet facility in the house was outside the ground floor. Most families used chamber pots. These were emptied once a day usually in the morning. In one doss house, it was reported that there as up to seven people living in the cellar. Children ran around dirty and half-clothed. The mother turned the older children onto the streets at night as she lets her room for immoral purposes until long after midnight the poor wretches creep back again for shelter.

The map above shows Whitechapel in the 1880’s with the green dots where murders took place. The population of Whitechapel in the 1880’s was nearly 80,000. This was roughly one tenth of the population of the East End of London as a whole.

It was in 1828, when the Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, introduced into Parliament a bill to set up the Metropolitan Police Force.

Here is what the Metropolitan police force was set out to do.

“The Metropolitan Police Force was set up to carry out the functions of both the watchmen and the special constables. They were to patrol the streets in order to keep order and deter crime, but were also to be used to tackle major disturbances such as riots.” It was in 1829, that possible confusion between the Metropolitan police force and the Army was a major concern. The new Metropolitan police force were given a blue uniform, with a tail-coat, a top hat and as few badges and decorations as possible. All of these served to make it as distinct as possible from the army. The new ‘bobbies’ were also armed only with a truncheon, which had often been carried by watchmen. Constables could be issued with cutlasses, if there was any danger, but fire-arms were not used at first. However, from the 1840s and 1850s, inspectors in the Metropolitan Police began to carry revolvers at times.

Other police forces were set up in cities. One of these was the Bow Street Runners.

The Bow Street Runners were established at Bow Street Magistrates Court in 1753 under the direction of the Magistrate and author Henry Fielding. They had authority for policing the whole of the area served by Bow Street Magistrates Court.

Here is a timeline I have found of the internet that includes the events of Whitechapel from 1887 to 1997.

APRIL 1887

April 6, 1887 -- Elizabeth Stride brings charges of assault against her lover, Michael Kidney.

April 8, 1887 -- Joseph Barnett and Mary Kelly meet for the first time.

JUNE 1887

Severin Klosowski arrives in London from Poland.

June 10, 1887 -- Elizabeth Stride, using the name 'Annie Fitzgerald', is brought before Thames Magistrates Court for drunk and disorderly conduct.

June 28, 1887 -- Israel Lipski poisons Miriam Angel at 16 Batty Street.

AUGUST 1887

Mary Ann Cox charged on assault charges in front of Thames Magistrates Court.

August 22, 1887 -- Israel Lipski is hanged for the murder of Miriam Angel.

SEPTEMBER 1887

Michael Ostrog sent into Surrey Pauper Lunatic Asylum, suffering from mania, on September 30th, 1887.

OCTOBER 1887

William Henry Bury moves to Bow, where he lives until January, 1889.

NOVEMBER 1887

November 13, 1887 -- "Bloody Sunday" A mass riot of the unemployed in Trafalgar Square, which Sir Charles Warren suppresses through military force. One man dies, and the radical press never forgets the incident.

DECEMBER 1887

December 26, 1887 -- The alleged murder of 'Fairy Fay' near Commercial Street.

JANUARY 1888

January 1, 1888 -- Nicolas Wassili released from lunatic asylum either in France or Tiraspol.

James Kelly escapes from Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

FEBRUARY 1888

February 25, 1888 -- Annie Millwood attacked and stabbed by a strange man with a clasp knife. She survives the attack.

MARCH 1888

William Henry Bury caught stealing from James Martin.

March 10, 1888 -- Michael Ostrog released from Surrey Pauper Lunatic Asylum.

March 24, 1888 -- Nathan Kaminsky diagnosed as syphilitic at the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary.

March 28, 1888 -- Ada Wilson stabbed twice in the neck, barely surviving her attack.

APRIL 1888

William Henry Bury marries Ellen Elliot.

April 3, 1888 -- Emma Smith attacked by a gang of young men around 12:30 am.

April 5, 1888 -- Emma Smith dies in the London Hospital as a result of her injuries.

MAY 1888

Nathan Kaminsky released from the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary, cured of his syphilitic infection.

JUNE 1888

JULY 1888

Joseph Barnett loses job as a fish porter at Bilingsgate.

Ann Druitt, mother of suspect Montague John Druitt, is certified as insane at the Brooke Asylum, Clapton.

Michael Kidney jailed for three days for drunk and disorderly conduct.

AUGUST 1888

August 4, 1888 -- John Pizer charged with indecent assault before Thames Magistrates, but the case is dismissed.

-- Oswald Puckeridge released from Hoxton House Lunatic Asylum.

August 7, 1888 -- Martha Tabram murdered in George Yard Buildings.

August 14, 1888 -- Henry Samuel Tabram identifies the body of Martha Tabram, his former wife.

August 28, 1888 -- An envelope which would be found near the body of Annie Chapman on September 8th is postmarked, "London, 28 August, 1888."

August 29, 1888 -- Prince Albert Victor left for Danby Lodge, Grosmont, and Yorkshire.

August 30, 1888 -- Fire breaks out at the Shadwell Dry Dock and burns until late the next morning, which later helps to establish John Pizer's innocence.

August 31, 1888 -- Polly Nichols killed in Bucks Row

-- Robert Anderson appointed Assistant Commissioner for Crime; selects Donald Swanson to head the case.

-- L.P. Walter writes to the Home Office, requesting a reward be offered for the capture of the murderer. Request is denied by E. Leigh Pemberton.

SEPTEMBER 1888

Catharine Eddowes goes hop-picking with John Kelly.

September 1, 1888 -- William Nichols identifies the body of his estranged wife, Polly Nichols.

-- Coroner Wynne E. Baxter begins the inquest into the murder of Polly Nichols at the Whitechapel Working Lads' Institute -- adjourned until the 3rd.

-- Mrs. Sarah Colwell claims to have seen spots of blood in Brady Street, adding to the theory that Nichols was killed elsewhere.

September 3, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Polly Nichols reconvened. Adjourned until the 17th.

September 4, 1888 -- The first press reports of a man named 'Leather Apron' appear.

September 6, 1888 -- Polly Nichols is buried at Little Ilford Cemetery.

September 7, 1888 -- Prince Albert Victor travelled to Cavalry Barracks in York.

-- First official mention of John Pizer as 'Leather Apron.'

September 8, 1888 -- Annie Chapman killed in Hanbury Street.

-- Amelia Palmer identifies Annie's body at 11:30 am.

-- Robert Anderson leaves for Switzerland on sick leave.

-- Thomas Ede sees Henry James outside The Forrester's Arms, in possession of a large knife.

-- Mrs. Fiddymont sees suspicious bloodstained man in the Prince Albert.

September 9, 1888 -- Miss Lyons claims to have had a drink with a man she suspected to be 'Leather Apron' at the Queen's Head pub.

-- John Evans and Mr. Fountain Smith both identify Annie Chapman's body.

September 10, 1888 -- Prince Albert Victor returned to London from York.

-- Samuel Montagu offers a £100 reward for the capture of the murderer.

-- George Lusk elected president of The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee.

-- John Pizer arrested as 'Leather Apron.'

September 11, 1888 -- Dr. Cowan and Dr. Crabb inform police that they believe Jacob Issenscmid to be the Ripper.

September 12, 1888 -- Coroner Wynne E. Baxter begins the inquest into murder of Annie Chapman at the Whitechapel Working Lads' Institute -- adjouned until the 13th.

-- Inspector Joseph Luniss Chandler is quoted in the Star as saying the 'bloodstains' found on the fence in the yard of 25 Hanbury Street were simply urine stains.

-- Mrs. Darrell identifies the body of Annie Chapman.

-- Laura Sickings discovers 'bloodstains' on the fence in her yard at 25 Hanbury Street, later said to be urine stains.

September 13, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Annie Chapman reconvened. Adjourned until the 14th.

-- Edward McKenna is arrested in connection with the Ripper murders, but is released soon after.

September 14, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Annie Chapman reconvened. Adjourned until the 19th.

-- Annie Chapman is buried at Manor Park Cemetary.

September 16, 1888 -- B. Harris of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee requests that the Home Secretary add to the reward money offered.

September 17, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Polly Nichols reconvened. Adjourned until the 23rd.

-- Jacob Issenschmid confined to Fairfield Row Asylum, Bow.

September 18, 1888 -- Charles Ludwig threatens Elizabeth Burns with a knife near the Minories, and soon after threatens Alexander Freinberg at a coffee stall, leading to his arrest.

September 19, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Annie Chapman reconvened. Dr. Philips suggests the uterus of the woman might have been removed for sale to a medical student who had been inquiring about obtaining such specimens. The Inquest was adjourned until the 26th.

-- Inspector Abberline reports that Issenschmid was the man seen by Mrs. Fiddymont.

September 23, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Polly Nichols completed.

September 26, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Annie Chapman completed.

September 27, 1888 -- Prince Albert Victor leaves for Abergeldie, Scotland.

-- Catherine Eddowes and John Kelly return to London, having been hop-picking all month.

-- The 'Dear Boss' letter is received at the Central News Agency, the first to use the name 'Jack the Ripper.'

September 29, 1888 -- Catherine Eddowes arrested at 8.45 pm for public drunkenness by Sergeant James Byfield.

September 30, 1888 -- Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes killed at 1:00 and 1:45 am, respectively.

-- Prince Albert Victor dines with Queen Victoria in Abergeldie, Scotland.

-- Whitechapel Vigilance Committee sends letter to the Home Office requesting a reward be officially offered. Request denied.

-- Diary entry in the Swedish Church Parish Register records the death of Stride, possibly "murdered by Jack the Ripper?" If indeed written on the 30th September, this is the earliest known use of the name "Jack the Ripper."

OCTOBER 1888

October 1, 1888 -- Coroner Wynne E. Baxter begins inquest into the murder of Elizabeth Stride at the Vestry Hall, Cable Street. Adjourned until the 2nd.

-- The morning issue of the Daily News first prints the text of the Dear Boss letter.

-- Thomas Coram finds a bloodstained knife in Whitechapel Road, with a blade of about 9 inches.

-- The Financial News contributes £300 toward a reward for the capture of the murderer.

-- Lord Mayor offers £500 reward.

-- Sir Alfred Kirby offers £100 reward and 50 militia men to help apprehend the criminal. Offer declined.

-- Queen Victoria telephones the Home Office at 3:30 pm and expresses her shock at the murders.

-- The 'Saucy Jacky' postcard is received at the Central News Agency.

-- Michael Kidney arrives drunk at Leman Street Police Station, blaming the PC on duty at the time of Stride's murder, and asking to speak with a detective.

-- The Star prints the text of the Saucy Jacky postcard in the evening edition.

-- The first of many imitative hoax letters is received, with the word "Boss" hastily inserted in play of "The City Police."

October 2, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Elizabeth Stride reconvened. Adjourned until the 3rd.

-- George Lusk sends petition to the Home Office requesting a reward by offered by the police.

