Jack The Ripper - Mark Whitehead [13]
The inquest into Annie Chapman’s death opened on 12 September at the Whitechapel Working Lads’ Institute. Presided over by Wynne Baxter, it lasted for five days (reconvened 13, 14, 19 and 26 September), a length which drew criticism. A letter to The Times on 19 September, suggested it was time the inquest closed and the usual verdict be given. The amount of information being supplied, the writer remarked, would surely be better used by the police than the press.
When the inquest closed, Baxter’s summation included his own theory for the murderer’s motive. He told the jury that he’d heard from the ‘sub-curator of the Pathological Museum’ at one of ‘our great medical schools’ information that might have a bearing on the inquiry. Months previously an American approached the sub-curator and asked him to procure uteri for which he would pay £20 each. The American’s reasons for this request were even more bizarre. He claimed to be producing a publication and wished to supply a preserved uterus with each copy. Baxter stated that another medical institution had received a similar request, and suggested that the murderer might be engaged in supplying these organs. This raised the spectres of Burke and Hare, and Baxter suggested that the police should focus their enquiries among those with the necessary anatomical expertise.
Meanwhile, the police investigations were exceptionally thorough. Swanson’s report details that they pursued several lines of inquiry. Occupants of 29, Hanbury Street were interviewed and their rooms searched. Statements were taken from adjoining houses. All common lodging houses in the area were checked to see whether anyone acting suspiciously had entered that morning. Chapman’s history was investigated, anyone who knew her interviewed and their movements at the times of Tabram’s, Nichols’ and Chapman’s death checked. Details were circulated and attempts made to trace anyone who’d been reported as a possible suspect. Enquiries were made at public houses in the area and local prostitutes were interviewed. ‘The combined result of these enquiries,’ Swanson notes in his report to the Home Office on 19 October, ‘did not supply the police with the slightest clue to the murderer.’ However there were, as we shall see, no shortage of suspects.
Interlude
‘No Englishman could have perpetrated such a horrible crime...’ Mob member, quoted in East London Observer, 9 September 1888
Immediately following Annie Chapman’s murder, the streets of Whitechapel seemed to reflect the fear and anger felt by its inhabitants. At night, the area was virtually deserted and many prostitutes were believed to have fled to safer districts. Those who were out after dark were most often plain-clothed policemen, some of whom were disguised as women in an effort to flush out the killer. Enraged mobs also roamed the streets, often taking justice into their own hands. Walter Dew, a Detective Constable at the time, related how a violent criminal named ‘Squibby’ came close to being lynched. He’d thrown a brick at a policeman and, when the police gave chase, they found themselves joined by an angry crowd who believed that the police were chasing the murderer.
Following the press comments about ‘Leather Apron’, anti-Semitic feelings became more pronounced. An influx of Jewish immigrants in 1881 had been met with sympathy but the economic depression had led to increased competition for the few jobs there were and the customary attitude of ‘Them’ coming over here and taking ‘Our’ jobs was never far from the surface. Representatives of the Jewish community sought to quell the anti-Jewish