On the 30th of September 1888, one of the most infamous events in Victorian history happened - it was the night of the 'Double Event'.
What Was The 'Double Event'? The Double Event was when the infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper, committed not one, but two murders. The two murders that night were committed within around an hour of each other in London. The murders were thought to be Jack the Ripper's third and fourth killings. Previously, Jack the Ripper had murdered two other women several weeks before the Double Event happened.
Jack the Ripper's first murder was on the 31st of August 1888, when Jack the Ripper murdered Mary Ann Nichols on Bucks Row at around 3:40 am that morning. It is believed that Mary Ann Nichols was the first woman that Jack the Ripper had murdered, though, there is debate about whether or not she was his first victim.
His second victim is believed to have been Annie Chapman. Annie Chapman was murdered on the 8th of September, 1888. She was murdered at 29 Hanbury Street at some point in the early morning hours. The Double Event Several weeks passed until Jack struck again. This time, he killed not one, but two women on the same night. This night is known as the 'Double Event'. That night, his first victim (and third overall victim), was Elizabeth Stride. Elizabeth Stride was murdered by Jack the Ripper just before 1 am at Dutfield's Yard. She was found in the yard at around 1 am, it's believed that Jack the Ripper was interrupted killing Elizabeth Stride and he was possibly hiding in the darkness of the yard.
But, Jack the Ripper escaped from Dutfield's Yard without being caught that night, to go on to kill his second victim that night. This time, he killed his fourth overall victim - Catherine Eddows. Jack the Ripper murdered Catherine Eddowes in Mitre Square in London. She was last seen alive at around 1:35 am and her body was found just ten minutes later at 1:45 am.
The Double Event resulted in a shocking night in London's history. It seems that Jack the Ripper was out of control that night - probably more so than before. As, London would have been busy with police that night after he had commited his first murder. For Jack to go on and murder again that night, possibly indicates that Jack was losing control. Another indication that Jack had lost control that night, was that his second murder that night was near a police station. The Double Event was a night were Jack the Ripper evade capture, not just once, but twice. It's a night when he was almost caught. Unfortunatley though, he wasn't caught though. And, to this day, we question and wonder who the man in the shadows - Jack the Ripper was.
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Frances Coles, the last Whitechapel Murders victim, was found dead on this day in 1891. She was found dead after being murdered on the 13th of February 1891.
What Is The Whitechapel Murders Victims? The Whitechapel Murders victims were a series of murders that happened in Whitechapel, London during the Victorian era. The Whitechapel Murders began on the 3rd of April 1888, with the murder of Emma Elizabeth Smith, and they ended on the 13th of February 1891, with the murder of Frances Coles. There was a total of eleven people that were included in the Whitechapel Murders. All of them women. And all, or most, of them were thought to have been prostitutes. All of the murders happened in London, mostly in the Whitechapel area of London. It is thought that at least ten of these women were brutally murdered, and there has been a lot of speculation since the murders began that the notorious Victorian serial killer - Jack the Ripper, was responsible for murdering all of the women. There is doubt about one of these eleven victims, in the sense that there is doubt over whether or not the ninth victim died as a resulted of murder: there is speculation that the ninth victim - Rose Mylett. Some of the investigators that worked on the case thought that she had been murdered, while others believed that she had committed suicide and was not murdered.
There is also a lot of debate about how many of these eleven victims were murder at the hands of Jack the Ripper. There are different theories by people about how many people Jack the Ripper killed. However, most theorists today seem to think that Jack the Ripper killed five or six of the Whitechapel Murder victims, rather than Jack the Ripper killing all of the eleven Whitechapel Murder victims.
Was Frances Coles Murdered By Jack the Ripper? Today, most theorists don't seem to think that Frances Coles was murdered by Jack the Ripper. The murder of Frances Coles was similar to that of Jack the Ripper's victims, and most of the Whitechapel Murder victims. However, most theorists today think that Frances Coles could have been murdered by a copycat killer. Frances Coles murder remains unsolved to this day, however, there was speculation at the time of the murder about who may have killed Frances Coles. Sir Melville MacNaughten worked high up in London's Metropolitan Police from 1903 to 1913, he believed that a man seen with Frances Coles just hours before her murder was responsible for the murder of Frances Coles: his name was Mr Sadler. Did Sadler murder Frances Coles? Or, was she another victim of Jack the Ripper's? It's speculation today and open to discussion about the identity of Frances Coles murderer, no one was charged with her murder and the case remains unsolved. Frances Coles died on this day on the 13th of February 1891.
Jack the Ripper killed twice in one night, in an event which has become known as ‘The Double Event’. The Double Event occurred during the early morning hours of the 30th of September 1888 within Whitechapel and within the City of London.
