Te Aroha News
New Zealand
27 July 1889
MORE MURDERS OF WOMEN
A parcel containing the lower half of a woman's body, cut in halves, was found in the Thames, at Horsley Downs, on the morning of June 4th. Another parcel, in which were a woman's thighs, was picked up at Battersea. Both were wrapped in pieces of feminine clothing, on which the name Cosher was marked. The trunk and thighs were evidently portions of the same body. The remains had evidently been in the water ten days. A dispatch (June 7th) says the police have learned that the unfortunate woman belonged to Oxford, and was named Fisher. She was a servant in London.
Editor's note: This refers to the victim also known as Elizabeth Jackson. See Related Pages below for more information.
ANOTHER WHITECHAPEL MURDER
The body of a woman named Alice Mackenzie, known as Alice Kell, was found
in Castle Alley, Whitechapel, on the night of July 16th, and the details
of the affair leave no doubt that the unfortunate was the eighth victim of
Jack the Ripper. Almost before the dreadful work was completed, the police
came from all directions, and with their bull's-eyes threw patches of
light in every direction; but there was no trace of the murderer. When the
woman was placed in an ambulance, underneath her was found a broken clay
pipe, stained with blood. Evidently taken unawares, as she was strongly
built, weighed 140 lb, and could not have uttered a cry without being
heard by the police. Jack adopted his old plan, except that in this case
his right hand was placed over the woman's mouth, and the left hand drove
the knife into her neck, instead of vice versa. The body was taken to the
mortuary. The examination developed unusual features. Jack had done his
work with a dull knife, therefore his slashes had not been clean. At 10
o'clock on the 17th the woman was identified as one who gained her living
by charing work, and never resorted to the streets. The alley where she
was killed is 100 yards long, dark, and encumbered by a mass of waggons
and barrows, which formerly were stored in a yard. At the bottom is a
network of streets, courts and alleys. There are no residents of the place
likely to go through it at night. The murder threw Whitechapel into a
condition of fearful excitement. Several suspicious characters were
arrested, but discharged for lack of evidence. The killing was one within
a stone's throw from the scene of almost all the other murders.
A despatch of the 20th says: "Jack the Ripper attempted another murder
near Castle Alley at midnight, and was arrested before completing the
deed", but it appears to have been only a row between drunken sailors and
women.
Two parties have been placed under espionage in connection with the crime,
a military looking Englishman, 6 feet tall, who insists that he is the
veritable Jack, and gives the names of his victims, and the dates on which
he killed them, with all the ghastly and indecent details; the police
believe him to be a lunatic. The other, who claims the same unenviable
distinction, and who gave himself up, says his name is Brodie, and that he
left London in September for Kimberley, South Africa. He is an ex convict,
and made the voyage back as a fireman. He is pronounced insane from
consumption and the excessive use of liquor.
