R. Michael Gordon - The Thames Torso Murders of Victorian London

Also by R. MICHAEL GORDON

Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects
(McFarland, 2001)

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

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e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-1665-0

2002 R. Michael Gordon. All rights reserved

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Cover photographs 2002 Corbis Images and Art Today

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For Elizabeth Jackson and four unknown women who met their fates in the East End of Victorian London under the shadow of a serial killer who may one day be discovered to have been Jack the Ripper.

They now rest as the shadows fall.

Any work on the Torso Murder Series must surely rest on the shoulders of those men of Londons famous police forceScotland Yardwho worked so hard many years ago to solve these murders. And, although no one suspect was ever brought to trial for these deaths, it cannot be said to have been due to any lack of effort on the part of the inspectors and beat constables who spent years investigating and tracking down leads in this series of murders. To them must go my thanks and primary acknowledgment. It is their work and the files they left behind which make this book possible, as we continue to search for more clues.

There are also several authors and researchers whose works on the Borough Poisoner and Ripper murders have been most helpful in understanding the history of these background cases. Primary of these are Paul Begg, Martin Fido, Keith Skinner, Philip Sugden, Hargrave L. Adam, Colin Wilson, George Weidenfeld, Stewart Evans, Donald Rumbelow, and Elizabeth Koper from the London Borough of Havering Central Library. Also, a heartfelt thank you to Debbie Gosling for her hard work and abilities to discover very interesting pieces of history related to these cases, as well as her suggestion for a motive in these cases. I was constantly amazed.

I would also like to thank the many individuals who have contributed their thoughts on these well-known cases on the Internet website Ripper Casebook. They have given no quarter and have asked for none in the quest to understand these most interesting series of crimes. A hearty well done as we continue to debate and uncover things which have in the past been only shadows.

A special thank you to the following for their personal encouragement and helpful comments concerning this work: Teresa Eidenbock, Robert Urquidez (for his graphic contributions), Dr. Rudolph Campos, Jeanne Cartier and Gene Schwedler, Carole Fraser, Philip Gordon, Ruth Victoria Todd, John Hearn of California State UniversityDominques Hills. And, finally, for their hard work and encouragementGinger Norton and David Duperre of Sedgeband Literary Associates.

I must also thank the men and women of the Metropolitan Police Service, Archives Branch, London, and especially Christine M. Thomas, for their research and records reviews.

For most readers of criminal history, when the words East End of London and Serial Killer come together they invariably think of Jack the Ripper and the Autumn of Terror in which those crimes were brought to the people of Victorian London in 188889. To be sure, the terror was quite real, as was the depraved sexual serial killer who hunted the back alleys of the East End searching for yet another victim for his ever ready blade.

During a central 13-week period, working in a single square mile of London centered on Whitechapel, the Ripper murdered six local prostitutes, mutilating most as he searched for body parts. The names of Martha Tabram, Annie Chapman, Mary Jane Kelly and the others have become well known to Ripperologists and casual readers alike. Few, however, remember the name Elizabeth Jackson, who died during a second series of murders in old London. And, whether it was the dramatic name given the killer in the Ripper series by an inflammatory press, or the closeness of the killings in time and place, or even perhaps the fact that no one was ever charged with those murders, what keeps this series in the minds of so many is hard to say. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that this is the case which seems to overshadow all others. It has even overshadowed one series which began before the Ripper series, lasted longer and was just as brutal in all respects as any Ripper murder ever was. That series of murders would be collectively known as the Thames Torso Murders or the Thames Dismemberment Murders. And, like the Ripper murders, it would occur for the most part in the East End of London, targeting local prostitutes.

The series began in 1887, fully one year before Jack began his work. There would be a second in 1888 during the central Ripper series, two more in 1889 as the Ripper was slowing down, and then a long pause before a final torso would be found in 1902. And, despite many similarities in the Ripper and Torso murders, very few were willing to point to a single assassin as the prime suspect in both sets of crimes. In fact, it was official policy to view these crimes as fully separate events unlinked to any one killer and certainly not to the Ripper. Yet, there were similarities, such as the skills required, many of the wounds, the geographic area covered by the killer, the time frame and, of course, the selected victims, which do suggest that a closer inspection of these cases may very well show a connection. Serial killers do indeed change their killing styles, and situations sometimes dictate events not accounted for in murder plans. One such individual is the Zodiac killer in California, who has changed his technique so many times that some of his murders may even have looked like accidents. Serial killers do experiment with death. It is, after all, what they do best, and some go on for years.

Was this Torso series just one more manifestation of a madman who changed, seemingly at will, or an entirely different killer? Or was there some type of crossover? The question is asked: Just how many sexual serial killers were working Londons East End in the late 1880s? If police theories at the time were correct, there were several, but was this a real working theory or public propaganda being used by a hard-pressed police force trying desperately to keep control? And, were these murders or something else?

Even those who felt they must write to the authorities and sign the name Jack the Ripper seemed unwilling to accept that the Ripper was responsible for the Torso Murders. As witnessed by one writer of a Ripper letter, no one wanted credit for these murders. In the name of God hear me. I swear I did not kill the female whose body was found at Whitehall. No one ever wrote to the police claiming credit for the Torso Murders, at least none are to be found in the less than complete files located in the public record office.