East London Advertiser
Saturday, 20 July 1889.
Within less than a quarter of a mile of Dorset-street, Spitalfields, where, on the morning of last Lord Mayor's Day, the mutilated body of Mary Jane Kelly was discovered, another brutal murder was committed on Wednesday morning, bringing up the horrible tale of Whitechapel outrages to eight. Running from Wentworth-street into Whitechapel-road is a by-alley or court known as Old Castle-street, which, like Buck's-row, in which the body of Mary Ann Nicholls [sic] was found in September of last year, is used by the costermongers of the neighbourhood for storing wheelbarrows and other miscellaneous vehicles at the close of each working day. Along one side of it runs a high dead wall, and though, perhaps, little complaint can be made of the means taken by the local authorities for lighting it, it was only natural that in such weather as prevailed during the night - when heavy clouds alternated with driving rain - the greater part of it was in deep shadow. Here, as in Mitre-square, the police patrol is timed to pass every few minutes, a circumstance which lends corroboration to the theory that the murder was the work of the hand which has already laid low several women in the same locality.
Shortly before 1 o'clock a constable, while passing through Castle-alley, Whitechapel, noticed a woman lying in the shadow of a doorway. He was about to rouse her when he was horrified to discover that she was dead, blood flowing from a wound in the throat. The wound was so deep and clean that there can be little doubt that it was inflicted by a razor or some equally sharp instrument. The woman, who appeared to be about 40 years of age, lay upon her back. Her clothes were turned up above her waist, and on the stomach an incised wound of considerable dimensions had been inflicted. There were, however, no protrusions, the abdominal wall apparently not having been pierced. Judged by earlier experiences, it would almost seem as if her assailant had been disturbed in his ghoulish work. An alarm was speedily conveyed to the Commercial-street police-station, and every available constable was employed by Superintendent Arnold, Chief-Inspector West, and Superintendent Hawkes in drawing a cordon around the scene of the murder. An active search of all the surrounding houses was immediately made, but with no result. Meanwhile, Dr. Phillips and Dr. Brown had been communicated with, and on their arrival they examined the nature of the wounds, and informed the police that the murder must have been done by the same person or persons who committed the series of previous murders in Whitechapel and Spitalfields. They ordered the body to be conveyed to Montague-street mortuary.
Mr. Wynne Baxter, coroner, opened an inquiry at the Working Lad's Institute, Whitechapel-road, on Wednesday, into the death of the unfortunate woman. - Superintendent Arnold and Inspector Reid, of the Criminal Investigation Department, watched the case for the Police Commissioners. -
John M'Cormack, a porter, identified the body as that of Alice M'Kenzie [Mackenzie]. She was about 40 years old, and had been living with him, as his wife, for about six years. She worked as a washerwoman and as a charwoman for the Jews. He last saw her alive on Tuesday afternoon. She was always at home until the night of the murder, when he had a few words with her, and that upset her. He went down to the deputy and asked whether she had paid the money. That was about half-past 10 or 11 o'clock, when he found she had not returned or paid the rent. He immediately went upstairs and went to bed. He got up the next morning at his usual time. Deceased was a great smoker. - Elizabeth Ryder, deputy at 54, Gun-street, a common lodging-house, said she knew the deceased woman, who lived there for some time with M'Cormack. The last time she saw her alive was in the kitchen, at about 9 o'clock. She went out in the street without bonnet or hat. She had been at home all day. Deceased was not a woman to be out late at night. When she saw her in the day she had been drinking, and was in drink when she left the house. Witness thought it very strange that she should go out, but did not make any remark to her. She often saw her smoking a clay pipe. She never saw deceased with any other man but M'Cormack. - Police-constable Allen, 423 H, having given evidence that everything in Castle-alley and neighbourhood was very quiet after midnight, Police-constable Andrews, 272 H, said that at 10 minutes to 1 that morning he saw Sergeant Baddam [Badham] at the corner of Old Castle-street, leading into Castle-alley. They proceeded through the alley, and while trying the doors he saw a woman lying on the pavement. Her head was lying westwards, nearly resting on the edge of the kerb; she was close to a lamp - about two feet away - directly in front of a wheelwright's. There were two waggons in the roadway - one was a brewer's dray, the other a scavenger's