-- Clairvoyant Robert James Lees offers his psychic assistance to the police, but is denounced as a fool.

-- Two private detectives, Grand and Batchelor, find a grape stalk in the drain near the spot where Elizabeth Stride's body was found.

October 3, 1888 -- Unidentified trunk of a woman discovered in Whitehall.

-- Inquest into the murder of Elizabeth Stride reconvened. Adjourned until the 5th.

-- Clairvoyant Robert James Lees offers his psychic assistance to the police, but his offer is refused.

October 3, 1888 -- Grand and Batchelor take Matthew Packer to view the body of Catharine Eddowes, implying that it is Elizabeth Stride in order to evaluate his testimony. Packer passes the test, saying he does not recognize the body.

October 4, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Catharine Eddowes opened by Coroner Langham at the Golden Lane Mortuary.

-- Clairvoyant Robert James Lees offers his psychic assistance to Scotland Yard, who respectfully decline.

-- Matthew Packer views the body of Elizabeth Stride and confirms it as the woman he saw on the night of the double murders.

-- Facsimiles of the Dear Boss and Saucy Jacky letters first published in the Evening Standard.

October 5, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Elizabeth Stride reconvened. Adjourned until the 23rd.

October 6, 1888 -- Elizabeth Stride buried at East London Cemetery.

October 7, 1888 -- George Lusk writes the Home Office, requesting that a pardon be granted for the murderer's accomplice(s), in the hopes that these accomplices would reveal his identity.

October 8, 1888 -- Catharine Eddowes is buried at Little Ilford.

October 9, 1888 -- Police test out the bloodhounds Barnaby and Burgho, successfully, at Regent's Park.

-- Sir Charles Warren replies affirmatively to Lusk's request of a pardon, but the idea is struck down by Matthews.

October 10, 1888 -- The bloodhounds are tested again, this time personally by Sir Charles Warren in Hyde Park. They were not successful this time, however, and this incident was quite an embarrassment for Warren.

October 11, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Catharine Eddowes completed.

October 12, 1888 -- E.W. Bonham, from Boulogne, brings suspect John Langan to the attention of the Home Office

October 16, 1888 -- John Langan's innocence verified by police.

-- George Lusk receives a package including the "From Hell" letter and half a kidney, allededly from the body of Catharine Eddowes.

October 21, 1888 -- Maria Coroner charged with hoaxing several "Jack the Ripper letters" claiming the murderer would claim his next victim in Bradford.

October 23, 1888 -- Inquest into the murder of Elizabeth Stride completed.

October 30, 1888 -- Joseph Barnett and Mary Kelly quarrel -- Barnett leaves their room at 13 Miller's Court.

NOVEMBER 1888

November 1, 1888 -- Prince Albert Victor arrives in London from York.

November 2, 1888 -- Prince Albert Victor leaves for Sandringham.

November 7, 1888 -- Francis Tumblety arrested in London on charges of gross indecency.

November 9, 1888 -- Mary Kelly killed in Miller's Court.

-- Sir Charles Warren resigns.

November 10, 1888 -- Pardon offered to "anyone other than the murderer" by the Home Office.

November 11, 1888 -- Dr. William Holt, with his face blackened and wearing spectacles, frightens a woman outside of George Yard and is attacked by a mob soon after.

November 12, 1888 -- Prince Albert Victor returns to London from Sandringham.

-- The inquest into the murder of Mary Jeanette Kelly, presided over by Coroner Roderick Macdonald, begins and concludes in one day.

-- Dr. William Holt is released from police custody, having explained that he was tracking down the murderer using various disguises.

-- George Hutchinson gives police his description of a suspicious man he saw with Kelly on the night of her murder (after the inquest had finished).

November 13, 1888 -- Edward Knight Larkins tells police of a man named Antoni Pricha who resembled Hutchinson's description.

November 15, 1888 -- Wolf Levisohn accosted by two prostitutes who shouted "You are Jack the Ripper!" after he refused to accept their solicitations.

November 17, 1888 -- Nikaner Benelius, a Swedish man, is arrested by P.C. Imhoff for breaking into Harriet Rowe's house and staring at her silently with an impudent grin. He was briefly suspected of being the Ripper but was later cleared of all charges.

November 19, 1888 -- Edward Buchan, not suspected as Jack the Ripper until a century later, commits suicide.

-- Mary Jeanette Kelly is buried at Leytonstone Roman Catholic Cemetary; no family members attend.

November 20, 1888 -- Annie Farmer allegedly attacked by Jack the Ripper.

November 24, 1888 -- Francis Tumblety flees to France, and then to America under the name 'Frank Townshend.'

November 30, 1888 -- Montague Druitt dismissed from his position at a school in Blackheath.

DECEMBER 1888

Inspector Walter Andrews sent to New York to investigate an unnamed possible Ripper suspect.

December 1, 1888 -- Probable date of Montague John Druitt's suicide.

December 6, 1888 -- Joseph Isaacs arrested, believed by the press to have been Jack the Ripper, but charged only with stealing a watch.

December 7, 1888 -- David Cohen arrested and placed in Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary.

December 11, 1888 -- William Druitt hears of his brother Montague's disappearance.

December 20, 1888 -- Rose Mylett killed in Clarke's Yard.

December 21, 1888 -- David Cohen transfered to Colney Hatch Asylum.

-- Coroner Wynne E. Baxter begins the inquest into the murder of Rose Mylett in Poplar Coroner's Court. Adjourned until January 3rd.

December 24, 1888 -- Sir Melville Macnaghten's father dies.

December 28, 1888 -- David Cohen separated from his fellow patients, listed as dangerous and 'physically ill.'

December 31, 1888 -- The body of Montague Druitt discovered floating in the Thames.

JANUARY 1889

* Dr. Jon William Sanders dies of heart failure.

* William Henry Bury and his wife Ellen move to Dundee

* Alfred Gray is arrested in Tunis on burglary charges, and is briefly suspected to be Jack the Ripper.

January 2, 1889 -- The inquest into the death of Montague John Druitt concludes in one day.

January 3, 1889 -- Inquest into the murder of Rose Mylett reconvened. Adjourned until the 9th.

January 9, 1889 -- Inquest into the murder of Rose Mylett completed.

FEBRUARY 1889

February 10, 1889 -- William Henry Bury tells police his wife has committed suicide.

MARCH 1889

William Bachert, Chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, allegedly told by police officials that the Whitechapel murderer drowned in the Thames at the end of 1888.

APRIL 1889

William Henry Bury hanged in Dundee, convicted of murdering his wife.

MAY 1889

James Maybrick dies.

JUNE 1889

Sir Melville Macnaghten joins Scotland Yard as an Assistant Chief Constable.

Parts of Elizabeth Jackson's body wash up on the shores of the Thames throughout the middle weeks of June.

Michael Kidney treated for a syphilitic infection at the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary.

JULY 1889

July 17, 1889 -- Alice McKenzie killed in Castle Alley.

-- Margaret 'Mog' Cheeks, a friend of Alice McKenzie is missed at her lodgings and feared dead as well.

-- John McCormack identifies Alice McKenzie's body.

-- Coroner Wynne E. Baxter begins the inquest into the death of Alice McKenzie. Adjounred until the 19th.

July 19, 1889 -- Margaret 'Mog' Cheeks is discovered, having stayed with her sister for a few days.

-- Police force augmented with 1 inspector, 5 sergeants and 50 constables.

-- Inquest into the death of Alice McKenzie reconvened. Adjourned until August 14th.

July 23, 1889 -- Reverend Samuel Barnett publishes a letter in the Times concerning degradation in Whitechapel.

July 25, 1889 -- Letter signed 'Jack the Ripper' arrives at Scotland Yard, reading: "Dear Boss -- You have not caught me yet you see, with all your cunning, with all ...

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July 19, 1889 -- Margaret 'Mog' Cheeks is discovered, having stayed with her sister for a few days.

-- Police force augmented with 1 inspector, 5 sergeants and 50 constables.

-- Inquest into the death of Alice McKenzie reconvened. Adjourned until August 14th.

July 23, 1889 -- Reverend Samuel Barnett publishes a letter in the Times concerning degradation in Whitechapel.

July 25, 1889 -- Letter signed 'Jack the Ripper' arrives at Scotland Yard, reading: "Dear Boss -- You have not caught me yet you see, with all your cunning, with all your "Lees' with all your blue bottles. I have made two narrow squeaks this week, but still though disturbed I got clear before I could get to work -- I will give the foreigners a turn now I think -- for a change -- Germans especially if I can -- I was conversing with two or three of your men last night -- their eyes of course were shut and thus they did not see my bag. Ask any of your men who were on duty last night in Piccadilly (Circus End) if they saw a gentleman put 2 dragoon guard sergeants into a hansom. I was close by & heard him talk about shedding blood in Egypt I will soon shed more in England. I hope you read mark & learn all that you can if you do so you may and may not catch -- Jack the Ripper."

AUGUST 1889

August 14, 1889 -- Inquest into the death of Alice McKenzie completed.

SEPTEMBER 1889

Michael Kidney treated for lumbago and dyspepsia at the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary.

September 10, 1889 -- The Pinchin Street Torso is discovered under a railway arch.

OCTOBER 1889

October 15, 1889 -- David Cohen is confined to his bed at the asylum.

October 20, 1889 -- David Cohen dies in Colney Hatch Asylum

JULY 1890

Aaron Kosminski treated at the Mile End Old Town Workhouse and diagnosed as having been insane for the past two years (July 12). He is released three days later into the custody of his brother, Wolf. (July 15).

NOVEMBER 1890

Ann Druitt, mother of suspect Montague John Druitt, commits suicide.

JANUARY 1891

An individual named Colicott stabs about 6 women from behind over a month-long period.

FEBRUARY 1891

February 4, 1891 -- Aaron Kosminski taken to Mile End Workhouse Infirmary.

February 7, 1891 -- Aaron Kosminski transfered to Colney Hatch lunatic asylum.

February 11, 1891 -- Thomas Sadler meets Frances Coles.

February 13, 1891 -- Frances Coles killed in Swallow Gardens.

February 15, 1891 -- Coroner Wynne E. Baxter begins the inquest into the murder of Frances Coles at the Working Lads' Institute. Adjourned until the 16th.

February 16, 1891 -- Inquest into the murder of Frances Coles reconvened. Adjourned until the 20th.

February 20, 1891 -- Inquest into the murder of Frances Coles reconvened. Adjourned until the 23rd.

February 23, 1891 -- Inquest into the murder of Frances Coles reconvened. Adjourned until the 27th.

Fenruary 27, 1891 -- Inquest into the murder of Frances Coles completed.

A scare similar to the 'Leather Apron' scare of September, 1888, begins anew with a man named Jacobs, believed by the public to be the killer soon after the Frances Coles murder.

MARCH 1891

March 5, 1891 -- Thomas Cutbush held in Lambeth Infirmary as a lunatic, but escapes soon after.