Both of these murders occurred in less than an hour of one another. The Double Event started that night with the murder of Elizabeth Stride. She was Jack the Ripper’s first victim that night, but she was the third or forth Jack the Ripper victim by the time of her murder. Elizabeth Stride was seen alive not long before she was found killed. She was seen alive in Berner Street in Whitechapel just before midnight. At 1am that morning, Elizabeth Stride’s body was found in Dutfield’s Yard by a man named Louis Diemschutz.
When Louis Diemschutz found Elizabeth Stride it was apparent that she had just been murdered by Jack the Ripper, as her body and face were still warm when Louis found her. This suggests that Jack the Ripper was interrupted during his murder of Elizabeth Stride, what further suggests that Jack the Ripper was interrupted during that first murder in the Double Event was that she didn’t have mutilations to her body, whereas, all of Jack the Ripper’s other victims did have mutilations to their body.
There is one final interesting thing about the murder of Elizabeth Stride during Jack the Ripper’s Double Event, and that is that Louis Diemshutz believed that Jack the Ripper was still in the yard when he entered it - with Louis going to seek help over Elizabeth’s murder, it allowed the Ripper to escape, however, had Louis Dimeshutz entered the yard he may have caught Jack the Ripper, and we would therefore, know today the idenity of Jack the Ripper.
The Second Murder Of Jack the Ripper’s Double Event
With Jack the Rippers murder of Elizabeth Stride not going to plan for him - in other words, by him being unsuccessful in mutilating Elizabeth Stride, he set on a quest to murder another victim. Sadly, that next victim would be murdered about an hour from the time that he murdered Elizabeth, his next victim was Catherine Eddowes. The Ripper could have been furious after he was interrupted, which possibly led him to seek out another victim. The Ripper seeking another victim on the night of the Double Event suggests that Jack the Ripper was out of control that night. The police were already on high alert for Jack the Ripper before Elizabeth’s death, as Jack by that point had already murdered two, possibly three victims so far that Autumn. But the murder of Elizabeth Stride on the night of the Double Event and Louis Diemshutz alerting the police to the killer just after 1am would have resulted in swarms of police all around Whitechapel looking for Jack the Ripper.
Therefore, it shows he was out of control as the police where all over Whitechapel by that point and he chose to struck again that night. His next victim was Catherine Eddowes.
Coincidentally, Catherine Eddowes was released from jail around the same time that Elizabeth Stride was murder during the Double Event. Catherine Eddowes murder in Jack the Ripper’s Double Event suggests to us that Jack the Ripper was being opportunistic in choosing his victims to kill - he couldn’t have possibly known that Catherine Eddowes was being released at that time, and her murder doesn’t seem planned - it seems like opportunism on behalf of Jack the Ripper when he murdered Catherine Eddowes that night. Catherine Eddowes was the second victim in Jack the Ripper’s Double Event that night. At around 8PM on the 29th of September, Catherine Eddowes was arrested for being drunk and disorderly on the street. By about 1am on the 30th of September 1888 Catherine Eddowes was sober and released from jail to go home. Shortly after that, Catherine Eddowes was murdered in Mitre Square by Jack the Ripper between 1.35am and 1.45am. This time, Jack the Ripper did mutilate Catherine Eddowes, and it was much more brutal than his previous mutilations.
As Catherine Eddowes was murdered in Mitre Square, it resulted in the City of London police being dragged into the Jack the Ripper case. From this point onwards, there became two police branches in London looking for Jack the Ripper - the City of London police and the Whitechapel police. Despite this, and despite Jack the Ripper being out of control on the night of the Double Event, he was never caught and his identity remains a mystery to this day.
Sources: http://www.rippervision.com/elizabeth-stride-the-body-in-the-yard/ https://www.casebook.org/dissertations/elizabeths-last-stride.html https://www.casebook.org/victims/stride.html https://www.casebook.org/victims/eddowes.html
Jack the Ripper - the notorious serial killer - is thought to have at least killed five women in the latter half of the Victorian era, in Whitechapel London. However, there has been speculation and debate since those notorious Whitechapel Murders happened.
What Where The Whitechapel Murders? The Whitechapel Murders were a series of murders that happened from 1888 to 1891. Eleven women in total, were murdered in Whitechapel between 1888 and 1891, all of these eleven women have been linked to Jack the Ripper at one point or another. In other words, all of the eleven victims in the Whitechapel Murders have, at one point or another, thought to have been killed by Jack the Ripper. Most historians today believe that Jack the Ripper killed five, possibly six, of these eleven women. At the time of the murders however, there wasn’t the same clear consensus and many thought that all eleven women were victims of Jack the Ripper.