cart. The vehicles would hide the view of a person's body from the opposite windows. The woman's clothes were thrown up to her chin, and exposed the lower part of the body. Blood was running from the left side and from the neck. He felt her hand, and it was quite warm. He blew his whistle, and Sergeant Baddam came up and gave orders not to touch the body until Dr. Phillips arrived. - Isaac Lewis Jacobs, of Castle-place, a bootmaker, said about 20 minutes past 12 he was going to buy some supper. He had occasion to pass New Castle-place. When he got to Cocoanut-place a constable walked up sharp and said, "Where have you been?" witness replied, "I have been nowhere; I am going for an errand." The constable then said, "Come with me; there's been a murder committed." On reaching the spot he saw the deceased lying in a pool of blood. He saw no one from the time he left his house till he was called by the constable. - Police-sergeant Baddam, 31 H, gave corroborative evidence as to the finding of the body. - Police-constable Neve, 101 H, said he searched the neighbourhood but saw nobody. He had seen the deceased about for the past 12 months - sometimes sober, sometimes the worse for drink. He never saw her about that night after 10 or 11 o'clock. He had seen her talking to men, and his opinion was that she was a bad character.
At the resumed inquest on Thursday Inspector Reid was the first witness. He said that he received information of the tragedy about five minutes past 1 o'clock on Wednesday morning, and ran down to the place at once. On arriving at Castle-alley he found the Wentworth-street end blocked by the police. In front of the warehouses he saw the deceased woman. She was on the ground and he saw a cut on the left side of her throat. Her face and body were still warm. The doctor then arrived with Superintendent Arnold. Search was being made all the time by the police in the neighbourhood; as well as inquiries instituted as to anything or anyone suspicious having been seen. After the body had been examined by the doctor it was lifted on to the police ambulance. Underneath the body was found a short clay pipe. It was saturated with blood and was broken. In it was some unburnt tobacco. There was also a farthing by the side of it. On searching the deceased at the mortuary, he found her clothing in a filthy condition, and he thought her one of the worst type of women to be found in the streets of Whitechapel. Describing the position in which the body was found, the witness said that unless anyone walked along the footpath, the body would not have been seen, as it was in the shadows of the waggons which were drawn up in the gutter. Two that were close to the body were chained together. Though close to the lamp it was necessary to use a policeman's lamp to see if the woman's throat was cut. - Mr. G. B. Phillips, police-surgeon, deposed to being called by the police. He made a post-mortem examination. There was a wound in the neck reaching from the left ear to the front part of the neck. Taking the wound as made, it must have taken a somewhat upward direction, and judging by smaller wounds the worst incision seems to have been interrupted by the prominence of the lower jaw. A second incision joined the former incision in its deepest part, which was immediately over the carotid vessels which were entirely severed down to the vertebrae of the spinal column. There is not the slightest doubt that the cause of death was syncope from loss of blood through the divided vessels, and that death was probably almost instantaneous. There was not any division of any portion of the air passage. - Margaret Franklin said she saw the deceased on Tuesday night between 11 and 12 o'clock, at the top of Flower and Dean-street. She did not seem to be in drink, and was rather in a hurry. Witness had often seen her out as late as that before. It was only about five minutes after the deceased passed witness that it commenced to rain, so that it looked as if the murder must have been committed within that five minutes as it had not been raining when she was placed on the pavement where her body was found. - Catherine Hughes, a married woman, living in Flower and Dean-street, said she was sitting on the step with the last witness on Tuesday night between half-past 11 and 12, when the deceased passed them. She did not appear to be the worse for drink. Witness had known her for 14 years, but had not seen her out so late at night for years. She asked witness how her boy was. She did not know who the deceased associated with. - The Coroner said that was as far as they could proceed. The next time they met they might finish the inquiry. There would be ample time for inquiries between now and when they met next. He proposed that the adjournment be until Wednesday, 14th of August. The depositions of the witnesses were then read over to them and signed, and the jury and witnesses were bound over in the usual manner.
