by Covell, Mike
The Morning Advertiser, a newspaper based in London, featured the following, dated September 13th 1888,
The inquest on the woman Annie Chapman, who was found murdered in the rear of a house in Hanbury-street, Whitechapel, was resumed yesterday. Among the witnesses examined was John Piser, who was released from custody on Tuesday night. Piser gave an account of his movements on the night of the murder and for several nights previous. He denied that he knew anything about the deceased. The inquest was adjourned until to-day. Pigott still remains at the Whitechapel Infirmary. It was stated last night that another man, supposed to be a lunatic, had been arrested on suspicion in connexion with the murder. The police have failed to discover any information with reference to the woman's arm found in the Thames on Tuesday. No further remains have been found in the river. THE WHITECHAPEL MURDER. Yesterday afternoon Mr. Wynne Baxter, the coroner for Whitechapel, and a jury resumed the inquest on the body of Annie Chapman, which was found in the back yard of a common lodging-house, No. 29, Hanbury-street, Spitalfields, last Saturday morning, with the throat cut and body frightfully mutilated. The inquest was held in the Alexandra-room of the Working Lads' Institute. The excitement that has for some days been manifested in the district would appear to have almost wholly subsided, if the feelings of the Whitechapel community are to be judged by the numbers attending the proceedings. Up to the time fixed for the resumption of the inquiry there were only a handful of loiterers around the entrance to the institute, and even when the proceedings had been commenced there were only a few persons present in addition to the coroner and jury, the usual officials, and the representatives of the Press. Fontaine Smith, who was scarcely audible, said - I have seen the body in the mortuary, and recognised it as that of my eldest sister, Annie. Her husband's occupation was that of a coachman. She lived separate from her husband for three or four years. Her age was 47 last month. I last saw her alive shortly before her death. I met her promiscuously in Commercial-street. Her husband died on Christmas-day, 1886. When I saw her last she recognised me, and borrowed 2s. of me, or rather I gave it to her. She did not say where she was living, only that she was not doing anything, and that she wanted money for her lodging. I did not know anything about her associates. James Kent, the next witness, said -I work for Mr. Bailey, of 23A, Hanbury-street, Spitalfields. I go to my work at six o'clock. On Saturday last I got to work about ten minutes past six o'clock. Our employer's gate was open. I generally wait a few minutes until some of our men come up. While I was waiting there, an elderly man, named Davis, I believe, who lives two or three doors off, called to me. He came out of his house into the road two or three yards off with his belt in his hand. I went with a man named James Green, who was standing with me. There were more than two of us standing together. I went to 29, Hanbury-street, and through the passage. I did not go into the yard, but stood at the top of the steps. You saw a woman? -I did, lying in the yard at the bottom of the steps leading from the back door. She lay between the back-door steps and the partition between the yard and the next yard. Inspector Chandler produced a plan of the yard, which the witness examined and pointed out the exact position of the body. Witness (continuing).-Her clothes were thrown back, but her face was visible. Her apron seemed to be thrown back over her clothes. I could see from the feet up to the knees. I did not go down the steps, but went outside, going in twice again to look. I do not believe that any man went into the yard until Inspector Chandler came, I could not see she was dead. She had a handkerchief of some kind round her throat, which seemed sucked into her throat. I saw no running blood, but her face and hands were smeared with blood, as if she had struggled. I did not notice any other injuries. The Coroner. -What evidence was there of a struggle? Witness. -I mean as if she had been on her back and used her hands to defend herself. Her hands were turned with the palms towards her face, as if she had fought for her throat. Her legs were wide apart.