Alice MacKenzie and the Whitechapel Murders
Alice MacKenzie was one of the Whitechapel Murders victims. She was murdered in the early morning hours on the 17th of July, 1889. Her murder took place in Castle Alley in Whitechapel. Alice MacKenzie was found murdered and mutilated by PC Andrews in Castle Alley at around 12.50am that morning. Her murder compared to Jack the Ripper’s murders in several ways: . She was murdered in the early morning hours . She was mutilated . It’s thought that she may have been a prostitute All of these things were consistent with Jack the Ripper’s murders of the Canonical Five. The Canonical Five were the five women believed to have been murdered by Jack the Ripper in the Autumn of 1888. Alice MacKenzie’s murder was similar to the Canonical Five murders, and her murder took place just a few months after the murder of Mary Jane Kelly (Mary Jane Kelly is assumed to have been Jack the Ripper’s final victim).
Was Alice MacKenzie A Victim Of The Ripper’s?
Given the similarity of the Canonical Five murders, and Alice MacKenzie’s murder, it must be wondered: ‘Was Alice MacKenzie a victim of Jack the Rippers’? At the time of the murder, there was disagreement between those involved in the Whitechapel Murders case as to whether or not MacKenzie was a Ripper victim: some of them believed she was, while others believed that she was. Sir Robert Anderson - a senior police officer at the time - didn’t believe that Alice MacKenzie was a victim of Jack the Ripper’s. His position was supported by the doctor at the scene of the murder: Dr Phillips was the doctor at the scene of the murder of Alice MacKenzie, he did not believe that she was a victim of the Ripper.s. Sir Robert Anderson, on the other hand, was not at the scene of the crime, and was not even in the country at the time, therefore, his knowledge of the murder was second hand. Compared to that of PC Munro, who had first hand experience of the murder of Alice MacKenzie, disagreed with Sir Robert Anderson. PC Munro believed that her murder was ‘’identical with the notorious Jack the Ripper’’ murders of the previous years. Given that Alice MacKenzie was murdered in a similar fashion, looked similar to the other victims, was murdered at a similar time and was thought to be in the same profession, it is hard to disagree with PC Munro’s sentiment that Alice MacKenzie’s murder was identical to the other Jack the Ripper murders - it was an identical murder to the Canonical Five murders. This assertion is also supported by Dr Bond, who was also involved in investigating the murder of Alice MacKenzie at the time. As Dr Bond simply put it: ‘’I see in this murder evidence of similar design to the former Whitechapel murders’’. A Change In Perspective If Alice MacKenzie was indeed a victim of Jack the Ripper’s, then it changes our whole perspective on the case. It would mean that Jack the Ripper did not stop murdering at the end of Autumn 1888 - one of the main questions that have been asked about Jack the Ripper, is: ‘’Why did he stop murdering after Mary Jane Kelly? Did he die? Etc’’ If Dr Bond and PC Munro were right, that Alice MacKenzie was a victim of Jack the Ripper, then it changes our view about the list of Jack the Ripper suspects we have. For example, it would rule out suspects like Druitt, who died sometime in November 1888, therefore he couldn’t have murdered Alice and therefore, wouldn't be the Ripper. What if the reason that we haven’t discovered who Jack the Ripper was, because we have been looking in the wrong places all this time? Is the key to the Ripper’s true identity, lurking in the shadows of Castle Alley? Sources: https://www.casebook.org/victims/mckenzie.html https://www.casebook.org/police_officials/po-monro.html https://www.casebook.org/police_officials/po-ander.html https://www.casebook.org/suspects/druitt.html
Overview
On the 8th of September 1888 Annie Chapman was murdered by Jack the Ripper. She was thought to have been Jack the Ripper’s second victim during the Autumn of Terror. Throughout the Autumn of Terror in the Autumn of 1888, at least five women were murdered by the notorious serial killer - Jack the Ripper. The Ripper’s first victim was thought to have been Mary Ann Nichols; Mary Ann Nichols was murdered in Bucks Row on the 31st of August 1888. Just one week later, Hanbury Street on the 8th of September 1888 became the scene of another murder in Whitechapel; the murder of Annie Chapman. The murderous event on Hanbury Street on the 8th of September 1888, resulted in the place being treated like an open morbid museum, as Hanbury Street on the 8th of September 1888 had crowds of people gathering (and even paying to see) Jack the Ripper’s latest victim, Annie Chapman. People paid to view Annie’s murdered corpse from the flats that towered above, which looked down on the yard where Annie’s body lay. The surprising thing about the Ripper’s chosen spot was in its layout - there was only one escape (the way that he and Annie must have entered the yard), which perhaps tells us something about the Ripper: it tells us that his killings were more opportunity, than careful planning, as had he had planned his killings he probably would have chosen somewhere where he could easily escape from. Though, perhaps he on, or near Hanbury Street which would have resulted in him perhaps knowing when people would be around. Annie Chapman’s Early Life Annie Chapman was born in September 1841 (though the exact date of her birth is unknown); she was born ‘Annie