| Jack the Ripper: A Suspect Guide |
This text is from the E-book Jack the Ripper: A Suspect Guide by Christopher J. Morley (2005). Click here to return to the table of contents. The text is unedited, and any errors or omissions rest with the author. Our thanks go out to Christopher J. Morley for his permission to publish his E-book.
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On the night of 22 September 1888 in Birttley Fell, County Durham, the body of a young woman was found in a field, she had sustained horrific injuries, her throat had been cut and her intestines were protruding. She was later identified as 28 year old Jane Beetmoor. Due to the mutilations, the murder was at first believed to have been committed by Jack the Ripper. Inspector Roots and Dr Phillips travelled to the North of England to investigate, however the police quickly satisfied themselves that the murder was not linked to the murders in Whitechapel, and in fact was a local affair.
A young labourer, William Waddell, quickly came under suspicion, as he had been seen with Jane on the night of her murder, and had recently fled the district. Two days after the murder, he traded in his clothes, which appeared to be bloodstained, at a clothing brokers in exchange for clothes of a lesser value. He was arrested, found guilty and hanged at Durham prison on 18 December 1888.
Waddell, who was described by the newspapers as 22 years of age, 5ft 9"tall, with brown hair, a very bad walker, has tender feet, walks with his toes out and leans well forward. It was said that he was far stronger than he appeared.
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