Did you notice any blood about her legs? -There were similar marks of blood as about her face. Was there any blood about her clothes? -I did not notice. I was too much frightened to notice very particularly. You spoke of some liquid having been thrown over her. Did you notice any water or anything? -I could not tell what it was. It seemed as if her inside had been pulled from her and thrown at her. It was lying over her left shoulder. Part of her inside was lying over her clothes?-Yes. Did you remain there until the inspector came into the house?-No, I came out and stood on the kerb and looked each way to see if I could see a policeman coming. The police had not long gone off duty at the time. I went and had a glass of brandy, and then went into the workshop for a piece of canvass to throw over the body. When I went back to the house the mob had made a rush down as the news flew round. The inspector was in possession of the yard. Is it possible that someone might have gone and touched the body while you were away? -I do not believe so, sir, as everybody seemed frightened, and all seemed to run away. Green came round the workshop with me and stood on the wall overlooking the yard. The foreman is usually there before us at ten minutes to six. He opens the shop, and writes our orders down. James Green, sworn and examined. -I live at 26, Acton-street, Burdett-road, and am employed as a packing case maker at the same place as the last witness. On Saturday morning last I arrived at the workshop about ten minutes past six o'clock. I accompanied Kent to the back yard of 29, Hanbury-street. Did you go into the yard? -I went as far as the back door, and I left the premises with him. I did not see any one touch the body. I do not think it was possible for any one to touch the body without me seeing it. I saw Inspector Chandler arrive when I was on the steps of our landing. The mob had by that time got in and were looking from the back door, but were not in the yard. When the inspector arrived the body remained in the same state as when I first saw it. Amelia Richardson, a widow, living at 29, Hanbury-street, deposed -I rent half of the house. I carry on a packing case business at the shop with my son, aged 37, and a man named Francis Tyler. They came to work about six, but on this occasion the man did not come until eight. I sent for him. He is often late. My son lives in St John-street, Spitalfields, and works in the market. Saturday is market morning. I did not see him before six o'clock. At about six a.m. my grandson, Thomas Richardson, aged 14, who lives with me, got up. I sent him down to see what was the matter, as there was so much noise in the passage. He came back, and said, “Oh, mother, there is a woman murdered!” I went down immediately, and saw the body lying in the yard. There was no one in the yard at the time. There were people in the passage. Soon after a constable arrived and took possession of the place. The constable was the first person to go into the yard that I know of. I occupy the first-floor front room, and my grandson slept in the same room on Friday night. I went to bed at about half-past nine. I am a very wakeful woman, and am awake half of the night. I think I was awake half Friday night. I am sure that I woke at three, and only dozed afterwards. I heard no noise during the night. An old gentleman, Mr. Walker, occupies the first-floor back. He shares the room with his son, who is about 37 years old. His son is “not right” -I mean an imbecile, weak-minded. He is very inoffensive. There are two rooms on the ground floor, occupied by Mrs Hardiman, a widow, with one son, about 16 years old. Her son goes out to work. In the back parlour I was cooking on Friday night. I locked it up at half-past nine and took the key up with me. It was still locked when I came down in the morning. Mr. John Davies and his family, occupying the third floor front, and an old lady (Mrs. Sarah Cox), that I keep, occupies the third-floor back. I keep her out of charity. Mr. Thomson, his wife, and an adopted little girl occupy the second-floor front. Mr. Thomson is a carpenter. On Saturday morning I called Mr. Thomson at ten minutes or a quarter to four o'clock. I heard him come down, and I said “Good morning, Thomson,” as he passed my room about four o'clock. I heard him leave the house, and he did not go into the back yard. The two Misses Huxley live in the second-floor back. They are two sisters, and they work in a cigar factory. When I went down on Saturday morning all the tenants were in the house
except Mr. Thomson and Mr. Davies. I am not the owner of the house ; I only rent it. The front and back doors are always left open. You have only to raise the latch with your finger and you can go in any of the houses about there. The houses in that quarter are all let out in these rooms. A month ago there was a man on the stairs, and Mr. Thomson found him there about half-past three or four o' clock in the morning. The man said he was staying there till morning, and then he was going to the market. Could you hear anyone going through the passage? -Yes. I did not hear anyone on Saturday morning. By a Juror.