Jack the Ripper: The Casebook

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The skin was retracted through the whole of the cut through the abdomen, but the vessels were not clotted. Nor had there been any appreciable bleeding from the vessels. I draw the conclusion that the act was made after death, and there would not have been much blood on the murderer. The cut was made by someone on the right side of the body, kneeling below the middle of the body. Some Ripper authors have suggested Abberline sussed Hutchinson and knew he was lying, but just could not prove he was the Ripper, and that the detectives sent to accompany him around, hoping to spot the suspect he described, were actually keeping an eye on him to stop him killing, or even better, catch him in the act. I personally do not believe Abberline doubted Hutchinson's statement for one moment. For Hutchinson described exactly who the police at the time thought the Ripper was, a foreign looking Jew. Swanson, Macnaghten, Anderson and even Abberline with his favoured suspect, George Chapman, all believed the Ripper was foreign and Jewish looking. Therefore, when along comes George Hutchinson with his detailed description of a foreign looking suspect, perfect. Hutchinson first came to our attention with his detailed, and according to some Ripper authors, too detailed account of a suspect seen with Mary Kelly shortly before she was murdered. The detailed description Hutchinson gave has caused some to view him with growing suspicion. The result of which has led Hutchinson himself to now be considered one of the leading Ripper suspects. Here is Hutchinson's statement.

The wounds on the face and abdomen prove that they were inflicted by a sharp, pointed knife, and that in the abdomen by one six inches or longer. Subjects: Montague John Druitt - Melville Macnaghten - Stephen P. Ryder - Robert Anderson - Lord Crawford - Bernard Quaritch - Emily Druitt - Subjects: Stewart Evans - Morris Lubnowski - Seaside Home - Robert Anderson - Scott Nelson - Woolf Abrahams - Aaron Kosminski - Donald Swanson - The original envelope in which the "Dear Boss" letter was sent. All photos courtesy S.P. Evans / M.E.P.O.The lining membrane over the uterus was cut through. The womb was cut through horizontally, leaving a stump of three quarters of an inch. The rest of the womb had been taken away with some of the ligaments. The vagina and cervix of the womb was uninjured. I believe the wound in the throat was first inflicted. I believe she must have been lying on the ground.

Dark green chintz skirt, 3 flounces, brown button on waistband. The skirt is patterned with Michaelmas daisies and golden lilies. AM: Kate is heard singing softly to herself in the cell. 12:30 AM: She calls out to ask when she will be released. "When you are capable of taking care of yourself." Hutt replies. "I can do that now." Kate informs him. An inch below the crease of the thigh was a cut extending from the anterior spine of the ilium obliquely down the inner side of the left thigh and separating the left labium, forming a flap of skin up to the groin. The left rectus muscle was not detached. Mrs. Phoenix says that "She was Welsh and that her parents, who had discarded her, still lived in Cardiff, from which place she came. But on occasions she declared that she was Irish." She added that Mary Jane was very abusive and quarrelsome when she was drunk but "one of the most decent and nice girls you could meet when sober." There are patterns as well in the dates and times of the murders. Every murder from Tabram to Kelly was commited on either a weekend or a holiday – a strong indication that the killer held regular employment. The murders were committed between midnight and 6am, all in the general area surrounding Whitechapel. And the modus operandi was similar in all cases except Tabram and Stride.Dr. Thomas Bond, a distinguished police surgeon from A-Division, was called in on the Mary Kelly murder. His report is as follows: In 1907 Bert and Emily were living as Mr and Mrs Shaw in St Pauls Road. By day Emily was a dutiful housewife; once Bert had left for work she returned to her previous calling, apparently missing the entertainment provided by the many public houses in Euston Road, particularly the Pindar of Wakefield and the Rising Sun. The inquest into Mary Kelly's death opened and closed on 12 November 1888 and the press expressed their surprise at the sudden termination of the proceedings before all the witnesses had a chance to come forward. So once again, nothing really sinister in Hutchinson not coming forward sooner with his statement.