March 9, 1891 -- Thomas Cutbush arrested, charged with stabbing Florence Grace Johnson and attempting to stab Isabelle Frazer Anderson in Kennington.

DECEMBER 1891

Prince Albert Victor engaged to Princess May of Teck (later Queen Mary)

JANUARY 1892

Prince Albert Victor dies of complications from influenza.

FEBRUARY 1892

J.K. Stephen dies.

FEBRUARY 1893

Superintendent Thomas Arnold interviewed by Evening Post.

1894

April 13, 1894 -- Aaron Kosminsky transfered to Leavesden Asylum for Imbeciles, noted as 'Demented and Incoherent.'

Sir Melville Macnaghten writes his memoranda, in response to an article in the Star.hy

1895

April 25, 1895 -- The Chicago Sunday-Times Herald publishes a story which describes a 'psychic hunt' of Robert James Lees's which ended up in his tracking down 'an eminent physician.'

1896

Superintendent Charles Henry Cutbush, uncle of Thomas Cutbush, commits suicide.

Dr. George Bagster Phillips dies.

John Pizer dies.

1898

Journalist Thomas J. Bulling, alleged in the Littlechild Letter to have written the "Jack the Ripper letters", is fired from the Central News Agency for sending a telegram reporting Bismarck's death which read "Bloody Bismarck is dead."

Major Arthur Henry Griffiths publishes the first volume of Mysteries of Police and Crime, with the two remaining volumes released by 1903.

1900

PC Ernest Thompson, who discovered the body of Frances Coles on his first night on the beat, is stabbed and killed while arresting a disorderly man at a coffee-stall.

1901

* King Edward VII rises to the throne.

* Robert Anderson retires and is knighted -- makes first public statement that the Ripper's identity is known.

* Dr. Thomas Bond, who was involved in the examinations of Mary Kelly, Alice McKenzie and Rose Mylett, commits suicide by throwing himself from his bedroom window.

1902

Fogelma, a Norweigan suspect, dies in Morris Plains Lunatic Asylum, USA.

1903

Cabman John Netley is killed when he is thrown from his seat and run over by his own carriage.

Severin Klosowski (alias George Chapman) is hanged.

1904

Major Arthur Henry Griffiths publishes Fifty Years of Public Service.

1907

Sir Robert Anderson writes Criminals and Crime, again stressing that the Ripper's identity was known.

1908

Book Hvem Var Jack the Ripper? released, suggesting the murderer was Alios Szemeredy.

Vassily Konovalov dies.

1909

Issue of the Ochrana Gazette is published, allegedly including an article implicating Pedachenko as the Ripper.

1910

* King Edward VII dies.

* Sir Robert Anderson publishes his memoirs under the title The Lighter Side of My Official Life.

* Sir Henry Smith publishes his memoirs, From Constable to Commissioner: The Story of Sixty Years: Most of Them Misspent.

1913

September 23, 1913 -- Chief Inspector John George Littlechild writes the recently discovered 'Littlechild letter,' which was addressed to G.R. Sims and discussed his feelings about the Tumblety suspect.

1914

Police Work From Within written by Hargrave Lee Adam.

Sir Melville Macnaghten publishes his memoirs, Days of My Years.

1915

Film Farmer Spudd and his Missus Take a Trip to Town released in England.

1919

March 24, 1919 -- Aaron Kosminsky dies in Leavesden Asylum for Imbeciles, from gangrene.

1920

The Police Encyclopaedia written by Hargrave Lee Adam, with an introduction by Sir Robert Anderson.

Annie Elizabeth Crook dies in the Lunacy Ward of Fulham Road Workhouse.

Wynne E. Baxter dies.

James Monro dies.

1923

October 28, 1923 -- The Evening Standard reports the only known account of the Fogelma suspect.

1924

Chief Inspector Donald Swanson dies.

Film Waxworks released in Germany.

1926

Alfred Hitchcock film The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog released in the UK.

1927

James Kelly voluntarily returns to the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, 39 years after his escape from the same institution.

William Le Queux dies.

1928

The Britannia, the public house at which Mary Kelly was seen on the night of her death, is demolished during a project to renovate Spitalfields Market.

Film, Die Busche der Pandora (Pandora's Box) released in Germany.

1929

Inspector Abberline dies.

James Kelly dies at the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Leonard Matters publishes The Mystery of Jack the Ripper

1930

The Trial of George Chapman written by Hargrave Lee Adam.

Sergeant William Thick dies.

According to local legend, the Duke of Clarence, Prince Albert Victor, dies in Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. (He officially died in 1892).

1931

C.I.D.; Behind the Scenes at Scotland Yard written by Hargrave Lee Adam.

Robert James Lees dies.

PC Robert Spicer writes to the Daily Express, relating his tale of the 'Brixton doctor' suspect (later named 'Dr. Merchant')

1932

Film The Lodger (The Phantom Fiend) released in the UK; a remake of the Hitchcock original, with sound.

1935

Dr. Harold Dearden writes article 'Who was Jack the Ripper?' in Great Unsolved Crimes.

Jean Dorsenne writes Jack L'Eventreur.

1937

Film Drole de Drame ou L'Etrange Aventure de Docteur Molyneux released in France.

Edwin Thomas Woodhall publishes Jack the Ripper: Or, When London Walked in Terror, forwarding the Olga Tchkersoff theory.

Hugh Pollard gives Miss Dorothy Stroud a knife he claims was used by Jack the Ripper.

1938

Walter Dew publishes his memoirs, I Caught Crippen.

1939

William Stewart publishes Jack the Ripper: A New Theory, suggesting a midwife was the murderer.

1941

Detective Sergeant George Godley dies.

1942

Walter Sickert dies.

1944

Film The Lodger released in the US.

1947

Aleister Crowley dies.

1950

October 29, 1950 -- Terence Robertson, writing in the Reynold's News, makes the first known reference to 'Fairy Fay.'

Film Room to Let released in the UK.

1951

Leonard Matters dies.

1953

Film Man in the Attic, starring Jack Palance, is released in the US.

1954

Ada Reeve publishes Take it for a Fact.

1958

American television series Cimarron City airs episode 'Knife in the Darkness.'

Film Jack the Ripper released in Great Britain.

American television series The Veil airs episode 'Jack the Ripper.'

1959

Dr. Dennis Gratwick Halstead publishes Doctor in the Nineties, naming the Ripper as a North Sea fisherman.

Lady Aberconway, daughter of Sir Melville Macnaghten, shows her father's now famous memoranda to Daniel Farson, who makes them public for the first time.

Donald McCormick publishes The Identity of Jack the Ripper, stressing the culpability of Michael Ostrog and Vassily Konovalov.

November 5, 1959 -- Programme Farson's Guide to the British airs its first episode (cont'd November 12).

November 7, 1959 -- Daniel Farson prints article 'On the Trail of Jack the Ripper'in TV Times.

November 12, 1959 -- Programme Farson's Guide to the British airs its second, final episode, revealing for the first time the initials of Macnaghten's suspect: M.J.D.

1961

American television series Thriller airs episode 'Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper.'

1962

Phillppe Julien makes the first public allegation that Prince Albert Victor was the Ripper in his book, Edouard VII.

1965

Tom Cullen publishes Autumn of Terror -- a.k.a When London Walked in Terror, or The Crimes and Times of Jack the Ripper. First to use the Macnaghten memoranda and to name his top suspect, Montague John Druitt.

Robin Odell publishes Jack the Ripper in Fact and Fiction, suggesting a shochet to be the killer.

Film A Study in Terror released in the UK.

1966

The August 1966 edition of Crime and Detection includes an article which describes how a journalist for the Star (named Best) claimed to have written all the "Jack the Ripper letters" ever sent to the press and police.

American television series The Green Hornet airs episode, 'Alias the Scarf.'

1967

Film No Orchids for Lulu released in Austria.

Popular television series Star Trek airs episode 'Wolf in the Fold.'

1969

Inspector Lewis Henry Keaton, who joined the MEPO force in 1891, gives a tape-recorded interview discussing police activity at the time.

1970

Dr. Thomas Stowell publishes the first article implicating Sir William Gull in the Criminologist, and writes to the Times in November of the same year that he did not suggest that the Ripper was Prince Albert Victor. By the time the letter was published, Stowell was dead.

1971

Film Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde released in England.

Film Hands of the Ripper released in England.

1972

Michael Harrison writes Clarence, a biography of Prince Albert Victor.

Arthur Butler writes a series of articles for the Sun, furthering the "Jill the Ripper" theory.

Film Jack El Destripador de Londres released in Spain and Italy.

Daniel Farson releases Jack the Ripper, forwarding the Montague John Druitt theory.

'Alexander Kelly' publishes Jack the Ripper: A Biography and Review of the Literature.

American television series The Sixth Sense airs episode 'With Affection, Jack the Ripper.'

1973

Leonard Gribble publishes 'Was Jack the Ripper a Black Magician?' in the March, 1973 issue of True Detective, discussing the Dr. Stanley theory.

BBC Documentary Miniseries, Jack the Ripper, airs in the UK, culminating in an interview with Joseph Sickert, in which he names Gull as the Ripper.

Irving Rosenwater publishes 'Jack the Ripper -- Sort of Cricketing Person?' in The Cricketer, January 1973.

1974

Donald Bell publishes "Jack the Ripper -- The Final Solution" in the Spring, 1974 edition of Criminologist, arguing Thomas Neill Cream to be the Ripper.

Arthur Douglas writes Will the Real Jack the Ripper?

American television series Kolchak airs episode 'The Ripper.'

1975

Movie Black the Ripper is released in the US, starring Hugh van Patten.

Richard Whittington-Egan writes A Casebook on Jack the Ripper.

Donald Rumbelow publishes The Complete Jack the Ripper.

Thomas Mann publishes 'The Ripper and the Poet: A comparison of Handwriting' in WADE Journal, June 1975.

Chaim Bermant publishes Point of Arrival: A Study of London's East End; chapter 9, 'Jacob the Ripper.'

Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd publish The Ripper File, based on the 1973 BBC miniseries Jack the Ripper.

Seymour Shuster publishes 'Jack the Ripper and Doctor Identification' in the International Journal of Psychiatry.

1976

Film Der Dirnenmoreder von London released in Switzerland.

The Ten Bells public house is renamed the Jack the Ripper.

Stephen Knight publishes Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, forwading the Sickert story of royal conspiracies.

1977

Leonard Gribble publishes 'The Man They Thought was Jack the Ripper' in March, 1977 issue of True Detective, which dismisses the George Chapman theory.

Mark Andrews publishes The Return of Jack the Ripper, a fictional work which proposes that Mary Kelly's lover was the Ripper.

1978

Two separate films, one American and one French, are released, both entitled Lulu.

Frank Spiering publishes Prince Jack: The True Story of Jack the Ripper.

Joseph Sickert publicly states that his story of Masonic conspiracy was a hoax.

1979

Film Murder By Decree released in Canada and Great Britain.

