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Colin Benson
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 31, 2004 - 6:37 am: |       |
Police Constable John Neil offered the following statement during the Nichols-Inquest:
"The first to arrive on the scene after I had discovered the body were two men who work at a
slaughterhouse opposite. They said they knew nothing of the affair, and that they had not heard any screams. I had previously seen the men at work."
One of said slaughterers, Harry Tomkins, was questioned two days later. He remembered having
seen Neil on the beat early that night, but the rest differed. Firstly, there were three slaughterers, not two. Secondly, according to Tomkins, they were not the first to arrive but had entered the scene not before the police and Dr. Llewellyn. However, he offered an observation that somewhat correlated with the two men Neil claimed to have questioned: "He [Tomkins] believed that two other men, whom he did not know, were also there."
Who were these to strangers in the darkness Neil probably had mistaken to be the slaughtermen? No description of them is available. Given Neil's mistake, we may assume they looked local, but Tomkin's said they weren't.
What we know - they were at the murder scene, shortly, very shortly after the kill.
During the inquest, Baxter asked Harry Tomkins: "Have you read any statement in the newspapers that there were two people, besides the police and the doctor, in Buck's-row, when you arrived? (Answer: I cannot say, sir)". This is even more elusive. I couldn't find an article Baxter might have been referring to.
Can you make sense of it?
All the Best
Colin Benson |
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