St. James's Budget
September 29th, 1888
Page 18
The inquest on Annie Chapman's body has ended in the inevitable inconclusive
suspect. The facts so far as they are known, and a theory of motive, supported by some
internal probability and not unsupported by external evidence, were clearly stated in the
coroner's address to the jury. His matter was less open to criticism than his manner. In
dealing with a sensational subject he was not able to refrain from a certain amount of
word-painting which did not very well accord with what ought to be the business-like
accessories of a coroner's inquest. Nor are we quite sure that he was right in thinking
that the publicity which was given to the medical evidence has been instrumental in
furthering the ends of justice. To begin with, all that is now known to the public has long
been known in quarters which can be trusted with confidential information. More than
this, the light (if it is light) which has been thrown on the criminal's motive, though it will
multiply the number of amateur detectives and assist their irresponsible efforts, may, and
probably will, give the criminal a better chance of escape. He knows that the false scent
which he had laid is not being followed, and that justice has found the right track.
September 29th, 1888
Page 32
HORRIBLE MURDER AND MUTILATION NEAR GATESHEAD.
A young woman named Jane Beatmoor, twenty-eight years of age, was murdered
at Birtley, near Gateshead, on Saturday night or on Sunday morning. Her body was
found early on Sunday at the bottom of a railway embankment in a horribly mutilated
condition. The medical examination which followed revealed wounds of a frightful
nature. The circumstances disclosed naturally gave rise to the impression that the
Whitechapel murderer had found another victim; but the local police have had their
suspicions aroused with regard to an iron-worker at Birtley, who for some time had been
endeavouring to force his attentions upon the deceased. He was very seldom seen in her
company, and certainly no one saw him on Saturday night. He has, however, absconded,
and the police in all parts of the country have been furnished with a description of him.
Dr. Phillips, who made the post-mortem examination of the body of Annie Chapman, the
last Whitechapel victim, and Inspector Roots, of the Criminal Investigation Department,
were sent to Durham, with the object of ascertaining whether any of the facts connected
with the murder on Saturday night are likely to elucidate the Whitechapel murders. The
police, however, have abandoned the idea that the Birtley crime is the work of the
Whitechapel murderer. Inspector Roots thinks that the Birtley affair is nothing more than
a clumsy imitation of the mutilations that took place in the metropolis.
Search is still being made for the man whose mysterious disappearance since the
day of the murder has naturally excited grave suspicions. A rumour reached Consett on
Wednesday that a person answering the description of the missing man had been seen
loitering about the remote uplands in the Satley district, and Superintendent Oliver and
some constables are searching that part of the countryside. In spite of these reports,
however, the prevalent opinion is that he has committed suicide. The description given of
the man's habits for a short time before the murder point to a slight mental derangement
on his part. To his fellow-workers he had been explaining for days the method he would
adopt if he had to despatch anybody, and his reading the details in connection with the
Whitechapel murders seems to have made a powerful impression upon his mind, for he
was constantly talking about them.
Page 32
THE SPITALFIELDS MURDER.
INQUEST AND VERDICT.
On Wednesday Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, the coroner for South-East Middlesex,
resumed the inquiry into the circumstances attending the death of Mrs. Annie Chapman,
who was murdered in Spitalfields on the 8th of September. There being no further
evidence forthcoming, the coroner proceeded to sum up. Having recalled the facts of the
case, he continued:--
The body has not been dissected; but the injuries have been made by some one who had
considerable anatomical skill and knowledge. There are no meaningless cuts. The missing organ has
been taken by one who knew where to find it, what difficulties he would have to contend against, and
how he should use his knife so as to abstract the organ without injury to it. It must have been some one
accustomed to the post-mortem room. The conclusion that the desire to possess the missing abdominal
organ seems overwhelming. It has been suggested that the criminal is a lunatic. This may or may not be
the case, but the object of the murderer appears palpably shown by the facts, and it is not necessary to
assume lunacy, for it is clear that there is a market for the missing organ. To show you this, I must
mention a fact which at the same time proves the assistance which publicity and the newspaper press
afford in the detection of crime. Within a few hours of the issue of the morning papers containing a
report of the medical evidence given at the last sitting of the court, I received a communication from an
officer of one of our great medical schools that they had information which might or might not have a
distinct bearing on our inquiry. I attended at the first opportunity, and was informed by the subcurator of
the Pathological Museum that some months ago an American had called on him and asked him to
procure a number of specimens of the organ that was missing in the deceased. He stated his willingness
to give £20 apiece for each specimen. He stated that his object was to issue an actual specimen with each
copy of a publication on which he was then engaged. He was told that his request was impossible to be
complied with, but he still urged his request. He wished them preserved, not in spirits of wine, the usual
medium, but in glycerine, in order to preserve them in a flaccid condition, and he wished them sent to
America direct. I at once communicated my information to the Detective Department at Scotland-yard.
The jury found "that Annie Chapman was murdered by some person or persons
unknown."
A man gave himself up at Wandsworth police station on Wednesday and made a
statement to the inspector on duty to the effect that he was the murderer of Annie
Chapman in Hanbury-street, Whitechapel. He was afterwards conveyed to Leman-street
police station, where he is now detained.