Film Time After Time released in the US.

Arthur Douglas publishes Will the Real Jack the Ripper?

1980

American series Fantasy Island airs episode, "With Affection, Jack the Ripper."

Television documentary Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution produced in Australia, following the lines of the book by the same name.

1982

April 1982 -- Bruce Paley publishes 'A New Theory on the Jack the Ripper Murders' in True Crime, publicly forwarding the theory that Joseph Barnett was the Ripper for the first time.

1983

The Scotland Yard folio on the murder of Emma Elizabeth Smith is first reported missing in December, 1983.

1984

'Alexander Kelly's' Jack the Ripper: A Bibliography and Review of the Literature is updated in a second edition.

1985

Author and researcher Stephen Knight dies of a brain tumor.

Joseph Sickert recants his previous confession that his story of Masonic conspiracy was a hoax.

Film The Ripper is released in the US.

1986

Euan Macpherson first calls attention to suspect William Bury.

John Morrison erects a headstone above the previously unmarked grave of Mary Jeanette Kelly.

1987

Martin Fido publishes The Crimes, Detection and Death of Jack the Ripper.

A number of Ripper-related documents are returned anonymously to Scotland Yard, including the post-mortem notes of Doctor Bond concerning the Mary Kelly autopsy.

Melvis Harris publishes Jack the Ripper: The Bloody Truth.

Martin Howells and Keith Skinner publish The Ripper Legacy.

Terence Sharkey publishes Jack the Ripper: 100 Years of Investigation.

Peter Underwood publishes Jack the Ripper: One Hundred Years of Mystery.

Colin Wilson and Robin Odell publish Jack the Ripper: Summing Up and Verdict.

The Swanson Marginalia are published for the first time, in the Daily Telegraph.

1988

April 21, 1988 -- The Evening Standard makes the first public mention of the existence of the Abberline Diaries.

William Eckert of the Milton Helpern Institute of Forensic Sciences, prepares the FBI's psychological profile of Jack the Ripper.

The Home Office Files are placed on microfilm.

Television miniseries Jack the Ripper, starring Michael Caine, airs in the US and UK.

The Jack the Ripper public house is restored to its original name, The Ten Bells.

Film Jack's Back released in the US, starring James Spader.

Colin Kendell publishes 'Did Mary Kelly Die?' in the Criminologist, Autumn 1988.

November 1988 -- Television programme The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper airs in the US.

Simon Wood first draws attention to the apparent initials visible on the photo of Mary Kelly's body.

Paul Begg's Jack the Ripper: The Uncensored Facts is published.

1989

Film Edge of Sanity released in Great Britain.

Neal Shelden publishes 'Victims of Jack the Ripper' in January, 1989 issue of True Detective.

N.P. Warren publishes 'A Postal Kidney' in the Spring, 1989 issue of the Criminologist.

1990

Spring, 1990 -- Mason Jay writes 'The Ripper -- A Layman's Theory' in the Spring, 1990 issue of The Criminologist.

September, 1990 -- Roger Barber writes "Did Jack the Ripper Commit Suicide?" in the Autumn, 1990 issue of Criminologist, forwarding Edward Buchan as the Ripper.

December, 1990 -- Andrew Holloway publishes "Not Guilty?" in the Cricketer, suggesting M.J. Druitt was murdered by his older brother,William.

LWT TV broadcasts Crime Monthly: Who Was Jack the Ripper in the London area, advancing the Aaron Kosminski theory.

Jean Overton Fuller publishes Sickert and the Ripper Crimes.

Melvin Harris publishes The Ripper File.

1991

Melvyn Fairclough publishes The Ripper and the Royals.

Paul Harrison publishes Jack the Ripper: The Mystery Solved.

Booklet Jack the Ripper released as part of the Scandal series, written by Paul Begg.

Booklet Who Was Jack the Ripper? released as part of the Murder Casebook series, written by Paul Begg.

Martin Fido releases audio-book On the Trail of Jack the Ripper.

1992

Stephane Bourgoin publishes Jack L'Eventreur.

N.P. Warren publishes article in the Spring 1992 edition of Criminologist concerning the 'Dr. Merchant' suspect.

Video Jack the Ripper: Gescichte Eines Morders released in Germany.

Publication Ripperana is begun by N.P. Warren.

Begg, Fido, and Skinner print first edition of the revolutionary The Jack the Ripper A to Z.

1993

Shirley Harrison's The Diary of Jack the Ripper is published; Martin Howells's video of the same name is released soon after.

Stewart Evans discovers the Littlechild Letter, bringing the Tumblety suspect to light.

William Henry publishes 'The Ripper case: New Evidence' in Spring, 1993 issue of the Criminologist.

Sue Iremonger delivers paper 'Jack the Ripper Revisited' to the WADE Conference in June, 1993, detailing her handwriting analysis of a number of Ripper letters and documents.

A.P. Wolf publishes Jack the Myth: A New Look at the Ripper.

The London Dungeon opens The Jack the Ripper Experience.

John Wilding publishes Jack the Ripper Revealed, suggesting that M.J. Druitt and J.K. Stephen were together Jack the Ripper.

Map/Pamphlet Jack's London released by Daryl Sullivan and Andrew Cocknell.

Gary Rowlands publishes 'Jack the Ripper: The Writing on the Wall' in the Summer, 1993 issue of the Criminologist.

1994

The Cloak and Dagger Club begun by Mark Galloway.

Philip Sugden publishes The Complete History of Jack the Ripper.

Researcher D.S. Goffee publishes 'The Search for Michael Ostrog' in the October, 1994 edition of Ripperana, revealing much new information on the suspect.

Melvin Harris publishes The True Face of Jack the Ripper.

Martin Fido releases narrated audiotape In the Footsteps of Jack the Ripper, which includes directions for individuals to take a tour of Whitechapel.

'Alexander Kelly's' Jack the Ripper: A Bibliography and Review of the Literature is updated in a third edition.

1995

April, 1995 -- Mark Angus publishes article in Spring, 1995 issue of Criminologist arguing against the authenticity of the Maybrick diary.

Bernard Brown publishes "Was Jack the Ripper a Policeman?" in The Journal of Police History Society Journal.

Patricia Cory writes An Eye to the Future.

Stewart Evans and Paul Gainey publish The Lodger.

Martin Fido releases audiotape Jack the Ripper.

Scott Palmer publishes Jack the Ripper: A Reference Guide.

William Beadle publishes Jack the Ripper: Anatomy of a Myth, forwarding William Henry Bury as the Ripper.

The London Dungeon updates and revamps The Jack the Ripper Experience

Bruce Paley publishes Jack the Ripper: The Simple Truth.

Camille Wolff publishes Who Was Jack the Ripper?

1996

January 31, 1996 -- Casebook: Jack the Ripper goes on-line.

February 29, 1996 -- American cable channel A&E airs programme "Biography: Jack the Ripper."

UK National Conference takes place in Ipswitch, April 1996.

Peter Fisher publishes An Illustrated Guide to Jack the Ripper, which identifies the Ripper as a Turkish priest named Eppstein.

Peter Turnbull publishes The Killer that Never Was.

1997

January 3, 1997 -- American television station FOX airs Sliders episode "Murder Most Foul."

April 10-26, 1997 -- Musical "Jack the Ripper" premiers at the Boston Center for the Arts.

The Victims

It was uncertain how many people Jack the Ripper brutally murdered. It is said that he killed five, while some say four, whereas other say he killed seven, perhaps more. The press and many police officers believed that Jack the Ripper killed nine. The five that were allegedly killed by Jack the Ripper are:

Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols, murdered Friday, August 31, 1888.
Annie Chapman, murdered Saturday, September 8, 1888.
Elizabeth Stride, murdered Sunday, September 30, 1888.
Catharine Eddowes, also murdered that same date.
Mary Jane (Marie Jeanette) Kelly, murdered Friday, November 9, 1888.

The first alleged murder at the hands of Jack the Ripper was Mary Ann Nichols, also known as Polly. This victim was murdered on Friday, August the 31st, 1888.

Polly was 5’2” tall, had 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 has a small scar on her forehead from a childhood injury. Here is the timeline of Polly from 11:00PM, August 30, Thursday till Friday the following day:

11:00 PM -- Polly is seen walking down Whitechapel Road, she is probably soliciting trade.

12:30 AM -- She is seen leaving the Frying Pan Public House at the corner of Brick Lane and Thrawl Street. She returns to the lodging house at 18 Thrawl Street.

1:20 or 1:40 AM -- She is told by the deputy to leave the kitchen of the lodging house because she could not produce her doss money. Polly, on leaving, asks him to save a bed for her. " Never Mind!" She says, "I'll soon get my doss money. See what a jolly bonnet I've got now." She indicates a little black bonnet which no one had seen before.

2:30 AM -- She meets Emily Holland, who was returning from watching the Shadwell Dry Dock fire, outside of a grocer's shop on the corner of Whitechapel Road and Osborn Street. Polly had come down Osborn Street. Holland describes her as "very drunk and staggered against the wall." Holland calls attention to the church clock striking 2:30. Polly tells Emily that she had had her doss money three times that day and had drunk it away. She says she will return to Flower and Dean Street where she could share a bed with a man after one more attempt to find trade. "I've had my doss money three times today and spent it." She says, "It won't be long before I'm back." The two women talk for seven or eight minutes. Polly leaves walking east down Whitechapel Road.

At the time, the services of a destitute prostitute like Polly Nichols could be had for 2 or 3 pence or a stale loaf of bread. 3 pence was the going rate as that was the price of a large glass of gin.

3:15 AM -- P.C. John Thain, 96J, passes down Buck's Row on his beat. He sees nothing unusual. At approximately the same time Sgt. Kerby passes down Bucks Row and reports the same.

3:40 or 3:45 AM -- Polly Nichols' body is discovered in Buck's Row by Charles Cross, a carman, on his way to work at Pickfords in the City Road., and Robert Paul who joins him at his request. "Come and look over here, there's a woman." Cross calls to Paul. Cross believes she is dead. Her hands and face are cold but the arms above the elbow and legs are still warm. Paul believes he feels a faint heartbeat. "I think she's breathing," he says "but it is little if she is."

It was known that she had 5 teeth missing, and a slight laceration of the tongue. There was a bruise running along the lower part of her jaw on the right side of her face. On the left side of the neck, about 1 in. below the jaw, there was an incision about 4 in. 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 incision was about 8 in. 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. There were three or four similar cuts running downwards, on the right side, all of which had been caused by a knife which had been used violently and downwards. 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 weapon.

The second suspected victim of Jack the Ripper was Annie Chapman. Annie was murdered on Saturday, September the 8th 1888. Annie was 5’ tall. She was 45 at the time of her death. Blue eyes, dark brown wavy hair. Annie had two brothers that didn’t get along with her. Here is the timeline for Annie from Friday the 7th to early hours of Saturday the 8th.