-You mean you could hear them if you were awake? Witness. -Yes, Sir. On market mornings they might not be so easily heard, on account of the noise and bustle. The Coroner. -Supposing a person did go through the passage at half-past three o'clock? -I should suppose it was Mr. Thomson or someone else. Would it not attract your attention? -No. You are sure you heard no one going through that morning? -Yes. Is it not customary for persons to go through? - Yes; people do frequently go through. Into the back yard? -Yes. Sometimes people go through who have no business to do so? -Yes, I dare say they do. You still adhere to your statement that on Saturday morning no one did go through to the yard? -Yes ; if they did go through, they must have gone very quietly. Purposely so? -Yes. Or you would have heard them? -Yes. The coroner asked the jury if they had any questions to put. The Foreman. -The jury have the idea that if anyone went through in that quiet sort of way, it would be for immoral purposes. Do you acknowledge that sort of thing? Witness. -No ; I would not allow anyone to do so with my knowledge. Harriet Hardiman, living at 29, Hanbury-street. -I am a cats'-meat saleswoman. I occupy the ground- floor front room. I went to bed on Friday night about half-past ten o'clock. My son sleeps in the same room. I did not awake during the night. I sleep very sound. I did not awake until I heard some traffic through the passage, about six o'clock. My son was asleep, and I awoke him and told him to go and look, as I thought there must be a fire. He came back, and said it was not a fire, but that a woman had been killed in the yard. The Coroner. -Do you often hear people going through the passage into the yard at night? Witness. -Yes, and on the stairs, too. Did you know the deceased? -No, I never saw her in my life, to my knowledge. John Richardson, of No. 2, John-street, a porter in Spitalfields-market, said -I assist my mother in the packing-case business. I was in the house, 29, Hanbury-street, on Saturday morning, getting there between a quarter and ten minutes to five. I went to see if the cellar was all correct, because two months since someone broke in and stole two saws and two hammers. I generally go on marker mornings. Why on market mornings? -They are the mornings when I am out early. But who is to look after the cellar when it isn't a market morning? -Who is to look after it! It looks after itself. I found the front door shut, and I lifted up the latch and went through the passage to the yard door. I stood on the steps, but did not go into the yard. The back door was closed. I opened it and sat on the doorstep and cut a piece of leather off my boot with an old table- knife, about five inches long, which I brought from home. I had been cutting a bit of carrot with it, and brought it along in my left hand coat-pocket. I do not usually put it there, and suppose it must have been a mistake on my part on this occasion. When I had cut the piece of leather off my boot I tied my boot up and went out of the house to the market. I did not close the back door ; it closes itself. I closed the front door. How long were you there? -About a minute and a half, or two minutes at the outside. Was it light? -Beginning to get light, but not thoroughly. I could see all over the place. Would you have noticed anything in the yard? -I could not have failed to notice the deceased if she had been lying there. I saw the body two or three minutes before the doctor came. A man in the market told me of the murder, and I went to the adjourning yard, and saw it from there. The man's name is Thomas Pearman, and he told me there had been a murder in Hanbury-street, but he did not say that it was at my house. When did you determine to cut something off your boot?-I had cut some off the previous day, and it hurt my foot, and I found after I left the house that it wanted a bit more to be cut off. I looked to see if the cellar door was all right, and, although I did not go down into the yard, I could see that it was all right. I saw the padlock in its proper place. The sole object I had in going there was to see whether the cellar was all right. When I come home at night I go down and try if the cellar is all right. Did you sit on the top step? -No, sir, the second step. Where were your feet? -On the flags of the yard, sir. You must have been quite close to where the woman was found? -She was found lying just where my feet were. I have been in the passage at all hours of the night. Have you ever seen strangers there? -Lots plenty of them. At all hours? -Yes ; both men and women. Have you asked what they were doing there? -Yes ; and I have turned them out. The Coroner. -Do I understand you mean that they go there for an immoral purpose? Witness. -Yes, sir ; I have caught them in the act. The Foreman suggested that the knife to which the witness had alluded in his evidence should be produced. The witness said it was only a small white-handled knife. He had not got it with him ; but it would only take a few minutes to go and fetch it. The coroner ordered that the knife should be produced. Mrs. Richardson, recalled, stated in answer to the coroner, that she had seldom had anything stolen from the premises, notwithstanding the doors being left open or unlocked. She did miss ham once. She never had any suspicion that the yard was used at any time for immoral purposes. The foreman of the jury said it would be desirable to know something more about a leather apron which the witness had casually referred to in her previous evidence as having been worn by her son and washed by her. The coroner asked how that was. The Witness. -My son wears a leather apron when he is in the cellar. v The Coroner. -It is a rather dangerous thing for anybody to wear a leather apron now. The Witness (laughing). -Yes. On the Thursday I had washed the apron because it had gone mouldy from lying long in the cellar unused. It had not been used for about a month, the business being so slack. When you washed the apron where did you put it? -I washed it under the tap, and left it there. Where is the tap? -At the other side of the yard, against the fence. What became of it? -It was there on Saturday morning, when the police took it away. The apron had been there from Thursday to Saturday. The tap is used by all the house, and the leather apron was left on the stones. The police took away an empty box used for keeping nails and the steel out of a boy's gaiter. There was a pan of clean water under the tap when I went into the yard that morning. It was there on Friday night, and I found it in the same position on Saturday morning. It did not look as if it had been disturbed. Did you ever know of women being found on the first-floor landing?