Eliza Smith’ though she was also known as ‘Dark Annie’ later in life. Annie had one brother and three sisters. Annie Chapman’s Marriage To John Chapman On the 1st of May 1869, Annie Chapman married John Chapman Brompton. Both of them lived in several places before moving to Windsor in 1881, where John Chapman took on the role of a domestic coachmen. Before breaking up, the couple had three children. Their marriage didn’t last long after moving to Windsor, as they broke-up in either 1884 or 1885. Their marriage seems to have broke down either because one, or both of their drinking habits - both Annie and John were heavy drinkers, which seemed to have played a role in both of them going their separate ways. Annie Chapman only moved to Whitechapel in 1886 - which was just two years before her murder. Annie Chapman In Whitechapel Annie Chapman moved into 30 Dorset Street in Spitalfields, Whitechapel in 1886. She moved there and was with a man known as John Sivvey. For the two years that Annie was separated from her husband, Annie received financial support from her husband. However, in 1886 that financial support stopped for Annie when her husband died. When she stopped receiving financial support, the man that she was living with - John Sivvey, left her. It’s possible that this is when she started prostitution. The Last Hours Of Annie Chapman and Her Murder Before Annie Chapman was murdered in Hanbury Street on the 8th of September 1888, she was seen a few times by different people. On the 7th of September, at 5pm, Annie spoke to Amelia Palmer in Dorset Street. Amelia Palmer had stated that Annie was ill, and that she was going out that night to earn money as she wouldn’t have any lodgings for that night - basically, if Annie hadn’t earned money that night, she wouldn’t have had anywhere to stay for the night. Just a few hours later, Annie returned to her lodgings at 11.30pm, where she was in and out of the lodging house until about 1.35am on the 8th of September. While going in and out of her lodging house during that time, she was seen by numerous people. Annie left her loding house for the last time, sometime just after 1.35am on the 8th of September, she had to go out onto the streets again to earn money as she did not have any money for a bed that night in her lodgings. Some of the last people known to have seen Annie Chapman alive before she was murdered by Jack the Ripper, was the nightwatchman of her lodgings, John Evans, and the deputy head of the lodgings house, Tim Donovan - who she had asked to keep a bed for her for the night, before she went out onto the streets of Whitechapel to meet her ill-fate. The last person thought to have seen Annie Chapman alive (just a few hours later), was Elizabeth Long, who had known Annie. Elizabeth Long said that she had seen Annie with a man at the front of 29 Hanbury Street at around 5.30am that morning. Not long after that, Annie Chapman was thought to have been murdered in the backyard of 29 Hanbury Street. Annie’s body was found shortly after that, at 6am by John Davis who lived in 29 Hanbury Street. Annie Chapman became the second victim of Jack the Ripper’s.
Jack the Ripper is believed to have murdered five women in Whitechapel London, throughout the Autumn of 1888. But this number is disputed: there are disagreements between people as to how many murders Jack the Ripper committed. And therefore. There are disagreements as to how many victims Jack the Ripper had throughout his notorious murder spree.
What is clear, however, is that Mary Ann Nichols was murdered by Jack the Ripper. Mary Ann Nichols was the first Canonical Five victim of Jack the Ripper’s. The Canonical Five were the five women believed to have been murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper; up to eleven women have been thought to have been murdered by Jack the Ripper at one point or another. Mary Ann Nichols Was The First Canonical Five Victim
Mary Ann Nichols was the first Canonical Five victim. The Canonical Five victims were believed to have been the five women who were murdered by Jack the Ripper. Those five women who are believed to have been murdered by Jack the Ripper were: (1) Mary Ann Nichols, (2) Annie Chapman, (3) Elizabeth Stride, (4) Catherine Eddowes and (5) Mary Jane Kelly. Mary Ann Nichols was the first Canonical five victims because she was murdered before the other four women. The reason that all of these women were believed to have been murdered by Jack the Ripper, is because all of the women sustained similar injuries and murders, while also the timing of their deaths was similar (all five women were murdered in the early morning hours).
However, the five were not the only ones to have similar injuries, murders and the timing of their deaths being similar: there were other women from the Whitechapel Murders who had similar similar murders. Although Mary Ann Nichols was the first Canonical Five victim, she may not have been Jack the Ripper's first murder: Jack the Ripper's first murder may have been Martha Tabram. Martha Tabram was one of the Whitechapel murder victims - all of the Canonical Five murder victims were also Whitechapel Murder victims. Who Were The Whitechapel Murder Victims? The Whitechapel Murder victims were eleven women who were thought to have been murdered by Jack the Ripper. However, several senior police officers at the time of the killings as well as many historians today, dispute that all of these eleven women were killed at the hands of Jack the Ripper.
