Great Excitement Caused at Melbourne by the Confessions of a Murderer
He Acknowledges Two of the Horrible Butcheries at Whitechapel, London
There is a Strong Suspicion That He Is the Notorious Jack the Ripper
Caught in Australia
Melbourne, March 25.
Considerable excitement was caused here by a statement published by The Argus which declared that Deeming, the murderer, had made a confession. There has
been a strong suspicion entertained here that Deeming is none other than the notorious Jack the Ripper, the slayer of Whitechapel, London, outcasts, and this
suspicion is borne out in a measure not only by Deeming's appearance , which closely tallies with the description given of the Whitechapel fiend, but by his
alleged confession. The Argus is a reliable newspaper, and there is no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the statement it makes that Deeming has
acknowledged that he killed his wife and four children at Dinham villa, at Rain Hill, near Liverpool, and that he murdered and mutilated the last two women
whose bodies were found in the purlieus of Whitechapel. Although he has confessed that these two Whitechapel women fell victims to his mania for murder, he,
while not denying, does not admit that he killed the other Whitechapel women, whose murders at the time attracted the attention of the whole world. It is
believed, however, that when he finds all hope of escape from the clutches of the law cut off he will confess not only these murders, but others of which the
police know nothing. In his confession, The Argus says, Deeming makes no mention of his object in mutilating the bodies of his Whitechapel victims, and
removing certain of the organs, but, it adds, there us scarcely a doubt that the man is afflicted with a disease similar in some respects to nymphomania. The
case is a most peculiar one in all its respects, and public curiosity here is excited to the highest pitch to learn all the details of Deeming's many crimes.
It is said that Deeming made his confession to an official at Perth, West Australia, where he was arrested on the charge of having murdered his wife at Windsor, a suburb of Melbourne. Deeming secured counsel and made a strong fight against being sent back to Melbourne, but the court ordered his surrender to the authorities of the city and he has started in custody of the officers on his return. He told the Perth official, to whom he made his confession, that he was not guilty of the Windsor murder. His wife, he claimed, had eloped with another man.
