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The Legend of Jack the Ripper (Ch3,P2)
Less than three months after that incident. On Tuesday 7th August, following a Monday bank holiday, a lady, called Martha Tabram, was found murdered. That morning I was going to my work and I remembered that I was getting late, so I took a shortcut through George Yard. Just when I entered the street, I saw multiple officers gathering up and questioning people about a murder.
It was as if fate brought me to its doorstep, not only did I get a piece of important news to cover, but I a glimpse of the story that was about to begin.
Her body was found at George Yard Buildings, George Yard, and Whitechapel. In the early hours of the following morning, a resident of the Buildings, called Mrs Hewitt, was awoken by cries of "Murder!", but domestic violence and shouts of that nature were common in the area, So she ignored the noise and went back. At 2:00 a.m., two other residents, husband and wife Joseph and Elizabeth Mahoney, returned to the Buildings but saw no one on the stairs. At the same time, the patrolling beat officer, PC Thomas Barrett was walking his beat around 2 a.m. on the morning of August 7th when he passed by the North entrance to George Yard on Wentworth Street. Since the day before had been a bank holiday, the night had been more active than usual, with the streets full of merry-makers and no shortage of fights.
Constable Barrett later told the press that he had noticed a soldier loitering at the entrance to the yard who he assumed had been out taking advantage of the festivities as well. He then approached the soldier and asked if it was about time for him to be getting back to his barracks. The soldier told him he was waiting for a ‘chum’ who had gone inside the yard with a girl. It was a good enough answer for Barrett, and he continued on his way. Nearly one hour later at about 3:30 a.m., a resident of that street, Albert George Crow returned home after a night's work as a cab driver and noticed Tabram's body lying on a landing above the first flight of stairs.
It was not until just before 5:00 a.m. that another resident who was coming down the stairs going on his way to work, as a dock labourer, that's when John Saunders Reeves saw the body and quickly realised that she was dead.
Reeves fetched Barrett, who sent for Dr Timothy Robert Killeen to examine the body. Killeen arrived at about 5:30 a.m. and estimated that Tabram had been dead for around 3 hours. Her killer had stabbed her 39 times in the body and neck, including nine times in the throat, five in the left lung, two in the right lung, one in the heart, five in the liver, two in the spleen, and six in the stomach, also wounding her lower abdomen and genitals.
The local inspector of the Metropolitan Police Force, Edmund Reid of H Division Whitechapel, was in charge of the investigation. But it was a difficult one no one could identify who the woman was.
He arranged for PC Barrett to visit the Tower of London on 7th August in the hope that Barrett could identify the man he had seen standing in the street. Barrett did not recognise any of the men. A parade of soldiers who had either been absent or on leave at the time of the murder was arranged for August 8. As he described in a report to the police commissioner, Reid cautioned Barrett to ‘be careful as to his actions because many eyes were watching him and a great deal depended on his picking out the right man and no other.’ Barrett viewed all the men in the lineup, selecting one with medals on his...
It was as if fate brought me to its doorstep, not only did I get a piece of important news to cover, but I a glimpse of the story that was about to begin.
Her body was found at George Yard Buildings, George Yard, and Whitechapel. In the early hours of the following morning, a resident of the Buildings, called Mrs Hewitt, was awoken by cries of "Murder!", but domestic violence and shouts of that nature were common in the area, So she ignored the noise and went back. At 2:00 a.m., two other residents, husband and wife Joseph and Elizabeth Mahoney, returned to the Buildings but saw no one on the stairs. At the same time, the patrolling beat officer, PC Thomas Barrett was walking his beat around 2 a.m. on the morning of August 7th when he passed by the North entrance to George Yard on Wentworth Street. Since the day before had been a bank holiday, the night had been more active than usual, with the streets full of merry-makers and no shortage of fights.
Constable Barrett later told the press that he had noticed a soldier loitering at the entrance to the yard who he assumed had been out taking advantage of the festivities as well. He then approached the soldier and asked if it was about time for him to be getting back to his barracks. The soldier told him he was waiting for a ‘chum’ who had gone inside the yard with a girl. It was a good enough answer for Barrett, and he continued on his way. Nearly one hour later at about 3:30 a.m., a resident of that street, Albert George Crow returned home after a night's work as a cab driver and noticed Tabram's body lying on a landing above the first flight of stairs.
It was not until just before 5:00 a.m. that another resident who was coming down the stairs going on his way to work, as a dock labourer, that's when John Saunders Reeves saw the body and quickly realised that she was dead.
Reeves fetched Barrett, who sent for Dr Timothy Robert Killeen to examine the body. Killeen arrived at about 5:30 a.m. and estimated that Tabram had been dead for around 3 hours. Her killer had stabbed her 39 times in the body and neck, including nine times in the throat, five in the left lung, two in the right lung, one in the heart, five in the liver, two in the spleen, and six in the stomach, also wounding her lower abdomen and genitals.
The local inspector of the Metropolitan Police Force, Edmund Reid of H Division Whitechapel, was in charge of the investigation. But it was a difficult one no one could identify who the woman was.
He arranged for PC Barrett to visit the Tower of London on 7th August in the hope that Barrett could identify the man he had seen standing in the street. Barrett did not recognise any of the men. A parade of soldiers who had either been absent or on leave at the time of the murder was arranged for August 8. As he described in a report to the police commissioner, Reid cautioned Barrett to ‘be careful as to his actions because many eyes were watching him and a great deal depended on his picking out the right man and no other.’ Barrett viewed all the men in the lineup, selecting one with medals on his...
