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The Legend of Jack the Ripper (Ch4)
By the end of August in 1888, the summer weather was long gone. The night of the 31st was drenched in rain and shocked by the flashes and claps of a thunderstorm.About 3.45 am in the morning,while most of the neighbourhood was still sleeping. Constable John Neil who was patrolling the area,discovered the body.He was looking down at the body,when he noticed PC John Thain passing the end of the street and flashed his lantern to attract his attention.He asked Thain to fetch doctor Llewellyn.
But the following day came an interesting news: it was a cartman called Robert Paul who found the body with another man.
According to his inquest testimony, It was exactly a quarter to four when Robert Paul passed up Buck's-row to his work as a carman for Covent-garden market.As he said in his inquest:
" It was dark, and he was hurrying along,that's when he saw a man standing where the woman was. He came a little towards Robert,but as he knew the dangerous character of the locality,Robert Paul tried to give him a wide berth. Few people like to come up and down here without being on their guard, for there are such terrible gangs working in and around the location. There have been many incidents of people being knocked down and robbed at that spot. The man, however, came towards Robert and touched his shoulder and said, 'Come and look at this woman." So, Robert Paul went with him and found the woman lying on her back.
Robert Paul:
"I laid hold of her wrist and found that she was dead and her hands were cold. It was too dark to see the blood on her body. I thought that she had been outraged, and had died in the struggle. I was obliged to be punctual at my work, so I went on and told the other man it would be better to find a policeman and inform him."They arranged her clothes to cover her body and went on their way.
Robert Paul:
I saw one Police officer in Church-row, just at the top of Buck's-row, who was going round calling people up, and I told him what I had seen, and I asked him to come, but he did not say whether he should come or not. He continued calling the people up, which I thought was a great shame, after I had told him the woman was dead. The woman was so cold that she must have been dead some time, and either she had been lying there, left to die, or she must have been murdered somewhere else and carried there. If she had been lying there long enough to get so cold as she was when I saw her, it shows that no policeman on the beat had been down there for a long time. If a policeman had been there he must have seen her, for she was plain enough to see.By this time they met PC Mizen,Interestingly enough the other man rushed towards him and informed him of the gruesome discovery.
Mrs. Emma Green's house in Buck's Row, overlooked the spot where the body of Mary Nichols was found at 3.40am on the morning of August 31st, 1888.Her house was the last one in the line of houses on the south side of Buck's Row, and it adjoined Brown's stable yard, in the gate of which the body of Mary Nichols was found.Mrs Green, who was a light sleeper, had heard nothing, despite the fact that her bedroom, which she shared with her daughter, almost overlooked the murder site.Indeed, the first she knew of the murder was when Constable Neil knocked on her door to ask if the family had seen or heard anything.
When Dr Llewellyn arrived at around 4am, he declared her dead.On closer examination he also observed that the deceased's body and legs were still warm, although her hands and wrists were quite cold.According to him,she died just half an hour ago.Her throat had been slit twice from left to right and her abdomen was mutilated by a deep jagged wound. Several shallow incisions across the abdomen, and three or four similar cuts on the right side were caused by the same knife used violently and downwards.
At first the police had no idea who the victim was.Identifying the woman, so disfigured by her attacker, was daunting at first. She was about five feet two or three inches tall with dark hair, eyes and skin. Her hair was beginning to go grey with middle age, and she was missing three teeth. Her clothing was well worn, indicating that she was likely a woman down-on-her luck. This assumption was supported by a helpful find of her petticoat which showed the mark of 'Lambeth Workhouse, P.R.'. Investigators called for someone from the workhouse on Prince's Road to come to the mortuary and help identify the body....
But the following day came an interesting news: it was a cartman called Robert Paul who found the body with another man.
According to his inquest testimony, It was exactly a quarter to four when Robert Paul passed up Buck's-row to his work as a carman for Covent-garden market.As he said in his inquest:
" It was dark, and he was hurrying along,that's when he saw a man standing where the woman was. He came a little towards Robert,but as he knew the dangerous character of the locality,Robert Paul tried to give him a wide berth. Few people like to come up and down here without being on their guard, for there are such terrible gangs working in and around the location. There have been many incidents of people being knocked down and robbed at that spot. The man, however, came towards Robert and touched his shoulder and said, 'Come and look at this woman." So, Robert Paul went with him and found the woman lying on her back.
Robert Paul:
"I laid hold of her wrist and found that she was dead and her hands were cold. It was too dark to see the blood on her body. I thought that she had been outraged, and had died in the struggle. I was obliged to be punctual at my work, so I went on and told the other man it would be better to find a policeman and inform him."They arranged her clothes to cover her body and went on their way.
Robert Paul:
I saw one Police officer in Church-row, just at the top of Buck's-row, who was going round calling people up, and I told him what I had seen, and I asked him to come, but he did not say whether he should come or not. He continued calling the people up, which I thought was a great shame, after I had told him the woman was dead. The woman was so cold that she must have been dead some time, and either she had been lying there, left to die, or she must have been murdered somewhere else and carried there. If she had been lying there long enough to get so cold as she was when I saw her, it shows that no policeman on the beat had been down there for a long time. If a policeman had been there he must have seen her, for she was plain enough to see.By this time they met PC Mizen,Interestingly enough the other man rushed towards him and informed him of the gruesome discovery.
Mrs. Emma Green's house in Buck's Row, overlooked the spot where the body of Mary Nichols was found at 3.40am on the morning of August 31st, 1888.Her house was the last one in the line of houses on the south side of Buck's Row, and it adjoined Brown's stable yard, in the gate of which the body of Mary Nichols was found.Mrs Green, who was a light sleeper, had heard nothing, despite the fact that her bedroom, which she shared with her daughter, almost overlooked the murder site.Indeed, the first she knew of the murder was when Constable Neil knocked on her door to ask if the family had seen or heard anything.
When Dr Llewellyn arrived at around 4am, he declared her dead.On closer examination he also observed that the deceased's body and legs were still warm, although her hands and wrists were quite cold.According to him,she died just half an hour ago.Her throat had been slit twice from left to right and her abdomen was mutilated by a deep jagged wound. Several shallow incisions across the abdomen, and three or four similar cuts on the right side were caused by the same knife used violently and downwards.
At first the police had no idea who the victim was.Identifying the woman, so disfigured by her attacker, was daunting at first. She was about five feet two or three inches tall with dark hair, eyes and skin. Her hair was beginning to go grey with middle age, and she was missing three teeth. Her clothing was well worn, indicating that she was likely a woman down-on-her luck. This assumption was supported by a helpful find of her petticoat which showed the mark of 'Lambeth Workhouse, P.R.'. Investigators called for someone from the workhouse on Prince's Road to come to the mortuary and help identify the body....