Most experts believe that Jack the Ripper only killed five of these women (the Canonical Five), while others believe that the Rippers killings included all of the Canonical Five women and Martha Tabram. This has led to some viewing the ‘Canonical Five’ as an outdated term for the Jack the Ripper murders.
However, Mary Ann Nichols was the first canonical five victim to meet her ill-fate with Jack the Ripper - something that we will get to later. But first, let us look at Mary’s life before her tragic end. The Life Of Mary Ann Nichols Mary Ann ‘’Polly’’ Nichols, was born on the 26th of August 1845 in London England. During her later life, Mary Ann ‘’Polly’’ Nichols was often known as ‘’Polly Nichols’’ or just simply ‘’Polly’’. It was common in Victorian Whitechapel for people to be known by or use second names - which could explain why she was known as ‘’Polly Nichols’’ during her adult life. But it might also have been a name that she used while being on the streets; Mary Ann ‘’Polly’’ Nichols was a prostitute. Her life didn’t start out like that though; she wasn’t always a prostitute. In fact, in was only in the final years of her life that she turned to prostitution. Beforehand, Mary’s life was a stable one. Mary Ann Nichols was married to William Nichols. They had five children together. Their marriage broke down due to Mary’s drinking habits. Her marriage to William Nichols broke up during 1881, after almost 25 years of being together. Both were married on the 16th of January 1884 in Saint Bride’s Parish Church. Although their marriage broke down in 1881 and they parted ways, William Nichols continued to provide for his wife up until 1882. He stopped supporting her financially though in 1882, because he found out that Mary was working as a prostitute. It is by 1882 that Mary’s life started to collapse around her. By the following year, 1883, the first record of Mary Ann Nichols entering a workhouse was on record - she was in an out of Lambeth Workhouse for years, right up until a few months before her death in 1888. Mostly, Mary entered Lambeth Workhouse; there is another record of her entering another workhouse in 1887 called the ‘Strand Workhouse’. During this period, Mary Ann Nichols briefly lived with her father in 1883. Mary’s father also said that she was a drunk.
It seems that Mary’s problem with drinking was the motivating factor her both her life collapsing around her, and her marriage collapsing around her.
A Short Turn Around For Mary After a difficult few years for Mary, from 1882 up until May 1888, things started to look as if they were turning around for Mary. However. The turn around for Mary was short - it didn’t last long. In May 1888, she left Lambeth Workhouse because she had secured a job as a domestic servant for Sarah and Samuel Cowdry. During her position as a domestic servant with the Cowdry’s, Mary wrote a letter to her father about her new position and told him that she was happy there. Her position with the Cowdry’s didn’t last long - it only lasted two months - as she was sacked by them for stealing clothes. It resulted in Mary going back into the workhouse; this time she ended up in Grays Inn Temporary Workhouse. Just a week before her murder, Polly moved into her last address: which was 56 Flower and Dean Street in Whitechapel. The Last Hours Of Mary Ann Nichols
Mary Ann Nichols was the first Canonical Five victim; she was murdered in the early morning hours of the 31st of August 1888. It’s unclear exactly when Mary Ann Nichols was murdered, but it’s thought that Mary Ann Nichols was murdered sometime between 3.15am and 3.40am on the 31st of August 1888 in Bucks Row Whitechapel. We know this was around the time that she was murdered for two reasons: the first reason was because a police officer - PC John Thain - walked down Bucks Row at 3.15am and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, and the second reason, was that at 3.40am/3.45am the body of Mary Ann Nichols was found on Bucks Row by a man named Charles Cross (her body was still warm when Charles Cross found her). Therefore, it’s most likely that Mary Ann Nichols was murdered just before Charles Cross found her - or, possibly Charles Cross was her murderer? (Charles Cross is one of the Jack the Ripper suspects).
Before Mary Ann Nichols was murdered, she met her friend, Emily Holland, at 2.30am (just around an hour before she was murdered) on Whitechapel Road. Mary was drunk when she met Emily Holland on Whitechapel that hour. They both spoke for a while - Mary was out earning money through prostitution, although she had told Emily that she had already earned that money three times already that night, but had spent that money on drugs. The tragic things is, is that had Mary not spent that money - she may have live, rather than being murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper, in the early morning hours of the 31st of August 1888. Jack the Ripper, the world’s most notorious serial killer; is thought to have have killed at least five women during the Autumn of 1888.
The five women murdered during the Autumn of 1888, were all killed in a matter of weeks from each other. From August 31st 1888, up to the 9th of November 1888, five women were killed at the hands of the notorious serial killer: Jack the Ripper. , Jack the Ripper is believed to have killed at least five women during the Autumn of Terror. These five women were: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly: all of these five women were believed to have been killed by the same hand - that hand is believed to have been ‘Jack the Ripper’. However, it’s also been speculated that these were not his only victims.
