Ryan Reynolds (0:00)

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com your data is like gold to hackers and they'll sell it to the highest bidder. Are you protected? McAfee helps shield you blocking suspicious texts, malicious emails and fraudulent websites. McAfee Secure VPN lets you browse safely and its AI powered text scam detector spots threats instantly. You'll also get up to $2 million of award winning antivirus and identity theft protection, all for just $39.99 for your first year. Visit McAfee.com, cancel anytime terms apply. Hello and welcome to My Victorian Nightmare. I'm your host Genevieve Manion and I'm here to talk about mysterious deaths, morbid fascinations, disturbing stories and otherwise spooky events from the Victorian era. Because to me there's just something especially intriguing, creepy and oddly comforting about horror and mayhem from the 19th century. So listener discretion is advised. Hello friends and welcome to this my 31st episode. I hope that you had a wonderful week. Mine was a bit extreme. I have had my face buried in Jack the Ripper murder scenes for the last seven days, which is a lot. As such, this is my very first two parter episode. There's just far too much horrifying and gruesome information to cram into one single episode here. So next week you will find the second half of the story. This has been a doozy. As part of my research I watched a documentary on the rubber case in the tub with some crackers and cheese and a lovely spicy olive tapenade which fell into the tub, the entire bowl. I was fishing out little chunks of olives with a mesh strainer for a very, very long time. I smelled like a Greek salad even after I took a shower. Suffice it to say it has been a bumpy journey, but I am finally out of the olive oily wheeze. Oh, speaking of Jack the Ripper, would you join me over here in my crypto of corrections? It's a whole new segment that I'm really excited about. So, yeah, jumped the gun a little there last week. I've learned a very important lesson not to cry about anything that I haven't thoroughly investigated yet. So here's the thing. No, Jack the Ripper is not officially unmasked as Aaron Kuzminski through DNA evidence, despite what you also have read. Someone sent me the headline literally within about 20 minutes of recording the last episode. So I scrambled to get the news out, which was a gigantic mistake. So let's discuss what's actually going on here with the quote, unquote, unmasking of Aaron Kosminski as Jack the Ripper situation. Apart from the holes in the tests themselves, which I will discuss, there is also a very important thing that I need to correct, and that is that people are not found guilty in test tubes, they're found guilty in courts. Even if they prove beyond any doubt that this is his DNA, all that proves is that he was with her that night. Nothing else. There is no way to tell who really did it because there's no one to interview, no steps to trace, no one to put on the stand. So that is my biggest and most important correction. And based on this fact alone, sadly, very sadly, I think it's impossible to think of how we will ever be able to close this case. But before we leave the crypt, and before I dedicate this and the next episode entirely to the Ripper case, let's talk a little bit more about what has come to light in regard to this study. The study was a forensic examination of a blood and semen stained shawl believed to have been found at the murder scene of Catherine Eddowes, one of Jack the Ripper's victims. Some believe that the shawl wasn't even found at the murder scene at all. So there's that angle to it. Some believe it's just a fake, some do not. But there is some doubt there. The study claims that DNA pulled from the shawl links Aaron Kuzminski's DNA to a living descendant of his, proving that Kosminski was the murderer. But there are a number of large craters in the findings. Kozminski, by the way, was one of the more highly suspected suspects at the time. Like this is not a new name. The results of the DNA test of mitochondrial DNA was published in a peer reviewed journal. Some folks are saying the historian is simply claiming that this study happened, but that's not true. It was done. The results have been published, but they are incomplete, to say the least. And some say that even if the shawl was really there at the crime scene, even if it's not a fake and was really stained with Catherine's blood and the blood of the assailant, it likely could have been contaminated. Over the years, it's changed hands enough number of times. So could they even have pulled the kind of data that they're claiming to have pulled at all? Some say it's not so likely. Also, a 100% match of DNA which the study claims to have found. Sounds pretty impressive, right? Only, and I asked my friend Kate, who is a DNA scientist, to explain this to me, because I am not a DNA scientist. I am. I am a vampire. I only suck blood. I don't sequence its DNA first. According to her, using only that kind of DNA, which is DNA only from your mother's side, is casting far too large a net. In other words, that DNA could have been Kacminski's, but it could have also been from maybe a few thousand other people who lived in that area. If you're only using one half of a