5:00 PM: Amelia Palmer again sees Annie in Dorset Street. Chapman is sober and Palmer asks her if she is going to Stratford (believed to be the territory where Annie plied her trade). Annie says she is too ill to do anything. Farmer left but returned a few minutes later only to find Chapman not having moved. It's no use my giving way," Annie says "I must pull myself together and go out and get some money or I shall have no lodgings."

11:30 PM: Annie returns to the lodging house and asks permission to go into the kitchen.

12:10 AM: Frederick Stevens, also a lodger at Crossingham's says he drank a pint of beer with Annie who was already slightly the worse for drink. He states that she did not leave the lodging house until 1:00 AM.

12:12 AM: William Stevens (a printer), another lodger, enters the kitchen and sees Chapman. She says that she has been to Vauxhall to see her sister, that she went to get some money and that her family had given her 5 pence. (If this is so, she spent it on drink.) Stevens sees her take a broken box of pills from her pocket. The box breaks and she takes a torn piece of envelope from the mantelpiece and places the pills in it. Chapman leaves the kitchen. Stevens thinks she has gone to bed.

It appears obvious that she did pick up medication at the casual ward. The lotion found in her room may have brought up there at this time. This would re-enforce Stevens' impression that she had gone to bed. She certainly shows every sign of intending to return to Crossingham's.

1:35 AM: Annie returns to the lodging house again. She is eating a baked potato. John Evans, an elderly man who is night watchman has been sent to collect her bed money. She goes upstairs to see Donovan in his office. "I haven't sufficient money for my bed," she tells him, "but don't let it. I shall not be long before I'm in." Donovan chastises her, "You can find money for your beer and you can't find money for your bed." Annie is not dismayed. She steps out of the office and stands in the doorway for two or three minutes. "Never mind, Tim." she states, "I'll soon be back." And to Evans she says, "I won't be long, Brummy (his nickname). See that Tim keeps the bed for me." Her regular bed in the lodging house is number 29. Evans sees her leave and enter Little Paternoster Row going in the direction of Brushfield Street and then turn towards Spitalfields Market.

4:45 AM: Mr. John Richardson enters the backyard of 29 Hanbury St. on his way to work, and sits down on the steps to remove a piece of leather which was protruding from his boot. Although it was quite dark at the time, he was sitting no more than a yard away from where the head of Annie Chapman would have been had she already been killed. He later testified to have seen nothing of extraordinary nature.

5:30 AM: Elizabeth Long sees Chapman with a man, hard against the shutters of 29 Hanbury Street. they are talking. Long hears the man say "Will you?" and Annie replies "Yes." Long is certain of the time as she had heard the clock on the Black Eagle Brewery, Brick Lane, strike the half hour just as she had turned onto the street. The woman (Chapman) had her back towards Spitalfields Market and, thus, her face towards Long. The man had his back towards Long. She describes the man at the inquest.

This is a description of the inquest testimony.

Her left arm was placed over her left breast. The legs were drawn up, the feet resting on the ground, and the knees turned outwards. The face was swollen and turned on the right side. The tongue protruded between the front teeth, but not beyond the lips. The tongue was evidently much swollen. The front teeth were perfect as far as the first molar, top and bottom and very fine teeth they were. The body was terribly mutilated...the stiffness of the limbs was not marked, but was evidently commencing. He noticed that the throat was dissevered deeply.; that the incision through the skin were jagged and reached right round the neck...On the wooden paling between the yard in question and the next, smears of blood, corresponding to where the head of the deceased lay, were to be seen. These were about 14 inches from the ground, and immediately above the part where the blood from the neck lay.

The third victim at the hands of Jack the Ripper was Elizabeth Stride. Elizabeth was murdered on Sunday, September the 30th, just 22 days after Annie Chapman was murdered. Elizabeth had curly dark brown hair and light grey eyes. She was 5’5” tall.

Here are the events of Elizabeth’s night.

6:30 PM: Tanner sees her again at the Queen's Head Public House. They drank together and then walked back to the lodging house.

7:00-8:00 PM: She is seen leaving the lodging house by Charles Preston and Catherine Lane. She gives Lane a large piece of green velvet and asks her to hold it for her until she returns. She ask Preston to borrow his clothes brush but he has mislaid it. She then leaves passing by Thomas Bates, watchman at the lodging house who says she looked quite cheerful. Lane will later state that "I know the deceased had 6d when she left, she showed it to me, stating that the deputy had given it to her."

11:00 PM: Two laborers, J. Best of 82 Lower Chapham Street and John Gardner of 11 Chapham Street were going into the Bricklayer's Arms Public House on Settles street, north of Commercial and almost opposite Berner Street. As they went in Stride was leaving with a short man with a dark mustache and sandy eyelashes. The man was wearing a billycock hat, mourning suit and coat. Best says "They had been served in the public house and went out when me and my friends came in. It was raining very fast and 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 at the woman." Stride and her man stood in the doorway for some time hugging and kissing. The workmen tried to get the man to come in for a drink but he refused. They then called to Stride. "That's Leather Apron getting 'round you." The man and Stride moved off towards Commercial Road and Berner Street. "He and the woman went off like a shot soon after eleven."

11:45 PM: William Marshall, a laborer, sees her on Berner Street. He is standing in the doorway of 64 Berner Street on the west side of the street between Fairclough and Boyd Streets. He notices her talking to a man in a short black cutaway coat and sailor's hat outside number 63. They are kissing and carrying on. He hears the man say "You would say anything but your prayers."

12:00 AM: Matthew Packer claims to sell Stride and a man grapes. This is a very dubious piece of evidence. See Sugden's The Complete History of Jack the Ripper for the pros and cons of this story.

12:35 AM: Police Constable William Smith sees Stride with a young man on Berner Street opposite the International Worker's Club.The man is described as 28 years old, dark coat and hard deerstalker hat. He is carrying a parcel approximately 6 inches high and 18 inches in length. the package is wrapped in newspaper.

12:40 AM (approximately): Quoting Home Office File:

"Israel Schwartz of 22 Helen Street, Backchurch Lane, stated that at this hour, turning into Berner Street from Commercial Road, and having gotten as far as the gateway where the murder was committed, he saw a man stop and speak to a woman, who was standing in the gateway. He tried to pull the woman into the street, but he turned her round and threw her down on the footway and the woman screamed three times, but not very loudly. On crossing to the opposite side of the street, he saw a second man lighting his pipe. The man who threw the woman down called out, apparently to the man on the opposite side of the road, "Lipski", and then Schwartz walked away, but finding that he was followed by the second man, he ran as far as the railway arch, but the man did not follow so far.

Schwartz cannot say whether the two men were together or known to each other. Upon being taken to the mortuary Schwartz identified the body as that of the woman he had seen."

Later in the deposition:

"It will be observed that allowing for differences of opinion between PC Smith and Schwartz as to the apparent age and height of the man each saw with the woman whose body they both identified; there are serious differences in the description of the dress...so at least it is rendered doubtful that they are describing the same man.

If Schwartz is to be believed, and the police report of his statement casts no doubt upon it, it follows that if they are describing different men that the man Schwartz saw is the more probable of the two to be the murderer..."

Schwartz describes the man as about 30 years old, 5' 5" tall with a fresh complexion, dark hair and small brown moustache. He is dressed in an overcoat and an old black felt hat with a wide brim.

At the same time, James Brown says he sees Stride with a man as he was going home with his supper down Fairclough Street. She was leaning against the wall talking to a stoutish man about 5' 7" tall in a long black coat that reached to his heels. He has his arm against the wall. Stride is saying "No, not tonight, some other night."

1:00 AM: Louis Diemschutz, a salesman of jewellery, entered Dutfield's Yard driving his cart and pony. Immediately at the entrance, his pony shied and refused to proceed -- Diemschutz suspected something was in the way but could not see since the yard was utterly pitch black. He probed forward with his whip and came into contact with a body, which he initially believed to be either drunk or asleep.

He entered the Workingman's Club to get some help in rousing the woman, and upon returning to the yard with Isaac Kozebrodsky and Morris Eagle, the three discover that she was dead, her throat cut.

It was believed that Diemschutz's arrival frightened the Ripper, causing him to flee before he performed the mutilations. Diemschutz himself stated that he believed the Ripper was still in the yard when he had entered, due to the warm temperature of the body and the continuingly odd behaviour of his pony.

The post mortem described Elizabeth’s injuries.

Dr. George Baxter Phillips, who also handled the Chapman and Kelly murders, performed the post mortem on Stride. He was also present at the scene and, after examining the body, asserts the deceased had not eaten any grapes. His report is as follows:

"The body was lying on the near side, with the face turned toward the wall, the head up the yard and the feet toward the street. The left arm was extended and there was a packet of cachous in the left hand.

The right arm was over the belly, the back of the hand and wrist had on it clotted blood. The legs were drawn up with the feet close to the wall. The body and face were warm and the hand cold. The legs were quite warm.

Deceased had a silk handkerchief round her neck, and it appeared to be slightly torn. I have since ascertained it was cut. This corresponded with the right angle of the jaw. The throat was deeply gashed and there was an abrasion of the skin about one and a half inches in diameter, apparently stained with blood, under her right arm.

At three o'clock p.m. on Monday at St. George's Mortuary, Dr. Blackwell and I made a post mortem examination. Rigor mortis was still thoroughly marked. There was mud on the left side of the face and it was matted in the head;

The Body was fairly nourished. Over both shoulders, especially the right, and under the collarbone and in front of the chest there was a bluish discoloration, which I have watched and have seen on two occasions since.

There was a clear-cut incision on the neck. It was six inches in length and commenced 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 deviated a little downwards. The arteries and other vessels contained in the sheath were all cut through.

The cut through the tissues on the right side was more superficial, and tailed off to about two inches below the right angle of the jaw. The deep vessels on that side were uninjured. From this is was evident that the hemorrhage was caused through the partial severance of the left cartoid artery.

Decomposition had commenced in the skin. Dark brown spots were on the anterior surface of the left chin. There was a deformity in the bones of the right leg, which was not straight, but bowed forwards. There was no recent external injury save to the neck.

The body being washed more thoroughly I could see some healing sores. The lobe of the left ear was torn as if from the removal or wearing through of an earring, but it was thoroughly healed. On removing the scalp there was no sign of extravasation of blood.

The heart was small, the left ventricle firmly contracted, and the right slightly so. There was no clot in the pulmonary artery, but the right ventricle was full of dark clot. The left was firmly contracted as to be absolutely empty.

The stomach was large and the mucous membrane only congested. It contained partly digested food, apparently consisting of cheese, potato, and farinaceous powder. All the teeth on the lower left jaw were absent."

The fourth murdered woman allegedly killed by Jack the Ripper was Catherine Eddowes. She was murdered on the same night as Elizabeth Stride. It was suspected that Jack the Ripper was interrupted during his “play time” with Elizabeth so he murdered again the same night to make his statement clear, that he was not giving up. Here is the course of events from the night she was murdered.

