Thomas Murphy
On 13 November 1888 during a thorough police search of all the casual wards and other places of similar character, a man named Thomas Murphy came to the attention of the police when he was noticed behaving suspiciously at the Holborn casual ward. Constables were at once sent to the place and arrested a rough looking fellow, who gave the name of Thomas Murphy. He was taken to the police station at Frederick Street, King's Cross Road, where a search of his person revealed a formidable looking knife with a blade about ten inches long. Murphy was detained on suspicion and questioned. The police proceeded to make inquiries at Woolwich and other places where it was said he had been a sailor. He was released without charge as he was able to prove he was elsewhere at the time of the Whitechapel murders. Murphy was born in 1864 and was said to be of no fixed abode, he was a Sailor from Massachusetts, and was described as 5ft 8"tall, with a fair moustache and a fair complexion.