puzzle to complete the puzzle, you're not going to get the full picture. They say that DNA belonged to Kozminski, but what if it was his cousin? If it was his brother? What if it were any number of people who Kozminski or that descendant could have been related to in that area? Anyone who the descendant was related to on his mother's side would show up in those results. This kind of DNA, as I understand it, is only used in court to rule out suspects because it can only really confirm if you're absolutely not related. Apparently it is automatic autosomal. Autosomal. Autosomal DNA that is typically used to more accurately determine direct lineage. This DNA is found on the 22 pairs of non sex chromosomes that provides the most comprehensive picture of shared genetic material. So they didn't use that. Does this mean it's a useless study? Well, my friend said assuming the study was sound, you can still think of it as 50% of a puzzle, which is more than 0% of a puzzle. To quote her. Maury Povich is certainly not going to announce before a live audience that he's the daddy with that level of accuracy. So they are indeed going to need much better data to make the kind of claim that they're making for sure. But there is one criticism, though, that I've seen a few times now that I don't think is fair. The data published included only a graphic of the DNA sequence claiming to be Kozminski's, not a photograph of the DNA sequence, making it impossible to really examine by other scientists who who aren't looking at the raw data. And this is being cast as some kind of like cover up, implying that if you're only publishing a graphic of data, it's not of any use. So maybe that data doesn't exist at all. It certainly can't be analyzed by other professionals. And this sounds very fair, but the scientists couldn't publish a photo of the DNA sequence because it is illegal in the UK to do so. It's the reason that they gave for why they had to use the graphic. And I double checked it. The Data Protects Protection act in the UK clearly states that they cannot publish DNA of anyone that hasn't been convicted of a crime in a public facing journal. So that's not the fault of the scientists who did the study. However, you can't make a claim that you've solved any mystery if no one can actually see your work. There is simply not enough here currently to prove anything. There are also a number of other holes that I haven't even mentioned, but these were the most glaring to me. So this is what I understand to be the facts. I am still gonna get yelled at about something though, I'm sure. As I've said before, I am not a professional. I'm a dead woman who likes to talk about dead things as accurately as I can. But I sure make mistakes sometimes. So again, please forgive me. Oh, and before we leave the crypt, one more quick note. It is not a correction so much as a clarification. Yes, I know that people between the ages of like 44 and 100 are not defined as boomers. Some folks got very upset with me. Understandably, I was talking about the ages of my listenership and mentioned the 45 to 60 plus categories. And I did not take a long enough pause between saying 60 plus and my shouting spooky boomers to imply that I was only referring to the 60 plus category. What I should have said was 45, 259 and 60 plus. But I didn't do that. That was my fumble. I fumbled that ball fantastically. And like I said, I understand why it caused a stir. I don't want anyone referring to me as anything other than a geriatric millennial. It's the most insulting of them all and it's really grown on me. So again, mea culpa. Okay, let's get out of here. I am certain we shall return. I should probably put up some of those arsenic green curtains from the Paris morgue. That I mentioned in the last episode to liven up the place. Okay, we are going to race through Haunted Housekeeping because heavens today, dear listener, I am guiding you down the cold, damp cobblestone streets of Whitechapel. I am deep diving into the Ripper case. I'm going to discuss the timelines, the victims, the suspects and a few little known facts about Jack the Ripper and the still open Whitechapel murders case. Okay, I am racing through. Hold onto your butts. Thank you for rating the podcast on both Spotify and Apple podcasts and thank you for your comments. I know I say it every show, but seeing your kind comments really keeps me going, especially now while things are starting to get a bit overwhelming. So they are really, really precious to me. Please continue to leave them and thank you to those of you who have already left them. If you want to listen to the show ad free pop ON over to myvictorianightmare.com where you will find my Patreon. Help yourself and you can email me@myvictorianightmaremail.com and that is all there is to it. Okay, real short and sweet today because we have a lot of ground to cover. My main references for Today's show is jack-the-ripper.org Multiple articles written by Rich Richard Jones. This is a fabulous resource for incredibly detailed information on the case. I also used Wikipedia for details on each of the victims. All of those and my other sources can be found in the show notes. Just a warning. Today's episode will include very graphic details of the murders. And if you would follow