Some theorists argue that Jack the Ripper had more victims than the five that were just listed - these five victims are known as ‘The Canonical Five.’ Some theorists argue that Jack the Ripper didn’t kill five women, and that he actually killed three women, or four of the Canonical Five women. For example: some theorists argue that Elizabeth Stride was not a victim of Jack the Ripper’s, because she was not mutilated. Whereas, - all of the other four women were mutilated by their killer. Others argue that Jack the Ripper did not kill Mary Jane Kelly. Some theorists believe that Jack the Ripper did not kill Mary Jane Kelly, because Mary Jane Kelly was killed by her killer indoors. Meanwhile, the other four Canonical victims, were killed outdoors. But; there is more to this case than just the Canonical Five victims: there are a total of eleven women who have been linked to Jack the Ripper. These eleven women's murders - are known as the ‘Whitechapel Murders’. The police at the time referred to the eleven murders as the Whitechapel Murders; and opened the case known as the Whitechapel Murders in 1888; it remained open until 1891. The Whitechapel Murders case was first opened on the 3rd of April 1888, with the attack and murder of a woman known as Emma Elizabeth Smith. Some have theorized that Emma Elizabeth Smith, was an early victim of Jack the Ripper’s. However, her attack and murder seems to have been gang-related, rather than that of a single murderer - therefore, along with the nature of the attack being different from the Canonical Five murders, rules Jack the Ripper out for the attack and murder of Emma Elizabeth Smith. Emma Elizabeth Smith was only the first Whitechapel Murders victim; most of the victims were murdered in 1888. A woman named Martha Tabram was the next victim; she was murdered on the 7th of August 1888. Unlike Emma - Martha Tabram's murder did have striking similarities to the Canonical Five victims. Not only was Martha Tabram a prostitute, she was also killed in a similar way to the Canonical Five. But, she was killed in a in a way that might suggest that the killer was less experienced in killing. It could be suggested that due to amateurish nature of the killing of Martha Tabram, that she was the earliest victim of Jack the Ripper - or one of the earliest victims of Jack the Ripper.
After Martha Tabram's murder, there were four more murders that Autumn: what is known as ‘The Autumn of Terror’. The Autumn of Terror is also part of the Whitechapel Murders. The Autumn of Terror is what most people think of - and refer to - when they are talking about Jack the Ripper. The Autumn of Terror was at the height of the Whitechapel Murders cases notoriety. The Autumn of Terror is when five (the Canonical Five) women were murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Most theorists agree that Jack the Ripper killed these five women - while a few disagree.
The Canonical Five were murdered on the following dates:
The night were Jack the Ripper murdered two women on the 30th of September 1888 - Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes - is known as the Double Event. The murder of Mary Jane Kelly marked the end of the Autumn of Terror. It is also believe that Mary Jane Kelly was Jack the Ripper’s final victim. However, it’s possible that Jack the Ripper had more victims than we don't know about. Some have even argued that. However. It's impossible to know how many victims Jack the Ripper had. He could have murdered more women than we know about. Perhaps there were more murders that took place during 1888 that we are aware about. But, what we do know, is that the end of the Autumn of Terror, didn't result in the end of the Whitechapel Murders. What is clear, is that the murder of Mary Jane Kelly, was not the end to the Whitechapel Murders case. There was one more women named in the Whitechapel Murders case from 1888, her name was - Rose Mylett. Rose Mylett was found dead by a police officer on the 20th of December 1888. It was thought at the time, that Rose Mylett was possibly another victim of Jack the Ripper’s. However, her death was possibly accidental, or a suicide. By the end of 1888, it appeared as though Jack the Ripper had vanished as quickly as he appeared. It seemed as if by the end of 1888, that the Whitechapel Murders had come to an end. Jack the Ripper may have been finished after the end of 1888. However, the Whitechapel Murders were not. And the case was still open. Over half a year went by until the next Whitechapel Murders victim was killed - Alice MacKenzie - who was killed on the 17th of July in 1889. Today, Alice MacKenzie is not regarded as a victim of Jack the Ripper by many. At the time, most involved in the case also did not feel that Alice MacKenzie was a victim of Jack the Ripper, though a few did believe that she was a victim of Jack’s. Others at the time suggested that the murder of Alice MacKenzie, could have been a copycat killing - where the killer was either trying to make it look as if the murder was that of Jack the Ripper’s, or that he was just copying. Largely, 1889 was mostly quiet, and Alice MacKenzie was the only known victim to have been murdered that year. There was one other incident: there was a torso found on the 10th of September 1889, which was thought to have been from a woman. But most do not think that this toroso, was the work of Jack. There was one last Whitechapel Murder before the Whitechapel Murders case was closed. The last Whitechapel Murder was on the 13th of February 1891, when a women named Francis Cole was murdered. Again, Francis Cole’s murder did have similarities with the Canonical Five murders. However, it was also thought that her murder was another copycat type killing. And, therefore, not the work of Jack. After the murder of Francis Cole, the Whitechapel Murders case was closed. However, the Whitechapel Murders case, is probably the most debated about, and speculated about case in history. Even today, well over 100 years later, people still debate the Whitechapel Murders case, speculating which of these women were murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper, and who was not.