-No, sir. Your son has never spoken to you about them? - No, sir. The pan was at the side of the tap, and the apron quite underneath it. John Piser, who was sworn after the Jewish fashion, deposed-I am a shoemaker, and reside at 22, Mulberry-street, Commercial-road East. I go by the nickname of “Leather Apron.” On Thursday night last I arrived at 22, Mulberry-street, Commercial-road East from the west-end of town. I reached Mulberry-street at a quarter before eleven o'clock. My brother, sister, and step-mother live there. I remained indoors there until I was arrested by a sergeant of police on Monday last. I had never left the house from the time I entered it until I was apprehended. Why did you remain indoors ? -Because my brother advised me to do so. You were the subject of suspicion, were you not? -I was the object of a false suspicion. The Coroner. -You stayed in at the advice of your friends. That was not the best advice that could be given you. Piser. -I will tell the reason why -I should have been torn to pieces. I have been released, and am not now in custody. I wish to vindicate my character to the whole world. The Coroner. -I have called you partly in your own interest, in order to give you the opportunity of doing so. The Coroner. -Where were you on Thursday, the 30th of August? -I was in the Holloway-road. Were you not staying in any house? -Yes. I do not know the number of the house, but it was Crossman's common lodging-house. On Thursday the 30th of August, or the Friday, I was staying in a common lodging-house called the Round House, in Holloway-road
. I slept there for the night. I went into the lodging-house about 2.15 on Friday morning, and went at eleven that morning. The Coroner. -Where were you on Thursday night? -On Thursday night I had supper at the same house. I went out as far as the Seven Sisters-road, and went down the Holloway-road ; and on returning saw the reflection of a fire. When I had come as far as the church in Holloway-road, the lodging-house keeper of the Round House and one or two constables were talking together. I asked the constable where the fire was, and he said where he thought it was, and he said it was down about the Albert Docks. What time was it them? -It was about half-past one, to the best of my recollection. I went as far as Highbury railway station on the same side of the way, and returned back and went into the lodging-house. Did they not complain about your being late? -No, I asked the watchman if my bed was let. He said they did not keep beds open after eleven. I paid in four-pence, and sat for a while on the form in the kitchen smoking a pipe, and then went to bed, and got up at eleven o'clock. That was late, wasn't it? -Yes, sir, rather late. Did they turn you out? -The dayman came up and told us to get up, as he wanted to make the beds. I got up at once dressed, and went down into the kitchen. Is there anything else you want to say? -Nothing else, sir. What did you mean by the West-end of town form whence you came on the 6th inst.? -Peter-street, Westminster, where there is another lodging-house. The Coroner. -I think it is only fair to say that the statements of the witness have been corroborated. The Foreman of the Jury. -I think the jury are of the opinion that he is cleared. Piser. -Sergeant Thicke, who arrested me, has known me for 18 years. The Coroner. -Well, well, I do not think it is necessary for you to say any more. Sergeant Thicke. -Knowing the rumours in circulation concerning “Leather Apron,” I arrested Piser at 22, Mulberry-street on Monday morning. I have known him for many years under the nickname of “Leather Apron.” When the people in the neighbourhood speak of “Leather Apron” they referred to Piser. He was released last night at 9.30p.m. John Richardson now returned with the knife with which he had cut his boot on the morning of the murder. It was an ordinary white-handled table-knife with a short blade. The coroner stated the knife would be retained. Henry John Holland called and examined. -I passed Hanbury-street on the morning of Saturday last, on my way to work, at ten minutes past six o'clock. I was passing No. 29. An elderly man, named P. Davies, I think, came out, and said there was someone lying in his back yard. I ran through the passage, and saw the deceased lying in the yard against the back door. I went into the yard, but I did not touch the deceased or her clothes. No on did so in my presence. I went to find a policeman at Spitalfields-market. I found one there, and he told me he could not come, but that I would find one outside. I went back to the house, and I saw the inspector run in with a young man. It would be about 20 minutes past six when I saw the inspector going on. A Juror. -Did the policeman in Spitalfields-market say why he would not come with you? Witness. -I told him it was a similar case to what had happened a week previous. The