me down this very dark, very fragrant cobblestone street. Take my arm. Stay close. It's 2:30am August 1888. Although it is summer, the weather has been so frightfully cold and wet that homes close to the River Thames have been flooded and many of the residents are now homeless. This street is lit only by a single gas lamp fixed to the outside of a dressmaker's shop and a few dim lamp lights shining through a few thick windows. It's located on one of the most dangerous streets to be in, a very dangerous part of town. In fact, a number of these nearby streets police don't even walk down unless they're in a patrol of four. We are in Whitechapel, an area of London, walking down a street called Buck's Row. Many of the residents of this neighborhood are homeless or unemployed. Many are immigrants with little education. Irish, Jewish and Eastern European migrants. The Jewish population coming primarily from Russia, Poland and Germany, fleeing persecution there this place is overcrowded. There's virtually no sanitation system. Oh, watch your step there. Sheep and cattle are often herded down these streets, so they leave piles here and there. Residents also pour their raw sewage out the windows, so that's what's also contributing to the fragrance, as well as diseases like cholera in this area. Only half of the children here will survive past five. Okay, quick, stand back here with me. Oh, okay. Although it is very, very dark, there is someone behind us, but you can see it is just a woman by herself. A woman in a black bonnet. Oh, she just stumbled a bit. She's okay though. She's having a seat beside the building. She's been drinking. It appears that she is settling into that spot where she fell for the night. We'll stay close by. Those brick buildings over there are lodgings, quote unquote, not apartments. There's spaces where up to 80 people are crammed into a single room. Every night they pay about 4 pence for a bed. For those who don't have that much money, they can lean over ropes for a tuppence. That is 2 pence. I only just found that out myself. For those who come to the ropes after a night of drinking and don't wake so easily in the morning as others, they just unhook the ropes and let them fall to the ground, which rouses them more quickly. For some, at least, it's a roof over their head. Men in this neighborhood, if they're lucky, they can find work at the docks or factories. But pay everywhere is low and almost always dangerous or grueling. It's much harder for women to find work, so they're off. Often forced into sex work to help them survive. Life for these women is so difficult that they often just work for food, a loaf of bread, or as little as three pee, which won't even get them a bed for the night. It may get them a space on a rope, but instead they may prefer to use it to buy a drink at one of the many pubs. To help numb the pain of the brutality of life in a place like this, many women simply spend the night sleeping on the streets, vulnerable to the many dangerous gangs and predators who beat, rob and rape them. Often, women like Emma Elizabeth Smith come over here with me to this ominous alleyway. I'd like to tell you a little bit about Emma, who will be the very first victim. Included in what will later become known as the Whitechapel murders file, Emma was a sex worker who would often return to her lodging house with black eyes after A night of working and walking the streets. The deputy keeper of her lodging house recalled that one night she returned after having been thrown out a window by a john. She was referred to as an unfortunate quote, unquote, the most destitute and desperate of the sex workers in the area. She was a 45 year old widow. She didn't speak much about her past, even to her closest friends. On the morning of April 3, 1888, Emma returned to her lodgings after being savagely attacked on the street. Her fellow lodger, Margaret Hayes, who had recently been assaulted herself, herself by two men who punched her in the face and ran, was very concerned about the state that Emma was in. Her face was bleeding, her ear was badly cut and it appeared that she had been injured about the lower part of her body. Emma told Mary that she had been attacked and robbed by a group of men. Although she could not describe the attackers, she said that there were two or three men. The youngest was about the age of 19. Emma didn't want to go to the hospital, but Mary was able to convince her to go to the nearby London Hospital, a 15 minute walk away. Another female law firm also offered to come help them so that they would not be alone. Imagine walking 15 minutes in the middle of the night while in as much pain as she must have been in knowing that those men and God knows who else are still out there. Oh, these poor women. She was seen by Dr. George Haslip, the head surgeon. Upon examining her injuries closer, he discovered that she was suffering horrific wounds. A portion of her ear was torn, her organs had been ruptured as if she had been hit with a heavy blunt object, not just beaten with fists. He asked if she had friends or family and she told him that she was originally from the country but had not seen any family or friends for over 10 years. Emma soon slipped into a coma. She succumbed to her injuries and