Ripper Series: The Witnesses

Welcome to the fourth and final blog of my Ripper Series. There are MANY witness reports about the Ripper murders, some true, some false, and some unreliable. A few witness statements stand out, and they have created a reliable timeline of when the victims were last seen.

Mary Ann Nichols' Witnesses

An acquaintance spotted Mary drunk and walking at the corner of Osborn Street and Whitechapel Road around 2:30 AM on August 31st. Just over an hour later, two men, Charles Cross and Robert Paul, were walking along Buck's Row when they encountered Mary's body lying on the path with her throat cut and laid in her blood. Due to the nature of her mutilated body, which was uncommon in the area at the time, the attack got the attention of local law enforcement.

Annie Chapman's Witnesses

Annie returned to her lodging on Dorset Street, where she met John Evans, the night watchman. When asked if she had money to pay for her bed, she said she did not, but she would get it soon. Chapman left the lodging house and headed towards Brushfield Street, where Mrs. Elizabeth Long supposedly saw her outside 29 Hanbury Street. Elizabeth stated that she saw Chapman standing by the doorway with a man she described as having a long cloak and a dark brown deerstalker hat with a shabby and respectable appearance. Annie was found dead only 30 minutes later.

Elizabeth Stride's Witnesses

The witnesses to Elizabeth Stride's last appearances heavily impacted the Ripper investigation because they greatly aided in determining who to look for.

Two men saw a woman, later identified as Stride, with a man outside the Bricklayer's Arms pub on Settles Street. At 11:45 PM, laborer William Marshall was standing at the door of his lodging at 64 Berner Street, and across the road was a man talking to a woman whom Marshall later identified as Elizabeth. He heard the man say, "You would say anything but your prayers." At 12:30 AM, PC William Smith walked down Berner Street and saw a man and woman he later identified as Stride.

The most important evidence in Stride's murder was given by Hungarian immigrant Israel Schwartz. Unable to speak English, Schwartz brought a friend to interpret his statement. Schwartz said he entered Berner Street around 12:45 AM and saw a man a short distance ahead. Ahead of the man stood a woman waiting outside the gates leading to the backside of 40 Berne Street. The man went up to the woman and threw her down to the ground without provocation. Alarmed, Schwartz crossed the street to avoid involvement.

Catherine Eddowes' Witnesses

Joseph Lawende saw a woman talking with a man at the entrance to Mitre Square. If Eddowes was the woman Lawende saw, her companion was most likely the Ripper. Lawende could describe Eddowes' clothing as the same as those worn by the woman, he saw near Mitre Square and described her male companion as about 30 years of age, medium build, fair, and wearing a cloth cap but would not be able to recognize him again.

Mary Jane Kelly's Witnesses

The Thursday before her body was found, Mary was seen in the company of several people, including the man she lived with for 18 months, Joseph Barnett. Between 11:45 PM and the approximate time of her death, between 2 and 3 AM on Friday, Kelly's whereabouts were reported by many individuals. One witness, George Hutchinson, said he met Kelly at 2 AM on Commercial Street, where she asked for a sixpence loan, but Hutchinson didn't have it. She walked towards Thrawl Street and was picked up by a well-dressed man who took her back to her lodging on Dorset Street. The man wore a coat trimmed with astrakhan fur, a black tie with a horseshoe pin, button-over boots, and a large gold chain hanging across a waistcoat. This description fueled the rumors that the Ripper was an elite of London, but the description was so precise that it was deemed incredible.

Based on eyewitness accounts and the lengthy list of suspects, who do you think was Jack the Ripper? Was it Aaron Kosminski or the royal Prince Albert? Tell me what you believe!