Jack the Ripper: The Secret Police Files

“JACK THE RIPPER”

“THE SECRET POLICE FILES”

Written by

TREVOR MARRIOTT

Copyright © 2013 by Trevor Marriott
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Trevor Marriott is a retired British police murder squad detective who joined the police service in 1970 and was soon promoted to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where he was involved in the investigation of numerous murders, as well as assisting in the investigation of other major crimes throughout his long and distinguished career. He is the author of “
Jack the Ripper: The 21st Century Investigation”
(2007
)
and “
The Evil Within”
(2013) – a comprehensive analysis of some the world’s worst serial killers from around the world.

His most recent publication is a Victorian crime mystery novel, based on the Whitechapel murders titled “
Prey Time”
(2013).

To contact the author, to arrange press and media interviews, speaking engagements or any other personal appearances.

Website:
www.trevormarriott.co.uk

E Mail:
[email protected]

Copyright Trevor Marriott 2013

First published 2013

All Rights Reserved

The content of this book covers the second part of my long and protracted investigation into the Whitechapel murders. For continuity purposes and in order to highlight the results of significant new lines of enquiry it has been necessary to use some of the original material from my first book “
Jack the Ripper: The 21
^st
Century Investigation”
published in 2007.

“Jack the Ripper - The Secret Police Files”

CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Jack the Ripper: man or myth, fact or fiction? Whoever he was, up until now his identity has remained a mystery. The horrendous murders attributed to the unknown killer spread terror among the residents of London’s East End and his nickname was known and feared the world over.

One hundred and twenty five years have passed since the Ripper’s crimes were committed, yet the search for his identity has been ongoing. In fact the mystery had deepened so much that the truth about the murders has been totally obscured. Innumerable press stories, books, plays, films and even musicals have dramatised and distorted the facts, with the unfortunate result that the public have now accepted the fiction more readily than the facts, and the most worrying fact is that the public firmly believe what they have seen and read as being correct.

As a modern day British murder squad detective I had been interested in this case for many years but due to a heavy workload, I never had the time to study it in great detail. However in 2002 with more time at my disposal I decided to reinvestigate the murders. I felt that all the experience, knowledge and insight into the criminal mind I had gained by interviewing and talking to murderers, rapists and robbers would be invaluable in my attempt to view the murders not only through the eyes of an experienced investigator, but through the eyes of the killer. So I set out to conduct a 21st century cold-case investigation into this fascinating series of 19th century murders.

I looked closely at the murders themselves, the victims, and the suspects at the time, and both the evidence available at that time and the new evidence and new suspects that have emerged in the intervening years. I knew I would also need to analyse and assess all the new evidence recently put forward, with a view to either proving or disproving some of the accepted theories about the murders, which have been with us for many years. In doing so I hoped I might find something new that would unlock the mystery and lead me to the identity of Jack the Ripper.

It has been widely accepted that Jack the Ripper killed only five women all of whom were prostitutes. They have become known as the “canonical five”. However, my lengthy and protracted investigation revealed a total of eight women were in fact murdered. All were killed in similar circumstances and all the murders occurred in or near Whitechapel, East London, between August 7th 1888 and 13th February 1891, and all were prostitutes. All had their throats cut, and their bodies subjected to mutilations and in the case of two of the victims, it was suggested that the killer also removed vital organs, taking them away with him from the crime scenes. In addition, I discovered two other similar murders of prostitutes, which occurred in central London many years before the Whitechapel murders commenced. Both of these murders bore many comparable similarities to the later murders.

Further investigative work would cast a major doubt surrounding the removal of the organs from the victims at the crime scenes. I would later discover the existence of missing police files, which had never before been made public, which contained the names of new Ripper suspects never before previously discussed. I would also discover new photographic evidence, which could perhaps connect at least one of the Whitechapel murders to a series of similar murders, which took place in New York and Germany, following the cessation of the Whitechapel murders. It soon became apparent that the mystery was not a singular one but involved intrigue and false trails, with a number of mysteries within the mystery.

CHAPTER 2

WHITECHAPEL 1888

All the murders were committed in squalid poor areas, and all the victims were prostitutes. Many prostitutes in those days were forced to work the streets by gangs, who would inflict their own violence on these poor women if they did not conform and hand over the money they earned through prostitution. It is documented that in Whitechapel alone, at the time of the murders, there were in excess 1600 prostitutes actively working.

The population of the East End of London at the time was believed to have been around 900,000, of which 80,000 resided in Whitechapel. The "poor" made up about 8% of the population and consisted of men who worked as builders, market porters etc. earning what was described as a "meagre" but regular income of between 18 – 21 shillings a week. (Before decimalization in the UK, 20 shillings equalled 1 pound.)