died at 9 o'clock in the morning the next day. As Emma stated, she wasn't attacked by one man, it was two or three. And although her injuries were similar to injuries inflicted on a number of women within the next month to come, most historians don't believe that poor Emma was the Ripper's first victim. However, it was her murder that prompted a police file to be opened called the Whitechapel Murder. This file would come to contain a collection of hideous and brutal murders of women in Whitechapel. Eleven murders in total, although only five of these could be definitively connected to this serial killer who would become known as Jack the Ripper. Four months after Emma died in the hospital on August 7, 3:30am A 21 year old man named Alfred George Crow, a cab driver, returned to his home in the George Yard buildings, a block of apartments in Whitechapel. This was a rough location where after the last lamps were extinguished at 11pm all corridors and landings were cast into complete darkness. It was a prime location for sex workers to bring their clients as it had many private nooks, all clad in darkness and privacy. As Alfred climbed the dark stairs to his apartment, he noticed someone laying on the first floor landing. He paid little attention because he often passed people sleeping on the landing. About an hour later, another resident of the building was headed out of his apartment to go to work. He came down from the top floor and as he descended, he noticed the same person that Alfred saw. But since there was now a little bit of sunrise light, he could see that it was a woman laying flat on her back in a pool of blood. He ran for a policeman and returned with Constable Garrett. Garrett sent Reeves to fetch a local medic who pronounced her dead at the scene. He also discovered that she had been stabbed 39 times all over her body, from her throat to her lower abdomen. The doctor determined that the wounds were inflicted with two different blades, both a pocket knife and a long sword like dagger. Her murder was described by the deputy coroner as performed with unusual animation. He described it as one of the most terrible cases that anyone can possibly imagine. The man must have been a perfect savage to have attacked the woman that way. In his final inquest with a coroner's jury, he stated that the jury, quote, could only come to the conclusion that the woman had been foully and brutally murdered by some person or person, persons unknown. That must be their verdict. And the police would do what they could still do to trace the murderer. Her identity was a mystery, so they released her description to the newspapers. The Sheffield Daily Telegraph described her as, quote, apparently between 35 and 40 years of age, about 5 foot 3 inches in height, complexion and hair dark. Wore a dark green skirt, a brown petticoat, a long black jacket and black bonnet. End quote. Several people claimed to recognize her, but all gave different names until a man named William Turner identified her as Martha Tabram. He and Martha had been living together on and off since she and her first husband separated. He was paying her a weekly maintenance until he discovered that she was living with William unmarried and that she was also working as a sex worker. The night of her murder, she and an associate met two soldiers at the White Swan pub. They paid for Their drinks and all made their way to the George Yard buildings through the dark and sinister passageways. It's impossible to know if her murder was perpetrated by this soldier or if it was a client later in the evening. But it did occur in the same spot where she was seen with this soldier. Like Emma, there is a debate about whether or not Martha was one of the Ripper's victims, although police at the time certainly believed that she was. Inspector Walter Dew, who was one of the detectives that later worked on the case, stated that, quote, whatever may be said about the death of Emma Smith, there can be no doubt that the August bank holiday murder which took place in George Yard buildings was the handiwork of the dread Ripper. End quote. By this time, however, the only thing connecting the cases of Emma and Martha were that they were both done in Whitechapel. They were both sex workers, and their murders were brutal. But come back with me out of this blacker than black alleyway. I want to check on that woman that we saw down the lane. She's still there and she looks okay, but her name is Mary Ann Nichols, and she soon will become the very first undoubted victim of Jack the Ripper. Still getting around to that fix on your car? You got this on ebay, you'll find millions of parts guaranteed to fit. Doesn't matter if it's a major engine repair or your first time swapping your windshield wiper. Ebay has that part you need ready to click perfectly into place for changes big and small, loud or quiet. Find all the parts you need at prices you'll love. Guaranteed to fit every time. But you already know that. Ebay Things people love Eligible items only Exclusion Supply this episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. Mary Ann Nichols was referred to as Polly by her family. She was married in 1864 to William Nichols in the Church of St Bride's Fleet Street. A plaque now commemorates their wedding