policeman said he could not come, but that I would find another policeman outside the market. I could not see him. Was the policeman engaged on any duty? -He was standing in the market. No one was speaking to him. I made a complaint in the afternoon to the Commercial-street police-station about this affair, and they took all the evidence I could give. The Coroner. -There was a statement made by the inspector that there are certain places where policemen are ordered not to leave their posts on any account. The inquest was then adjourned till this afternoon at two o'clock, when the medical and police evidence will be taken. As will be seen from the evidence at the inquest, John Piser, who was arrested on suspicion in connexion with the Whitechapel murder, was released on Tuesday night. Pigott, the other man arrested, whose father was well known in Gravesend for many years as an insurance agent, was first seen in Gravesend on Sunday afternoon, about four o'clock. He then asked four young men, who were standing in the London-road, near Princess-street, where he could get a glass of beer, he having walked from Whitechapel. The young men told him. Following their directions he jumped into a tramcar going towards Northfleet. The young men noticed that he had a bad hand, and that he carried a black bag. He was without this bag when subsequently seen. He left a paper parcel at a fish shop kept by Mrs. Beitchteller, stating that he was going across the water to Tillbury. Instead of doing so he went to the “Pope's Head,” where his conversation about his hatred of women aroused suspicion, and led to his being detained by the police authorities. Superintendent Berry, who is making most active and exhaustive inquires, found the paper parcel at the fish shop to contain two shirts and a pair of stockings, one of the shirts, a blue-striped one, being torn about the breast, and having marks of what is supposed to be blood upon it. Piggott still remains under police observation in the infirmary. It is stated that Piggott was formerly in good circumstances, and at one time he gave 8,000l. for a business. It was reported that another man was arrested yesterday at Holloway on suspicion of being concerned in the Whitechapel murders, and that having been medically examined he was found to be of unsound mind, and was sent to the workhouse infirmary. It is also stated that the police have full knowledge of the whereabouts of the man whose description has been circulated as that of the alleged Whitechapel murder, and his identity is spoken to by several witnesses. Although not actually under arrest, it is said he is carefully watched, and his arrest is said to be only a question of time. Later information with regard to the alleged finding of pieces pf paper smeared with blood in the back premises of Mr. Bailey's packing-case shop in Hanbury-street is to the effect that investigation has proved that the stains are not those of blood, but of some other matter. The police attach no importance to either this or to the marks on the wall of the yard. In an interview with a representative of the Press Association yesterday morning, Piser declared his readiness to give the police and the public any information they might wish regarding his whereabouts at the time of the murder, and after making a statement regarding his movements similar to that contained in his evidence at the inquest, he said :-“On Monday morning last Sergeant Thicke came here. I opened the door. He said I was wanted, and I asked what for. He replied, `You know what for. You will have to come with me.' I said, `Very well, sir ; I'll go down to the station with you with the greatest of pleasure.' ” “Did he charge you?” asked the reporter, “or tell you what you were wanted for?” He said, `You know you are 'Leather Apron,'" or words to that effect. Up to that moment I did not know that I was called by that name. I have been in the habit of wearing an apron. I have worn it coming home from my employment, but not recently. I was quite surprised when Sergeant Thicke called me by the name of `Leather Apron.' When I arrived at the police-station the police searched me, naturally, I suppose, and in the usual way. They took everything from me, which I suppose is according to the customs and laws of the country. They found nothing on me that would incriminate me, thank God, or connect me with the crime that I have unfortunately been placed in custody upon. I know of no crime, I have been connected with no crime, and my character will bear the strictest investigation, both by my co-religionists and the Gentiles whom I have worked for. I am generally most of my time here, except when I go away to get anything that might be beneficial to me. I occasionally stayed at a lodging house-chambers-but not in Dorset-street." “Before you came to 22, Mulberry-street, on Thursday night, where had you been staying?” " In the early part of last week I was at Holloway, and it was from Holloway that I came on Thursday. Last Sunday week I was accosted in Church-street by two females unknown to me. One asked me `Are you the man?' presumably referring to the Buck's-row murderer. I said `God forbid, my good woman.' A stalwart man then came up and said, `Come in man, and treat me to half a pint.' I went on. I was not the man who is said to have been seen in a public-house on Saturday morning. I don't know Mrs. Fiddymont's public-house. I was totally ignorant of such a name as `Mrs. Sivvey' until it was published. I don't know such a woman. Between eleven and twelve o'clock yesterday a man came to Leman-street police-station.
