London Nov. 14.
The hopes of the police of catching the Whitechapel murderer, which had
almost entirely died out, were raised to the acme of buoyancy yesterday in
consequence of the testimony at the Kelly inquest of George Hutchinson, a
groom, who had known the victim for several years and who saw a well
dressed man with Jewish cast of countenance accost her on the street at
two o'clock on the morning of the murder and the circumstances of his
acquaintance induced him to follow the pair as they walked together. He
looked straight into the man's face as he turned to accompany the woman
and followed them to Miller (sic) court out of mere curiosity. He had no
thought of the previous murders and certainly no suspicion that the man
contemplated violence, since his conspicuous manifestations of affection
for his companion as they walked along formed a large part of the
incentive to keep them in sight. After the couple entered the house
Hutchinson heard sounds of merriment in the room and remained at the
entrance to the court for fully three-quarters of an hour. About three
o'clock the sound ceased and he walked into the court, but finding that
the light in the room had been extinguished went home. During the hour
occupied in standing at the entrance to or promenading the court he did
not see a policeman.
There is every reason to believe Hutchinson's statement, and the police place great reliance upon his description of the man, believing it will enable them to run him down. The witness who testified previously of having seen the woman enter the house with a man with a blotched face was evidently mistaken as to the night as his description of her companion is totally unlike that of Hutchinson's in every particular. The bulk of the evidence taken fixes the time of the murder at between 3:30 and four o'clock. It transpired yesterday that in addition to the face mutilation of the murdered woman the uterus was wholly and skilfully removed and laid in a corner of the bed.