The inquest into the murder of Martha Tabram began on the 9th of August 1888. Martha Tabram was murdered in George Yard Buildings in the Victorian Whitechapel area of London in 1888, she might have been the first victim of Jack the Ripper.
There were eleven Whitechapel murders, five of them were thought to have been at the hands of Jack the Ripper. These five victims were known as the canonical five victims. Martha Tabram is not one of the canonical five victims. However, her murder has some similarities to the canonical five women. Martha Tabram was a local prostitute, she was a similar age to most of the other victims, she was stabbed to death in the early morning hours in Whitechapel. The difference in her murder is that the canonical five victims had their throat slit and most were mutilated. The Inquest Of Martha's Murder The inquest of Martha's murder opened just two days after she was murdered. She was murdered on the 7th of August 1888, though the culprit(s?) of her murder were never caught, leaving her death unsolved to this day. Her murderer could have been Jack the Ripper. During her inquest, it was discussed how Martha had suffered 39 stab wounds by her attacker. A witness statement from a local in the buildings, John Reeves, said that he was leaving for work that morning at around 4.45am and discovered the body of Martha. The building where she was found, was essentially Victorian flats were people lived. John Reeves found her body in a pool of blood and went immediately to the police. However, he was not the first person to notice Tabram's lifeless body. That was a man named Alfred Crow, who was also giving evidence at the inquest that day. Alfred Crow had noticed Tabram lying at the bottom of George Yard Buildings at around 3.30am, just an hour and 45 minutes before John Reeves found her. Crow had said to the inquest that he noticed her body, but didn't think anything of it - he thought she was a homeless person. When Alfred Crow would have discovered the body of Martha, it would have been pitch black, when John Reeves discovered her, daylight would have been breaking, so it would explain why Reeves saw the pool of blood and not Crow. There were three other statements made at the inquest, made by three other men, beside the two witness statements of Alfred and John. One statement was made by the police officer who was alerted to her murder, PC Thomas Barrett. Another statement was made by a doctor, Dr Killen, who examined Martha's body. And, the final statement was made by the coroner. There was no identification of the murderer and the inquest was adjourned for two weeks after that. The name 'Jack the Ripper' wasn't even created at this point. But the murder of Martha Tabram has been speculated by some, to have been at the hands of Jack the Ripper.
The Autumn of Terror in 1888, was the season where Jack the Ripper reigned his terror. Jack the Ripper has become the world's most notorious serial killer, however, he appeared and disappeared quickly. In other words, the murders that Jack the Ripper committed, did not happen over a long period of time.
As the name'Autumn of Terror' suggests, Jack the Rippers murders happened throughout the Autumn of 1888. The murders began in August 1888 and stopped in November 1888; the murders finished as suddenly as they started that Autumn. Jack the Ripper disappeared into obscurity, his identity never discovered and something which is debated to this day. What Happened In The Autumn of Terror? The murders started on either August 7th 1888, or the 31st of August 1888. Two different women were murdered on those dates. A local prostitute named Martha Tabram was murdered in the early morning hours of August 7th 1888. Whereas, Mary Ann Nichols, another local prostitute, was murdered in the early morning hours of the 31st of August 1888. The killer was never identified for either woman, which is part of the reason some suspect that Jack the Ripper murdered both women. Some Ripperologists argue that Martha Tabram was the first victim of Jack the Ripper; while others argue that the first victim was Mary Ann Nichols. Most Ripperologists do seem to think that Nichols was murdered by Jack the Ripper, but she was not the last woman to meet her end. How Many Women Were Murdered? There was a total of five women murdered, these are known as the canonical five. If we include Martha, then he killed six women. There's also the possibility that Jack the Ripper had other victims that we don't know about. The true extent may never be known. Most Ripperologists, however, think that he had at least five victims. These are the canonical five victims. They are as follows: Mary Ann Nichols - 31st of August 1888 Annie Chapman - 8th of September 1888 Elizabeth Stride - 30th of September 1888 Catherine Eddowes - 30th of September 1888 Mary Jane Kelly - 9th of November 1888 The Double Event As you can see from above, there were two women killed on the same this, this has become known as the Double Event. The Double Event was when the Ripper killed two women on the same night. The two women Jack the Ripper murdered, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, were murdered within just 45 minutes of each other. It's thought that the Ripper was disturbed killing Elizabeth Stride, they he became angry, or sickly dissatisfied and went on to kill Catherine Eddowes because of it. Whatever his reasons for killing two women that night, it showed that he was completely out of control that night and erratic. He