One of the authorities asked me if I had any objection to go and see if I could be identified. I at once went into the station yard. There were several men there. One of them I know to be a boot finisher. He is a stout stalwart man of negro caste. He came towards me, and without saying a word deliberately placed his hand on my shoulder. I promptly replied, `I don't know you ; you are mistaken.' Hs statement that he saw me threaten a woman in Hanbury-street is false, for I can prove, as I have already said, that I never left this place from Thursday night until the time I was arrested. One of the evening papers has published a portrait intended to represent me, but it had no more resemblance to me than it has to the man in the moon. I shall see if I cannot legally proceed against those who have made statements about me. The charges made against me have quite broken my spirits, and I am afraid I shall have to place myself under medical treatment for quite some time." Dr. Forbes Winslow, in a letter on the subject of the Whitechapel tragedies, says: - “My theory having been circulated far and wide with reference to an opinion given to the authorities of the Criminal Investigation Department, I would like to qualify such statements : - That the murderer of the three victims in Whitechapel is one and the same person I have no doubt. The whole affair is that of a lunatic, and as there is `method in madness,' so there was method shown in the crime and in the gradual dissection of the body of the latest victim. It is not the work of a responsible person. It is a well-known and accepted fact that homicidal mania is incurable, but difficult of detection, as it frequently lies latent. It is incurable, and those who have been the subject of it should never be let loose on society. I think that the murderer is not of the class to which `Leather Apron' belongs, but is of the upper class of society, and I still think that my opinion given to the authorities is the correct one, viz., that the murders have been committed by a lunatic lately discharged from some asylum, or by one who has escaped. If the former, doubtless one who, though suffering from the effects of homicidal mania, is apparently sane on the surface, and consequently has been liberated, and is following out the inclinations of his morbid imaginations by wholesale homicide. I think the advice given by me a sound one- to apply for an immediate return from all asylums who have discharged all such individuals, with a view of ascertaining their whereabouts.” THE PIMLICO DISCOVERY. Up to midnight last night nothing further had transpired regarding the discovery of a human arm at Ebury-bridge, Pimlico, yesterday. No other portions of the body have been found, and the police-officers who are investigating the affair have failed to elicit anything which would unravel the mystery. It is thought highly improbable that any other discoveries will be made in the vicinity in which the arm was found, notwithstanding that the river is being carefully searched. Yesterday afternoon, Dr. Thomas Neville, the divisional surgeon, accompanied by Chief Inspector Jones and Inspector Adams, of the B division, visited the mortuary at Ebury-bridge, Pimlico, for the purpose of minutely examining the arm, which will for the present remain at the mortuary to await the orders of Mr. John Troutbeck, the district coroner, who has been informed of the discovery, but it is highly improbable that an inquest will be held. William Bailey, 46, French polisher, Fashion-street, Spitalfields, was charged with maliciously wounding Elizabeth Tidmarsh. The woman's nose was fearfully mutilated. She had lived, she said, with Bailey, for 16 years, having six children by him. He frequently assaulted her, but she had never charged him before. On the previous evening there was a quarrel, and that morning, when she was about to go to bed, he struck her. She then remarked that he was like “Leather Apron,” on which he knocked her against the bedstead, and the next she remembered was a constable finding her in a pool of blood. Her nose was fearfully cut. She could not say whether Bailey had anything in his hand or not, but she did not wish him punished, and only wanted him to keep the children. -Without hearing the medical evidence, Mr Saunders ordered Bailey to enter into his own bail to keep the peace for six months. As he left the dock Bailey said the woman was dissipated, and she retorted by saying that she would not be “seen looking at such a wretch again.” A woman living in Whitechapel asked for protection against her husband, who had threatened to cut her heart out and burn it. - Mr. Saunders : But he would not do that. It would be no use to him if he did -The Applicant : But he says he will. -Mr. Saunders : Well, I will send an officer to caution him.