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Decatur Daily Despatch
Illinois, U.S.A.
20 July 1889

The London police have arrested a man who is supposed to be Jack the Ripper. He has confessed the crimes, but the cable despatch says: "The identity of the man taken into custody by the police this morning on suspicion of being the Whitechapel murderer is carefully concealed for the present by the authorities." Evidently the London police have heard of the McKinley murder inquest and are afraid their prisoner may find out that he is suspected.


Still Another Victim

Another Woman Slain in Whitechapel by Jack the Ripper
The Murderer Caught and Jailed

London, July 20, 1889
A man supposed to be Jack the Ripper was arrested in Whitechapel district early this morning. He had just killed a woman and had the knife on his person with which he had committed the deed. After being taken into custody the prisoner confessed that he had killed the woman. He said the weapon he used to accomplish his purpose was an ordinary pocket knife. He carried no other weapon. He declared that he lived nowhere and that he had just arrived from abroad. The prisoner is six feet tall, of fair complexion, and carries himself with a military air. His actions indicate that he is insane. He has confessed that he murdered all the women whose bodies have been found in and about the Whitechapel district. He gave the names of his victims, the dates upon which he killed the victims and all the ghastly and indecent details connected with the terrible crimes.

The arrested man yesterday, who confessed to being the Ripper, is regarded as a lunatic, but there is little doubt that the real author of the atrocities which have appalled London is now in custody.