At 8:00 AM on September 29 she returns to Cooney's lodging house and sees Kelly. She has been turned out of the casual ward for some unspecified trouble. Kelly decided to pawn a pair of boots he had. He does this with a pawnbroker named Smith in Church Street. It was Kate who took them into the shop and pledged them under the name Jane Kelly. She receives 2/6 for the boots and she and Kelly take the money and buy some food, tea and sugar. Between 10 and 11 AM they were seen by Wilkinson eating breakfast in the lodging house kitchen.

By afternoon they were again without money. Eddowes says she is going to see if she can get some money from her daughter in Bermondsey. She parts with Kelly in Houndsditch at 2:00 PM, promising to be back no later than 4:00 PM. "I never knew if she went to her daughter's at all," Kelly says at the inquest. "I only wish she had, for we had lived together for some time and never had a quarrel." Kate could not have seen her daughter who had moved since the last time Kate saw her.

8:00 PM: Catherine Eddowes is drunk and attracting a crowd by doing imitations of a fire engine in Aldgate High Street. After the fire engine imitations she lays down on the street to sleep. She is arrested by PC Louis Robinson outside 29 Aldgate High Street. She is very drunk and laying in a heap on the pavement. Robinson was told by the crowd that no one knew her. He pulled her up to her feet and leaned her against the building's shutters but she slipped sideways. With the aid of PC George Simmons they brought her to Bishopsgate Police Station.

Arriving at the station she was asked her name and replied "Nothing." At 8:50 PM PC Robinson looked in on her in her cell. She was asleep and smelled of drink. At 9:45 PM PC George Hutt took charge of the prisoners. He visited the cell every half hour during the night.

12:15 AM: Kate is heard singing softly to herself in the cell. 12:30 AM: She calls out to ask when she will be released."When you are capable of taking care of yourself." Hutt replies. "I can do that now." Kate informs him.

12:55 AM: Sergeant Byfield instructs PC Hutt to see if any prisoners were fit to be released. Kate was found to be sober. She gives her name as Mary Ann Kelly, and her address as 6 Fashion Street. Kate is released.

She leaves the station at 1:00 AM.

"What time is it?" she asks Hutt.

"Too late for you to get anything to drink." he replies.

"I shall get a damn fine hiding when I get home." She tells him.

Hutt replies, " And serve you right, you had no right to get drunk."

Hutt pushes open the swinging door of that station.

"This was missus," he says, "please pull it to."

"All right'" Kate replies, "Goodnight, old cock."

She turned left out the doorway which took her in the opposite direction of what would have been the fastest way back to Flower and Dean Street. She appears to be heading back toward Aldgate High Street where she had gotten drunk. On going down Houndsditch she would have passed the entrance to Duke Street, at the end of which was Church Passage which led into Mitre Square.

It is estimated that it would have taken less than ten minutes to reach Mitre Square. This leaves a thirty minute gap from the time she leaves the police station to the time she is seen outside Mitre Square.

1:35 AM: Joseph Lawende, a commercial traveller in the cigarette trade, Joseph Hyam Levy, a butcher and Henry Harris, a furniture dealer leave the Imperial Club at 16-17 Duke Street. At the corner of Duke Street and Church Passage they see Eddowes and a man talking. She is standing facing the man with her hand on his chest, but not in a manner to suggest that she is resisting him. Lawende describes the man as 30 years old, 5 foot 7 inches tall, fair complexion and moustache with a medium build. He is wearing a pepper and salt colored jacket which fits loosely, grey cloth cap with a peak of the same colour. He has a reddish handkerchief knotted around his neck. Over all he gives the appearance of being a sailor. Lawende will later identify Catherine Eddowes clothes as the same as those worn by the woman he saw that night.

1:45 PM: PC Watkins discovers Eddowes body in Mitre Square.

The post mortem was taken by Dr. Frederick Gordon Brown and here are the injuries inflicted on Catherine.

"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 left leg extended in a line with the body. The abdomen was exposed. Right leg bent at the thigh and knee. The throat cut across.

The intestines were drawn out to a large extent and placed over the right shoulder -- they were smeared over with some feculent matter. A piece of about two feet was quite detached from the body and placed between the body and the left arm, apparently by design. The lobe and auricle of the right ear were cut obliquely through.

There was a quantity of clotted blood on the pavement on the left side of the neck round the shoulder and upper part of arm, and fluid blood-coloured serum which had flowed under the neck to the right shoulder, the pavement sloping in that direction.

Body was quite warm. No death stiffening had taken place. She must have been dead most likely within the half hour. We looked for superficial bruises and saw none. No blood on the skin of the abdomen or secretion of any kind on the thighs. No spurting of blood on the bricks or pavement around. No marks of blood below the middle of the body. Several buttons were found in the clotted blood after the body was removed. There was no blood on the front of the clothes. There were no traces of recent connexion.

When the body arrived at Golden Lane, some of the blood was dispersed through the removal of the body to the mortuary. The clothes were taken off carefully from the body. A piece of deceased's ear dropped from the clothing.

I made a post mortem examination at half past two on Sunday afternoon. Rigor mortis was well marked; body not quite cold. Green discoloration over the abdomen.

After washing the left hand carefully, a bruise the size of a sixpence, recent and red, was discovered on the back of the left hand between the thumb and first finger. A few small bruises on right shin of older date. The hands and arms were bronzed. No bruises on the scalp, the back of the body, or the elbows.

The face was very much mutilated. There was a cut about a quarter of an inch through the lower left eyelid, dividing the structures completely through. 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.

There was a deep cut over the bridge of the nose, extending from the left border of the nasal bone down near the angle of the jaw on the right side of the cheek. This cut went into the bone and divided all the structures of the cheek except the mucuous membrane of the mouth.

The tip of the nose was quite detached by an oblique cut from the bottom of the nasal bone to where the wings of the nose join on to the face. A cut from this divided the upper lip and extended through the substance of the gum over the right upper lateral incisor tooth.

About half an inch from the top of the nose was another oblique cut. There was a cut on the right angle of the mouth as if the cut of a point of a knife. The cut extended an inch and a half, parallel with the lower lip.

There was on each side of cheek a cut which peeled up the skin, forming a triangular flap about an inch and a half. On the left cheek there were two abrasions of the epithelium under the left ear.

The throat was cut across to the extent of about six or seven inches. A superficial cut commenced about an inch and a half below the lobe below, and about two and a half inches behind the left ear, and extended across the throat to about three inches below the lobe of the right ear.

The big muscle across the throat was divided through on the left side. The large vessels on the left side of the neck were severed. The larynx was severed below the vocal chord. All the deep structures were severed to the bone, the knife marking intervertebral cartilages. The sheath of the vessels on the right side was just opened.

The cartoid artery had a fine hole opening, the internal jugular vein was opened about an inch and a half -- not divided. The blood vessels contained clot. All these injuries were performed by a sharp instrument like a knife, and pointed.

The cause of death was hemorrhage from the left common cartoid artery. The death was immediate and the mutilations were inflicted after death.

We examined the abdomen. The front walls were laid open from the breast bones to the pubes. The cut commenced opposite the enciform cartilage. The incision went upwards, not penetrating the skin that was over the sternum. It then divided the enciform cartilage. The knife must have cut obliquely at the expense of that cartilage.

Behind this, the liver was stabbed as if by the point of a sharp instrument. Below this was another incision into the liver of about two and a half inches, and below this the left lobe of the liver was slit through by a vertical cut. Two cuts were shewn by a jagging of the skin on the left side.

The abdominal walls were divided in the middle line to within a quarter of an inch of the navel. The cut then took a horizontal course for two inches and a half towards the right side. It then divided round the navel on the left side, and made a parallel incision to the former horizontal incision, leaving the navel on a tongue of skin. Attached to the navel was two and a half inches of the lower part of the rectus muscle on the left side of the abdomen. The incision then took an oblique direction to the right and was shelving. The incision went down the right side of the vagina and rectum for half an inch behind the rectum.

There was a stab of about an inch on the left groin. This was done by a pointed instrument. Below this was a cut of three inches going through all tissues making a wound of the peritoneum about the same extent.

An inch below the crease of the thigh was a cut extending from the anterior spine of the ilium obliquely down the inner side of the left thigh and separating the left labium, forming a flap of skin up to the groin. The left rectus muscle was not detached.

There was a flap of skin formed by the right thigh, attaching the right labium, and extending up to the spine of the ilium. The muscles on the right side inserted into the frontal ligaments were cut through.

The skin was retracted through the whole of the cut through the abdomen, but the vessels were not clotted. Nor had there been any appreciable bleeding from the vessels. I draw the conclusion that the act was made after death, and there would not have been much blood on the murderer. The cut was made by someone on the right side of the body, kneeling below the middle of the body.

I removed the content of the stomach and placed it in a jar for further examination. There seemed very little in it in the way of food or fluid, but from the cut end partly digested farinaceous food escaped.

The intestines had been detached to a large extent from the mesentery. About two feet of the colon was cut away. The signoid flexure was invaginated into the rectum very tightly.

Right kidney was pale, bloodless with slight congestion of the base of the pyramids

There was a cut from the upper part of the slit on the under surface of the liver to the left side, and another cut at right angles to this, which were about an inch and a half deep and two and a half inches long. Liver itself was healthy.

The gall bladder contained bile. The pancreas was cut, but not through, on the left side of the spinal column. Three and a half inches of the lower border of the spleen by half an inch was attached only to the peritoneum.

The peritoneal lining was cut through on the left side and the left kidney carefully taken out and removed. The left renal artery was cut through. I would say that someone who knew the position of the kidney must have done it.

The lining membrane over the uterus was cut through. The womb was cut through horizontally, leaving a stump of three quarters of an inch. The rest of the womb had been taken away with some of the ligaments. The vagina and cervix of the womb was uninjured.

The bladder was healthy and uninjured, and contained three or four ounces of water. There was a tongue-like cut through the anterior wall of the abdominal aorta. The other organs were healthy. There were no indications of connexion.

I believe the wound in the throat was first inflicted. I believe she must have been lying on the ground.

The wounds on the face and abdomen prove that they were inflicted by a sharp, pointed knife, and that in the abdomen by one six inches or longer.

I believe the perpetrator of the act must have had considerable knowledge of the position of the organs in the abdominal cavity and the way of removing them. It required a great deal of medical knowledge to have removed the kidney and to know where it was placed. The parts removed would be of no use for any professional purpose.

I think the perpetrator of this act had sufficient time, or he would not have nicked the lower eyelids. It would take at least five minutes.

I cannot assign any reason for the parts being taken away. I feel sure that there was no struggle, and believe it was the act of one person.

The throat had been so instantly severed that no noise could have been emitted. I should not expect much blood to have been found on the person who had inflicted these wounds. The wounds could not have been self-inflicted.