The "very poor" totalled about 11 % of the population, and their income fell below the aforementioned level. The former struggled to make both ends meet, and the latter lived in a state of total poverty. 2% consisted of the lowest class and was made up of down-and-outs and the homeless. In one area alone it was documented there were approximately 146 registered lodging houses, with a number of beds exceeding 6,000. Some of the houses contained as few as four beds, whilst others had as many as 350. For those who could not afford lodgings there was no other option than to sleep on the streets and alleys, as some still do to this day.

CHAPTER 3

THE VICTIMS

MARTHA TABRAM

Martha Tabram was a plump, thirty–nine-year-old prostitute; she was stabbed to death in George Yard Buildings on 7th August 1888. On the evening of her death Tabram was seen with another prostitute “Pearly Poll” in various public houses in Whitechapel, and the last anyone saw of her was around 11.45pm; she was seen going into George Yard with a soldier, presumably to have sex. There were no more sightings of her before her body was found at 4.45am, on the stairs in George Yard Buildings. Her lower garments were in a state of disarray, suggesting intercourse may have taken place. She had been stabbed 39 times to her chestal area. One different sized stab wound was found to her abdomen, suggesting that perhaps her killer was armed with two knives. The police failed to identify her killer, and also failed to trace the identity of the soldier. Her murder remains unsolved. Some experts do not subscribe to the theory that she was a Ripper victim. However, in regard to the ferocity of the attack on her and the ferocity of the attacks on some of the later victims, she should not be discounted. Furthermore, this murder is referred to as one of the Whitechapel murders in various reports compiled by Chief Inspector Swanson who was put in overall charge of the investigation between August and December 1888.

MARY ANN NICHOLS

The second murder occurred on Friday August 31st the victim was Mary Ann Nichols, known as Polly, aged 43. She was found murdered in a narrow, cobbled street called Buck’s Row. Nichols was last seen alive around 2.30am and was found dead in the street at 3.45am. Witnesses who found her suggest she may have been clinging to life. If that was so, the killer was very lucky not to have been seen either committing the murder or making his escape.

She had been stabbed several times in the stomach and abdomen and her throat had been cut to the point that she was almost decapitated. Bruising found around the neck and throat suggests she may have possibly been strangled before having her throat cut. It was suggested that her killer used a long-bladed knife to inflict the wounds. There were no witnesses and no descriptions of anyone seen with Nichols before her death or at the spot where she was murdered. Her killer simply vanished unseen into the darkness.

As is required by English law an inquest took place into her death. The inquest opened on September 1st 1888 by Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, the coroner for South East Middlesex. I do not intend to publish the full details of that inquest but will set out the evidence given by the Police Surgeon, Dr. Rees Ralph Llewellyn. I will continue to include all the medical testimony from the various police surgeons again when discussing the deaths of later victims. This medical evidence would be a pivotal part of my investigation in proving or disproving some of the accepted theories, which have been a part of the mystery for over 125 years. I will also include other parts of witness testimony given during the inquests, which I deem to be relevant to my investigation.

Dr. Llewellyn arrived at the murder scene at 4.00am on August 31st. After only a brief examination of the body he pronounced Polly Nichols dead. He noted that there was a wine glass and a half of blood in the gutter at her side but claimed that he had no doubt that she had been killed where she lay. He failed to notice the abdominal wounds the killer had inflicted upon her, a glaring professional mistake.

In court he gave the following testimony:

“In the mortuary I saw that the abdomen was cut very extensively. I have this morning made a post-mortem examination of the body. I found it to be that of a female about forty or forty-five years. Five teeth were missing, and there was a slight laceration of the tongue. There was a bruise running along the lower part of the jaw on the right side of the face that might have been caused by a blow from a fist or pressure from a thumb. There was a circular bruise on the left side of the face, which also might have been inflicted by the pressure of the fingers. On the left side of the neck, about 1 in. below the jaw, there was an incision about 4 in. in length, and ran from a point immediately below the ear. On the same side, but an inch below, and commencing about 1 in. in front of it, was a circular incision, which terminated at a point about 3 in. below the right jaw. That incision completely severed all the tissues down to the vertebrae
.

“The large vessels of the neck on both sides were severed. The incision was about 8 in. in length. The cuts must have been caused by a long-bladed knife, moderately sharp, and used with great violence. No blood was found on the breast, either of the body or the clothes. There were no injuries about the body until just about the lower part of the abdomen. Two or three inches from the left side was a wound running in a jagged manner. The wound was a very deep one, and the tissues were cut through. There were several incisions running across the abdomen. There were three or four similar cuts running downwards, on the right side, all of which had been caused by a knife, which had been used violently and downwards. The injuries were from left to right and might have been done by a left-handed person. All the injuries had been caused by the same instrument."