Manchester Guardian
4 September 1888
"Summary of News -- Domestic"
Further evidence was yesterday taken in the inquiry concerning the death
of MARY ANN NICHOLLS, the victims of the brutal murder in Whitechapel.
The inquest was again adjourned.
Tuesday, September 4th, 1888
"Another Whitechapel Outrage"
The Central News says another desperate assault, which stopped only just
short of murder, was committed upon a woman in Whitechapel on Saturday
night. The victim was leaving the Foresters' Music Hall, Cambridge
Heath Road, when she was accosted by a well-dressed man, who asked her
to accompany him, and requesting her to walk a short distance with him
as he wanted to meet a friend. They had reached a point near to the
scene of the murder of the woman Nicholls, when the man violently
seized his companion by the throat and dragged her down a court. He
was immediately joined by a gang of women and men, who stripped the
unfortunate woman of her necklace, earrings, and brooch. Her purse
was also taken, and she was brutally assaulted. Upon attempting to
shout for aid one of the gang laid a large knife across her throat,
remarking "We will serve you as we did the others." She was eventually
released. The police have been informed, and are prosecuting inquiries
into the matter.
Tuesday, September 4th, 1888
"The Tragedy in Whitechapel -- The Inquest"
Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, the coroner for South-east Middlesex, resumed at
ten o'clock yesterday morning, at The Working Lad's Institute, Whitechapel,
the inquiry into the circumstances attending the death of Mary Ann Nicholls,
aged 42, whose body, terribly mutilated, was found in Buck's Row,
Whitechapel, early on the morning of Friday last. Inspectors Helson
and Abberline attended for the police; Detective Sergeant Enright, of
Scotland Yard, was also in attendance.-- Inspector Spratling, of the
J division, deposed that at about four o'clock on Friday morning, while
in Hackney Road, he received information as to the finding of the body of
the deceased. Before he reached the spot the body had been removed to
the mortuary. While he was taking a description there he discovered the
injuries to the abdomen, and at once sent for Dr. Llewellyn. While describing
the clothes which were on the body, the witness said that the corsets had no cuts
on them.-- The Coroner. Were they fastened when you saw them? Yes,
they were fastened at the back.-- Were they fastened at the front? This
is a most important point. I did not remove them from the body, so
could not say.-- Well, who can give us this information, or shall we have to
examine them for ourselves? Inspector Helson can tell you more about it.
The witness added that he had examined Buck's Row and Green-street, but found
no bloodstains in either. He subsequently examined the East London
District Railway embankment and the Great Eastern Railway yard for blood
stains and weapons, but found none. By the jury: It occurred to him that the woman
had been murdered with her clothes on; but he could not say whether the
clothes bore cuts corresponding with those on the body.-- The Coroner: I have
avoided asking the witness questions on the point because he has admitted
that he did not examine the clothing. H. Tomkins, of No. 12, Covernty-street,
Bethnal Green, said he was at work in the slaughter-house in Winthorp-street
about nine o'clock on the previous night, and left off work at about four o'clock on Friday
morning. He did not go straight home, as was his usual custom, but went to
Buck's Row, as a police constable passed the slaughter-house and stated
there had been a murder there. The gates of the slaughter-house were
open all night, so that anyone could walk into the place. None of the men
employed there left the building between the hours of one and four o'clock,
and none of them heard any unusal (sic) noise.-- Inspector Helson, J
division, gave a description of the deceased's clothing. The back of the
bodice of the dress, he said, had absorbed a large quantity of blood, but there
was none upon the petticoats. There was no evidence of the body having been
washed, and there were no cuts in the clothing. It would have been
possible to inflict the wounds while the clothing was on, and without cutting it. There
was no cut under the stays. In making a search for blood stains he saw nothing
except some marks in Brady-street, which might have been taken for blood
marks. By the jury: He was of opinion that the woman was murdered in her clothes,
and that the murder was committed where the body was found. The clothes
were not disarranged as they would have been if the body had been carried
some distance.-- Charles Cross, a carman in the service of Messrs. Pickford,
stated that he discovered the body when going to work. From the position
in which the body was lying, his first impression was that the woman had
been outraged.-- William Nicholls, of Coburg Road, Old Kent Road, said he was
a machinist. The deceased was his wife. They had been living apart for over eight
years, and he last saw her alive about three years ago. He did not know
what she had been doing during that time.-- Jane Hodden, of 13, Thrawl Street,
said the deceased lodged with her for about six weeks, till eight nights ago.
On the day of the murder, the witness saw her in Whitechapel Road, when
she said that she should leave her lodgings, as they allowed men and woman
to stay together. The witness said she did nto think the deceased was leading a fast
life, in fact she seemed very much afraid of it.-- Mary Ann Monks, an
inmate of the Lambeth Workhouse, stated that six or seven years ago the
deceased was an inmate of that institution.-- At the conclusion of this
witness's evidence the inquiry was adjourned for a fortnight.
-------------------
The murder of Mary Ann Nicholls has so many points of similarity with the
murder or two other women in the same neighbourhood recently that the police
admit their belief that the three crimes are the work of one individual.
All three women were of the class called "unfortunates,' each so very poor
that robbery could have been no motive for the crime. Each was murdered in a
similar fashion, and all three murders were committed within a distance
of 300 yards of each other. These facts have led the police to almost
abandon the idea of a gang being abroad to wreak vengeance on women of
this class for not supplying them with money. Detective Inspector
Abberline, of the Criminal Investigation Department, and Detective Inspector
Helson, J Division, are both of opinion that only one person, and that a man,
had a hand in the latest murder. It is considered unlikely that the woman could
have entered a house, been murdered, and removed to Buck's Row within a period
of one hour and a quarter. The woman who last saw her alive, and whose name
is Nelly Holland, was a fellow-lodger with the deceased in Thrawl-street,
and is positive as to the time being 2.30. Police Constable Neil, who
found the body, reports the time as 3.45. Buck's Row is a secluded place,
from having tenements on one side only. The constable has been severely
questioned as to his "working" of his "beat" on that night, and states that
he was last on the spot where he found the body not more than half an hour
previously -- that is to say, at 3.15. The beat is a very short one, and
quickly walked over would not occupy more than twelve minutes. He neither
heard a cry nor saw any person. Moreover, there are three watchmen on duty
at night close to the spot, and none of them heard a cry to cause alarm. It
is not true, says Constable Neil, who is a man of nearly 20 years' service,
that he was called to the body by two men. He came upon it as he walked, and flashing
his lantern to examine it, he was answered by the lights from two other
constables at either end of the street. These constables had seen no men
leaving the spot.