My attention was called to the apron, particularly the corner of the apron with a string attached. The blood spots were of recent origin. I have seen the portion of an apron produced by Dr. Phillips and stated to have been found in Goulston Street. It is impossible to say that it is human blood on the apron. I fitted the piece of apron, which had a new piece of material on it (which had evidently been sewn on to the piece I have), the seams of the borders of the two actually corresponding. Some blood and apparently faecal matter was found on the portion that was found in Goulston Street.

The fifth murder was Mary Jane Kelly. She was only just 25 years of age when she was killed. Here is her course of events on the night she was murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper.

8:00 PM: Barnett leaves and goes back to Buller's boarding house where he played whist until 12:30 AM and then went to bed.

8:00 PM: Julia Van Turney, who lives at 1 Miller's Court goes to bed.

There are no confirmed sightings of Mary Jane Kelly between 8:00 PM and 11:45 PM. there is an unconfirmed story that she is drinking with a woman named Elizabeth Foster at the Britannia Public House.

11:00 PM: It is said she is in the Britannia drinking with a young man with a dark mustache who appears respectable and well dressed. It is said she is very drunk.

11:45 PM: Mary Ann Cox, a 31 year old widower and prostitute, who lives at 5 Miller's Court (last house on the left) enters Dorset Street from Commercial Street. Cox is returning home to warm herself as the night had turned cold. She sees Kelly ahead of her, walking with a stout man. The man was aged around 35 or 36 and was about 5' 5" tall. He was shabbily dressed in a long overcoat and a billycock hat. He had a blotchy face and small side whiskers and a carrotty mustache. The man is carrying a pail of beer.

Mrs. Cox follows them into Miller's Court. they are standing outside Kelly's room as Mrs. Cox passed and said "Goodnight." Somewhat incoherently, Kelly replied "Goodnight, I am going to sing." A few minutes later Mrs. Cox hears Kelly singing "A Violet from Mother's Grave" (see below). Cox goes out again at midnight and hears Kelly singing the same song.

12:30 AM: Catherine Picket, a flower seller who lives near Kelly, is disturbed by Kelly's singing. Picket's husband stops her from going down stairs to complain. "You leave the poor woman alone." he says.

1:00 AM: It is beginning to rain. Again, Mary Ann Cox returns home to warm herself. At that time Kelly is still singing or has begun to sing again. There was light coming from Kelly's room. Shortly after one, Cox goes out again.

Elizabeth Prater, the wife of William Prater, a boot finisher who had left her 5 years before, is standing at the entrance to Miller's Court waiting for a man. Prater lives in room number 20 of 26 Dorset Street. This is directly above Kelly. She stands there about a half hour and then goes into to McCarthy's to chat. She hears no singing and sees no one go in or out of the court. After a few minutes she goes back to her room, places two chairs in front of her door and goes to sleep without undressing. She is very drunk.

2:00 AM: George Hutchinson, a resident of the Victoria Home on Commercial Street has just returned to the area from Romford. He is walking on Commercial Street and passes a man at the corner of Thrawl Street but pays no attention to him. At Flower and Dean Street he meets Kelly who asks him for money. "Mr. Hutchinson, can you lend me sixpence?" "I can't," say Hutchinson, "I spent all my money going down to Romford." "Good morning," Kelly replies, "I must go and find some money." She then walks in the direction of Thrawl Street.

She meets the man Hutchinson had passed earlier. The man puts his hand on Kelly's should and says something at which Kelly and the man laugh. Hutchinson hears Kelly say "All right." and the man say "You will be all right for what I have told you." The man then puts his right hand on Kelly's shoulder and they begin to walk towards Dorset Street. Hutchinson notices that the man has a small parcel in his left hand.

While standing under a street light on outside the Queens Head Public House Hutchinson gets a good look at the man with Mary Jane Kelly. He has a dark complexion, a heavy dark mustache, turned up at the corners, dark eyes and bushy eyebrows. He is, according to Hutchinson, "Jewish looking." The man is wearing a soft felt hat pulled down over his eyes, a long dark coat trimmed in astrakhan, a white collar with a black necktie fixed with a horseshoe pin. He wears dark spats over light button over boots. A massive gold chain is in his waistcoat with a large seal with a red stone hanging from it. He carries kid gloves in his right hand and a small package in his left. He is 5' 6" or 5' 7" tall and about 35 or 36 years old.

Kelly and the man cross Commercial Street and turn down Dorset. Hutchinson follows them. Kelly and the man stop outside Miller's Court and talk for about 3 minutes. Kelly is heard to say "All right, my dear. Come along. You will be comfortable." The man puts his arm around Kelly who kisses him. "I've lost my handkerchief." she says. At this he hands her a red handkerchief. The couple then heads down Miller's Court. Hutchinson waits until the clock strikes 3:00 AM. leaving as the clock strikes the hour.

3:00 AM: Mrs. Cox returns home yet again. It is raining hard. There is no sound or light coming from Kelly's room. Cox does not go back out but does not go to sleep. Throughout the night she occasionally hears men going in and out of the court. She told the inquest "I heard someone go out at a quarter to six. I do not know what house he went out of (as) I heard no door shut."

4:00 AM: Elizabeth Prater is awakened by her pet kitten "Diddles" walking on her neck. She hears a faint cry of "Oh, murder!" but, as the cry of murder is common in the district, she pays no attention to it. Sarah Lewis, who is staying with friends in Miller's Court, also hears the cry.

8:30 AM: Caroline Maxwell, a witness at the inquest and acquaintance of Kelly's, claims to have seen the deceased at around 8:30 AM, several hours after the time given by Phillips as time of death. She described her clothing and appearance in depth, and adamantly stated that she was not mistaken about the date, although she admitted she did not know Kelly very well.

10:00 AM: Maurice Lewis, a tailor who resided in Dorset Street, told newspapers he had seen Kelly and Barnett in the Horn of Plenty public house on the night of the murder, but more importantly, that he saw her about 10:00 AM the next day. Like Maxwell, this time is several hours from the time of death, and because of this discrepancy, he was not called to the inquest and virtually ignored by police

10:45 AM: John McCarthy, owner of "McCarthy's Rents," as Miller's Court was known, sends Thomas Bowyer to collect past due rent money from Mary Kelly. After Bowyer receives no response from knocking (and because the door was locked) he pushes aside the curtain and peers inside, seeing the body. He informs McCarthy, who, after seeing the mutilated remains of Kelly for himself, ran to Commercial Road Police Station, where he spoke with Inspector Walter Beck, who returned to the Court with McCarthy.

The post mortem was led by Dr. Thomas Bond who describes the injuries inflicted on this woman, the woman suspected to be the final murder at the hands of Jack the Ripper.

"The body was lying naked in the middle of the bed, the shoulders flat but the axis of the body inclined to the left side of the bed. The head was turned on the left cheek. The left arm was close to the body with the forearm flexed at a right angle and lying across the abdomen.

The right arm was slightly abducted from the body and rested on the mattress. The elbow was bent, the forearm supine with the fingers clenched. The legs were wide apart, the left thigh at right angles to the trunk and the right forming an obtuse angle with the pubes.

The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs was removed and the abdominal cavity emptied of its viscera. The breasts were cut off, the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. The tissues of the neck were severed all round down to the bone.

The viscera were found in various parts viz: the uterus and kidneys with one breast under the head, the other breast by the right foot, the liver between the feet, the intestines by the right side and the spleen by the left side of the body. The flaps removed from the abdomen and thighs were on a table.

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 face was gashed in all directions, the nose, cheeks, eyebrows, and ears being partly removed. The lips were blanched and cut by several incisions running obliquely down to the chin. There were also numerous cuts extending irregularly across all the features.

The neck was cut through the skin and other tissues right down to the vertebrae, the fifth and sixth being deeply notched. The skin cuts in the front of the neck showed distinct ecchymosis. The air passage was cut at the lower part of the larynx through the cricoid cartilage.

Both breasts were more or less removed by circular incisions, the muscle down to the ribs being attached to the breasts. The intercostals between the fourth, fifth, and sixth ribs were cut through and the contents of the thorax visible through the openings.

The skin and tissues of the abdomen from the costal arch to the pubes were removed in three large flaps. The right thigh was denuded in front to the bone, the flap of skin, including the external organs of generation, and part of the right buttock. The left thigh was stripped of skin fascia, and muscles as far as the knee.

The left calf showed a long gash through skin and tissues to the deep muscles and reaching from the knee to five inches above the ankle. Both arms and forearms had extensive jagged wounds.

The right thumb showed a small superficial incision about one inch long, with extravasation of blood in the skin, and there were several abrasions on the back of the hand moreover showing the same condition.

On opening the thorax it was found that the right lung was minimally adherent by old firm adhesions. The lower part of the lung was broken and torn away. The left lung was intact. It was adherent at the apex and there were a few adhesions over the side. In the substances of the lung there were several nodules of consolidation.

The pericardium was open below and the heart absent. In the abdominal cavity there was some partly digested food of fish and potatoes, and similar food was found in the remains of the stomach attached to the intestines."

Dr. George Bagster Phillips was also present at the scene, and gave the following testimony at the inquest:

"The mutilated remains of a female were lying two-thirds over towards the edge of the bedstead nearest the door. She had only her chemise on, or some underlinen garment. I am sure that the body had been removed subsequent to the injury which caused her death from that side of the bedstead that was nearest the wooden partition, because of the large quantity of blood under the bedstead and the saturated condition of the sheet and the palliasse at the corner nearest the partition.

The blood was produced by the severance 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."

As you can see, on some of the murders, the injuries link with the last victim. For example, the first murdered person was Mary Ann Nichols, who had been strangled of some sort. On the next murder, Annie Chapman had been strangled at her throat cut. This links with the Mary Ann. It seems that every victim had been strangled in some way. This was because it stopped the victim from screaming at loud to aware the public of what was happening to them.

An autopsy is a critical part of any murder investigation. Although the primary reason for conducting an autopsy is to determine the cause of death, the doctors who conducted the post-mortem examinations of Jack the Ripper victims took it a step further and may have started a whole new trend. They drew conclusions about the murderer based on the injuries to the victims. They believed the suspect was a male, left-handed, relatively large in physical size and strength and was well educated, with a background in medicine. Although the assumptions they made have been called into question many times since, they took the time to look at the victims with an eye toward helping the investigation, not just determining that the victim had been murdered.

The science of fingerprinting was known and being used in a limited fashion during 1888. Several people had worked trying to develop the science since 1869 when William Herschel, a British colonial administrator, began experimenting with a classification system to ensure positive identification.

Most law enforcement agencies of the time were using the Bertillon system, which was based on the belief that person’s bodily measurements remained the same throughout their adult lives. When a suspect was arrested, the police took very exact measurements of about 30 different parts of their bodies (length of forearm, foot width, jaw line, etc.) and recorded them for later reference. There were two major (and several minor) problems with this system as an investigative tool: the body does not remain exactly the same throughout adult life, and there is nothing left behind at the crime scene that can be compared to a suspect.