would have had the police out in force that night when Louis Diemschutz alerted the police to the murder of Elizabeth. Louis Diemschutz found her body just minutes after the Ripper had killed her, he also thought that the Ripper was hiding in the shadows, therefore, the police would have been out in force trying to catch Jack. It indicates that Jack the Ripper was out of control that night. The Silence Of October There were no murders during October 1888 (at least that we know of). Perhaps that was down to the Double Event when Jack almost got caught. Perhaps he lay low that October 1888 because he almost got caught. There was, however, several letters that were addressed by Jack the Ripper. Three of these letters remain significant. They are the Dear Boss letter, the Saucy Jack postcard and the From Hell letter. Most likely the Dear Boss letter and the Saucy Jack postcard were fake and forged by a journalist at the time. The From Hell letter is different, it's probably the only letter sent by Jack the Ripper. It was a letter which was short and to the point. But it was also a letter that was accompanied with half a human kidney. The Last Victim, Mary Jane Kelly The last victim was a local prostitute named Mary Jane Kelly. Mary Jane Kelly was murdered and mutilated like most of his other killings. However, the mutilation of Mary Jane Kelly was far more graphic. She was murdered in the early morning hours of the 9th of November 1888 and became the Rippers last victim (that we know of). Why Jack suddenly stopped has remained as much of a mystery as his identity. There have been many theories about why things suddenly stopped. The most common reasons as 1) He stopped because he died, 2) He stopped because he was sent to a mental asylum, and 3) He stopped because he was too ill to carry on. Whatever the reason was, knowing why he suddenly stopped could help us discover who he was and why he committed those crimes. Drawing 1888 To A Close As 1888 drew to a close, Jack the Ripper wasn't caught. Speculation about his identity has persisted for 130 years after that Autumn of Terror. The Autumn of Terror began in August 1888, when Jack the Ripper began his notorious killing spree. The events of the Autumn of Terror would result in Jack the Ripper becoming the World's most notorious and elusive serial killer to this day. To this day, the identity of Jack the Ripper is debated. The identity of Jack the Ripper is shrouded in as much mystery today, as it was in 1888 when he committed his heinous acts. Another thing which is shrouded in mystery is Jack the Rippers first victim. Some Ripperologists argue that Jack the Rippers first victim was Martha Tabram, who was murdered on the 7th of August 1888. While other Ripperologists argue that his first victim was Mary Ann Nichols, who was murdered by the ripper on the 31st of August 1888. Whether the ripper's first victim was Martha Tabram or Mary Ann Nichols, what is clear, is that his Autumn of Terror began on that August month of 1888. Let's look at a timeline of events throughout that month. August 7th 1888 Martha Tabram is murdered in George Yard Buildings in the early morning hours. Tabram was first found by a man called Alfred Crow at 3.30am that morning, though he didn't know it at the time - he saw Tabram's body lying at the bottom of stairs in George Yard Buildings and thought the person was homeless. It was pitch black at the time Alfred Crow saw Tabram, so it's understandable that he hadn't realized she had been murdered. By 4.45am (with daylight breaking), another man called John Reeves found the body of Martha. It was obvious to John Reeves that she had been murdered, with daylight, he could see the pool of blood that she was lying in. The time of her death was estimated to be between 2am and 2.45am that morning, by Dr Timothy Killeen. 9th of August 1888 The inquest into the murder of Martha Tabram began on this day in history. The inquest took place in the Working Lads Institute on Whitechapel Road. 14th of August 1888 Martha's body was identified by her former husband. 23rd of August 1888 The inquest of the murder of Martha reconvened. The inquest resumed again in the Working Lads Institute on Whitechapel Road. The inquest concluded that Tabram suffered 39 stabs wounds and that her death was by murder. The identity of that murderer was never concluded. 24th of July 1888 Mary Ann Nichols moves into 56 Flower and Dean Street, just one week before her murder. This would prove to be her last address. 25th of August 1888 Martha's death certificate is issued. 30th of August 1888 A dock fire breaks out on the London Docks. It would rage for hours into the night and into the early morning hours; turning the sky a blood red colour. TheLondon dock fire broke out at around 8pm, the fire was so intense because there was liquor stored in the docks. 31st of August 1888 Mary Ann Nichols is murdered by Jack the Ripper in the early morning hours of the 31st of August 1888. Mary Ann Nichols was last seen that morning at 2.30am, by her friend Emily Holland. Emily Holland said that Mary Ann Nichols was drunk by the time that she had seen her and that Mary went on to earn her doss money for a bed that night. Mary had already earned that money, three times over, according to Emily, but she had spent it on drink and had to earn the money again. The body of Mary Ann was discovered at 3.40am that morning on Bucks Row, by a man named Charles Cross. |
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