Manchester Guardian
6 October 1888
"THE WHITECHAPEL MURDERS -- The Berner-Street Case Resumed
Inquest"
Mr. Wynne Baxter resumed the inquest yesterday on the victim
of the Berner-street tragedy. Although on a former occasion
Mrs. Malcolm expressed herself positive that the body was
that of her sister, Elizabeth Watts, it will be seen by the
evidence reported below that the story that the witness was
mistaken and that the murdered woman was a Swede appears now
to be fully established.
Dr. Phillips, re-called, stated that since the last inquiry
he had, in accordance with the coroner's request, carefully
re-examined the body of the deceased, particularly with
regard to her mouth. He could not find any injury to it, or
absence of any part of the hard or soft palate. He had also
been requested to examine some handkerchiefs, and had done
so. He could not find any blood upon them, and he believed
the stains upon the larger handkerchief were fruit. He was
convinced that the deceased had not swallowed the skin or the
seed of a grape for many hours before her death. He had
examined the knife which was picked up in the street by a
boy. The knife had been recently blunted, and its edge
turned apparently by being rubbed on the kerb-stone. It was
evidently a sharp knife before. The injuries on deceased's
neck could have been inflicted by such a weapon, but in his
opinion the knife in question was not the one used. From the
position of the body he thought the deceased was seized by
the shoulder and placed on the ground, and the perpetrator of
the deed was on her right side when he inflicted the cut. He
seemed to have knowledge as to where to inflict a deadly
wound on the throat. There was a great dissimilarity between
Chapman's case and this. In the former the neck was severed
all round down to the vertebral column. The perpetrator of
the deed, assuming that he was to the right of the deceased,
might have kept clear of blood-stains. The chief injury to
the neck was away from him, and the stream of blood would not
flow in his direction. The deed would only take a few
seconds to commit. He could not find any traces of an
anaesthetic. If deceased did not utter any cry he could not
account for it.
Sven Olsen said he was clerk to the Swedish Church in
Princess Square. He had known the deceased for about 17
years. She was a Swede. Her maiden name was Gustafsdotter,
and she was born at Forslander, near Gothenburg, in 1843.
She was the wife of a carpenter named John Thomas Stride.
Witness got these particulars from the church register. The
woman's husband was drowned in the Princess Alice disaster.
Dr. Blackwell, recalled, said he agreed with Dr. Phillips
that the knife found, although it might have inflicted the
injury, was a most unlikely weapon. There were pressure
marks on the shoulder, as if the victim had struggled--faint
at first, but which had since become quite distinct.
William Marshall, 64, Berner-street, Commercial Road, said he
saw the deceased on Saturday night at a quarter-past 11
talking to a man between Fairclough-street and Boyd-street.
The man was about 5ft. 6in. in height, middle-aged, and
rather stout, and had the general appearance of a clerk. He
was not like a man who did work, or a sailor, and he spoke as
if he were well educated. Witness heard him say "You'd say
anything but your prayers." He was wearing a black cutaway
coat, dark trousers, and a cap with a peak. He could not say
if the man had whiskers, as he could not see his face. They
stayed talking about ten minutes, and the man had his arms
round her neck.
James Brown, of 39, Fairclough-street, deposed that he saw a
woman in company with a man standing at 12.45 at Fairclough-
street, at the Board School. He was certain it was the
deceased. She was dressed in dark clothes, and the man had a
long coat on. He went in and finished his supper, and then
heard cries of "Police!" and "Murder!" That would be about a
quarter of an hour after he saw the couple, but he had not
looked at any clock.
Constable Smith, 452 H, said: On Saturday last I went on duty
at 10 p.m. My beat, which included Berner-street, took from
twenty-five minutes to half an hour. I was last in Berner-
street before the murder at half-past twelve. When I
returned in the ordinary course at one o'clock I found a
crowd of people outside the gates of No. 40. Two policemen
were on the spot. When I was in Berner-street at 12.30 I saw
a man and woman together. The woman was like the deceased,
and I have no doubt that the body in the mortuary is that of
the person I saw. The two stood a few yards up Berner-street
on the opposite side to where she was found. I noticed the
man. He had a parcel done up in a newspaper in his hand. It
was about eight inches long and six or eight inches wide. As
near as I could see, the man was about 5ft. 7in. high, and
was wearing a hard felt deerstalker hat of a dark colour.
His clothes were dark, and he wore a cutaway coat. I did not
overhear any conversation. Both persons appeared to be
sober. I did not see the man's face very clearly, but I
noticed he had no whiskers. He seemed to be about 28 years
of age, and had a respectable appearance. I observed that
the woman had a flower in her dress.
Michael Kidney, the man with whom deceased lived, identified
the Swedish hymn-book as having belonged to the deceased, who
gave it to a Mrs. Smith on the previous Tuesday, saying she
was going away. She gave it to Mrs. Smith to take care of.
The inquiry was adjourned until October 23.
Saturday, October 6, 1888
"Mysterious Affair in the East End"
Shortly before midnight last night a cab containing two men
and a woman was observed to stop near a dark railway arch in
Brick Lane, in the East End of London. The men alighted and
deposited upon the ground the woman, who was insensible.
Three men who observed these movements raised an alarm,
whereupon the men drove off in the cab. One of them,
however, returned, was recognised, and was taken to the
Commercial Road Police Station, where he is detained. He
gives the name of Johnson. The affair has caused great
excitement in the neighbourhood.