These two problems show exactly why the Bertillon system could never be used to identify an unknown offender. If a person were arrested and charged as Jack the Ripper, the police could take his measurements, but what would they compare them to for positive identification that would also place him at the crime scene? Fingerprinting did not become widely accepted as a science until the 1890's and was not considered a positive method for identifying offenders until 1901.

There were many problems with the media, one being the letters published by the so called “Jack the Ripper”. Here is he letter.

Dear Boss,
I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I have laughed when they look so clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real fits. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. 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 jolly wouldn't you. Keep this letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. 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 trade name

PS Wasnt good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say I'm a doctor now. ha ha

Here is the original version of the letter, showing you the supposed red blood / ink he had used.

The first picture is the front page of the letter, the second one is the reverse side, and the bottom one is the envelope it came in.

Conclusion

Here is the profile of the person who I think committed these murders. The profile includes information about himself and his family.

James Maybrick.

James Maybrick was a well known cotton merchant in Liverpool. The mysterious emergence of the so-called Maybrick journal in 1992 however, immediately thrust him to the forefront of credible Ripper suspects. Regardless of the Diary's authenticity, the story of James Maybrick is remarkable in its own right. Convicted of his murder in 1889, Maybrick's wife was sentenced to be hanged. The trial, by any standard, was a horrible travesty of justice. Within two years, the trial's presiding judge died in an insane asylum. Fifteen years later, Florence Elizabeth Maybrick was finally released from prison. Here is the remarkable story.

The Maybrick family had been established in Liverpool for several generations when James was born to William and Susannah on October 24, 1838. Of James' six brothers, two never survived to adulthood. One brother, James, was his namesake and died in 1837 at the age of four months. Alfred Maybrick died at the age of four in 1848. Of the four remaining brothers, William became a carpenter and gilder's apprentice. Thomas, born in 1846, and Edwin, born in 1851, went into commerce and participated in the cotton business. One brother of note achieved considerable fame and success in his own right as a composer of popular music. Michael Maybrick, born in 1841, wrote such songs "The Holy City", "Nancy Lee", and "A Warrior Bold". He used the stage name Stephen Adams.

While the marriage of James Maybrick to Florence is well known and documented, Scottish lawyer William MacDougal alleged in 1891 the existence of a previous spouse. Although no marriage certificate has ever been found, the 1891 census records, released in 1992 after one hundred years, appear to confirm this allegation. Sarah Ann Robertson, listed as single and aged 44, was residing in London at the time. Other legal documents, however this same person as Sarah Ann Maybrick. In 1868, her step father's will, for example, shows her as "Sarah Ann Maybrick, wife of James Maybrick." Upon her death on January 17, 1927, she is listed in the records as "Sarah Ann Maybrick, otherwise Robertson." She lived for a while on Bromley Street, near Whitechapel, and on Mark Lane, across the road from Whitechapel. In all probability, James Maybrick's association with Sarah Ann lead to familiarity with the area where the Ripper murders occurred.

By 1871, census records James Maybrick was unmarried and back in London living with his mother. About two years later, he formed Maybrick and Company, Cotton Merchants with his brother Edwin as a junior partner. In 1874 James left for the thriving cotton port of Norfolk, Virginia to establish a branch office. This decision later proved to be a crucial turning point in the life of James Maybrick. Upon his return to England in the early spring of 1880, two significant changes had occurred.

Three years after arriving in Norfolk, Maybrick contracted Malaria. After an initial but unsuccessful prescription of quinine, a second consisting of arsenic and strychnine was tried. Perhaps a bit bizarre by modern medical standards, it was not unheard of in the 1870's. "Fowler's Medicine" which contained arsenic, was a popular tonic at the time. Arsenic also appealed to James Maybrick because it was believed it increased virility. He was not alone however, for arsenic and strychnine abuse was becoming fashionable among professional men in both America and Britain. Arsenic is addictive, and overwhelming evidence suggests James Maybrick carried this habit to his grave.

On March 12, 1880, Maybrick departed New York aboard the SS Baltic. During the six day voyage to Liverpool, he was introduced to beguiling 18 year old Florence Chandler and her mother, Baroness Caroline von Roques. Florence, known as Florie, was a five foot three strawberry blonde with blue eyes. Born in Mobile, Alabama on September 3rd, 1862, she was related to important and influential figures in Southern society. Although Maybrick was 24 years her senior, a whirlwind romance immediately ensued. Upon their arrival in Liverpool, James and Florie had already planned a marriage for the following summer. The fashionable wedding took place on July 27, 1881, in London at St. James Church, Piccadilly.

Florie prematurely gave birth to a son, James Chandler, known affectionately as "Bobo", eight months after the wedding. In 1882, the Maybrick's returned to America with their infant. For the next two years, the family divided its time between Norfolk and Liverpool. Declining business opportunities prompted Maybrick to return to England in March of 1884. He formally resigned from the Norfolk Cotton Exchange on August 22nd, 1884. The family resided in Grassendale, a suburb of Liverpool. An economic slump however, also occurred in England that same year. Maybrick became increasingly distressed with health and financial worries. His use of arsenic and other "powders" continued.

On July 20th, 1886, Florie gave birth to a daughter, Gladys Evelyn. The birth of their second child did little to help the Maybrick's troubled marriage. It was rapidly deteriorating, despite the Maybrick's acceptance in Liverpool's social circles and an outward display of affluence. By this time, James had been showing signs of substance abuse for several years. In 1887 Florie discovered there was another woman in her husband's life, perhaps Sarah Ann Robertson, the original "Mrs. Maybrick." Later that same year, Florie met Alfred Brierly, a cotton broker, with whom she also had an affair. By this time, the couple had probably moved to separate beds, and the first Ripper murder was less than nine months away.

In about early March of 1888, the Maybrick's moved to the palatial Battlecrease House in Aigburth, less than a mile away. The estate consisted of several acres of well tended gardens, trees, a pond stocked with fish and a small natural stream. Despite their new home, the Maybrick's marital discord continued. James maintained his gloomy disposition, hypochondria and hot temper. Violence erupted on the night of March 29, 1989, which resulted in a black eye for Florie. About a month later on April 24th, Florie purchased a dozen fly papers, something she would no doubt regret for the rest of her life. Also on that same day, James obtained another one of his prescriptions as his heath continued to fail. More "medicine" arrived by package on the 26th, and the following day James Maybrick was seriously ill, apparently from an overdose of these substances.

From this point on, James Maybrick never regained his health. After seeing his doctor on May 3rd, he visited his office for the last time. Assuming the Diary is authentic, this would probably have been the time he made the final entry, which is dated that same day. Probably fearing the worst, Michael journeyed from London as his brother's health rapidly declined. At 8:40 p.m. on May 11, 1889, James Maybrick died.

Michael took charge of family matters after his brother's death, including the ailing Florence. Florie, even before James passed away, was already suspected of poisoning him. Although these suspicions lacked substance and based primarily upon rumour, Florie was confined her room at Battlecrease House and formally charged with the crime on the 14th. On May 30th, the body of James Maybrick was exhumed from its final resting place in Anfield Cemetery and examined for arsenic. On June 30th, Florie was brought before the Magistrate for the first time to hear the "evidence." James' brothers, servants and doctors all testified against her. On July 26th, the case was committed to trial scheduled to begin on the 31st of that month. It ended after seven days.

The trial was presided by Mr. Justice Fitzjames Stephen, father of J.K. Stephen, a Ripper suspect in his own right. By any standard, was a horrible travesty of justice? The evidence was based on suspicion, rumour and innuendo. Testimony was later recanted and crucial evidence favoring Florie either disappeared or remained unheard by the jury Surprisingly, James Maybrick's arsenic addiction was never introduced during the trial, and a blatantly biased Judge Justice Stephen repeatedly made inflammatory statements against the defendant.

Unfortunately for Florie, her inadequate legal counsel failed to produce essential evidence that could have exhonerated her. The prosecution alleged that Florie had obtained the arsenic from the fly papers she had purchased at the time of her husband's illness, yet no fly paper fibers had ever been found in the meat juice she was alleged to have used to poison him. Furthermore, it was later determined impossible to produce sufficient arsenic in suitable form to cause death from fly paper. Regardless of the fact there was simply no real hard evidence against Florie, the jury took only 35 minutes to deliberate. The verdict was Guilty! Justice Stephen assumed the full dress of the criminal Judge consisting of a black cap when he pronounced the following sentence:

"The court doth order you to be taken from hence to the place from whence you came, and thence to the place of execution, and that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead, and that your body be afterward buried within the precincts of the prison in which you shall be confined after your conviction. And may the Lord have mercy upon your soul!"

The sensational trial received considerable coverage on both sides of the Atlantic. Florie was not without her supporters however, and many prominent people appealed for her release, including three American presidents and Robert Todd Lincoln. Florie was a survivor, and endured not only the shadow of the gallows but sickness, solitary confinement and hard labor. Her ordeal lasted fifteen years, and in 1904 was finally released from prison. In an ironic twist of fate, the Maybrick case was to be Justice Stephen's last, and he died in 1894 in an insane asylum in Ipswitch. Florie however, lived on!

Initially upon her release, Florie went to a convent in Truro, Cornwall for six months. She then went to France to visit her mother before finally sailing home to America. In response to public demand for her story, she published her memoirs, entitled "My Fifteen Lost Years" in 1904. In 1907, Britain's Court of Criminal Appeal was introduced, primarily as a result the Maybrick case. In 1918, Florie was financially destitute and moved to Connecticut for employment as a housekeeper. The following year she purchased a small tract of land in Gaylordsville and had a three room cottage built.

By this time, Florie used her maiden name of Chandler in hopes it might help maintain her privacy. Although she seems to have enjoyed a certain level of anonymity in Connecticut, she became increasingly reclusive. Locally, she was known as the "Cat Lady". On October 23rd, 1941, Florence Elizabeth Chandler Maybrick was found dead at the age of 79. The report of her death once again made front page news one last time. She was buried in South Kent, Connecticut.

The story of James Maybrick was not associated with the Ripper case until the emergence of the diary in 1992. While the authenticity of the journal may be hotly debated, it nonetheless has yet to be proven a forgery. Whether it is real or a fake, it maintains remarkable constancy with the known facts. The diary also introduces what some would call startling evidence to support its authenticity.

In my opinion, I think Whitechapel could have produced somebody capable of committing these gruesome murders. I think this because the person who was Jack the Ripper may have known that there was serious lack of policing. For instance, one minute, they could have been in the metropolitan police force area, and then they side step left, and they are in the city’s police force area. There was also a lack of forensic evidence. For example, a butcher could have killed someone, and know one would have known if the blood on his apron was from an animal, of a person. Whitechapel was a very dirty place during the 1800’s and there was many dark alleys that any one could have dragged a victim in there and brutally slaughtered them, like Jack the Ripper did.

Jack the Ripper - Whitechapel in the 1880's.

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