The Pinchin Street Murder
Possibly Lydia Hart
On September 10, 1889, at 5:15 AM, a female torso was discovered by P.C. William Pennett under a
railway arch in Pinchin Street, covered by an old chemise. The body, missing
both head and legs, was
already heavily decomposed, as the stench was the first thing the constable
noticed. Immediately, the P.C. summoned assistance and proceeded to arrest
two sailors and a bootblack who were found sleeping under nearby arches.
They were later cleared of the crime.
Later investigations by Sergeants Thick and White along with Sergeant Godley
came across some bloodstained clothing in Batty Street, but little or
nothing was made of it. An interesting extract from the London edition
of the New York Herald claims that a man named John Cleary informed
the night editor on the night of September 7 that there was a murder in Back
Church Lane (from which runs Pinchin Street). Later, a statement was taken
from a John Arnold, a newsvendor of Charing Cross, saying he was John
Cleary. He continued to say that after leaving the King Lud pub, he had
been told by a soldier in Fleet Street, "Hurry up with your papers. Another
horrible murder in Backchurch Lane." He then went to the Herald to share
his findings. The soldier he described as between 35 and 36 years of age,
5ft 6ins, fair complexion and moustache, and he carried a parcel. No one
by this description was ever taken into custody concerning the murder.
The abdominal region of the body was heavily mutilated, and it was reported
that the handiwork was eerily reminiscent of the Ripper's work; at
least one account states that the womb was missing. The identity of the
woman was a mystery, as the only clues were the facts that her arms and
hands were "well formed and showed no signs of manual labour." Still, the
police came to the conclusion she was a factory worker.
The name Lydia Hart soon arose in the press (World, New York, September
11, 1889) as the identity of the woman, as
she was a prostitute who had been missing for some days. The identity
was never proven.
The estimated date of death was given as September 8, 1889 (the one-year
anniversary of Annie Chapman's death; a fact which did not escape James
Monro's report). Swanson's report added that there was an "absence of
attack on genitals as in series of Whitechapel murders." The incident was
eventually not chalked up as a Ripper
incident.
Sir Melville Macnaghten, who worked on the Pinchin Street Murder, wrote
the following in his now famous memoranda:
On 10th Sept. '89 the naked body, with arms, of a woman was found wrapped
in some sacking under a Railway arch in Pinchin St: the head & legs were never
found nor was the woman ever identified. She had been killed at least 24
hours before the remains, (which had seemingly been brought from a distance,)
were discovered. The stomach was split up by a cut, and the head and legs
had been severed in a manner identical with that of the woman whose remains
were discovered in the Thames, in Battersea Park, & on the Chelsea Embankment
on 4th June of the same year; and these murders had no connection whatever
with the Whitechapel horrors. The Rainham mystery in 1887, & the
Whitehall mystery (when portions of a woman's body were found under what is
now New Scotland Yard) in 1888 were of a similar type to the Thames &
Pinchin St crimes.
Pinchin Street
The site of the Pinchin Street Murder, although it is most likely that
the actual killing took place elsewhere and the body was simply dumped
in this location. It is a short road running from east to west from
Back Church Lane to Christian Street. The north side of the street was
fenced off by palings. The torso was discovered on the western side
of the arch, close to Back Church Lane.
It was uninhabited at the time of the discovery, and quite dangerous, earning
the soubriquet 'Dark Lane."
It is generally believed that this murder has some kind of connection with
the Whitehall Mystery.