there in the church. She and William would have five children. Over the years, Mary began drinking heavily and her husband had an affair with the woman who came to care for her after the birth of her last child. Mary's family maintained that it was this affair that destroyed their marriage, while William claimed it was her drinking that caused the eventual Split. Four of the children remained with William, while one went with Mary's father. Much like with Martha, Mary was paid a weekly maintenance from her former husband. But when he found out that she was living with another man and believed her to be a sex worker, he would take her to court and won the case to stop all payments to her. It's important to note that some historians believe that a number of the Ripper victims were weren't sex workers at all. Although they are commonly referred to, all have been Emma Smith and Martha Tabram. The first two questionable victims were sex workers. But it's believed by some that in the case of the others, they may have just been portrayed this way by their ex husbands wanting to stop alimony payments or by police. Just an important note there to keep in mind. Mary's relationship with this man didn't last. She ended up moving from workhouse to workhouse and her drinking worsened. There is a mention of a Mary Ann Nichols in police records having joined hundreds of homeless people sleeping in the streets of Trafalgar Square, who, like most of those people, was arrested and charged for, quote, wandering abroad without any visible means of sustenance. Not having any means of sustenance was their crime. By August 1888, she found herself in the East End of London, where she moved into a female only lodging house in Spitalfields, a close neighborhood of Whitechapel. Here she became known as Polly. She shared a room with an elderly woman named Emily Holland, who described her as, quote, a very clean woman who kept to herself as if she was melancholy and who also gave the impression of being weighed down by some trouble. By the end of August, Mary made her way to another lodging house called the White House, where she would spend her 43rd birthday. On the night of Thursday, August 30, Mary was out late, roaming between a few pubs. She found a beautiful black bonnet on the ground and tied the bow under her chin. She'd spent the last of her money at the Frying Pan Pub, so she didn't have enough money to pay for a bed for the night. She was Last seen at 2:30am by Emily Holland, the roommate from her last workhouse. She found her leaning against a grocery shop on Osborne Street. She told Emily that she had made three times the cost of a bed that night, but she'd spent it all at the pubs. Emily tried to get her to come back with her, but she refused and said that she needed just a bit more time to make more money for the bed. She told her, quote, it won't be long before I'm back. Now come back with me into the alley. Do not look out. And I'm afraid there is nothing that we can do to stop what is about to occur. A man is talking to Mary. She sounds sounds panicked. He is now grabbing her tightly by the face. He releases and slices her neck. She falls to the ground and he manically stabs her in the abdomen. The wound in her neck will measure 8 inches and another will measure 4 inches, both reaching the back of her spine. She will be stabbed twice in the vagina. Her abdomen will be more deeply mutilated with one deep jagged slice on the left side. More slices inflicted across her abdomen will cause her bowels to spill through the wounds. Another group of cuts will be inflicted with another weapon with what is likely a cork cutter or shoemaker's knife. All of this will take four to five minutes, which we will not stand for. She will have a surprisingly low amount of blood spilled. The coroner will describe the amount as two wine glasses full. Luckily, death will have been ruled instantaneous and all of the most gruesome mutilation will also luckily have been done after she was dead. By this time in 1888, forensic scientists knew that blood spills much slower from victims who are already dead. So this was the coroner's assessment of her death. She will be found by Charles cross at around 3:30am who at first believed her to be a discarded wrinkled tarp until he approached closer. He called for another man, Robert Paul, to come help him. She was found on her back, legs straight, her skirt raised almost over her waist. They were both already late for work, so they decided to at least pull her skirt down below her waist and decided the first one to see a policeman would tell them. What they couldn't tell, still in the darkness, was that her head had been almost completely severed from her body. They didn't see a policeman on their ways to work, but one did eventually find her on his own with her newly found bonnet laying on the ground beside her. Not soon after, a crowd began to circle. The coroner ordered that the body be removed. She was taken to a mortuary, where she was left alone, then stripped by workhouse workers, her clothing dumped in an untidy pile and she was washed down. The coroner erupted that he gave the police explicit instructions to leave the body alone for further examination, which they ignored. A friend of Mary's at one of the workhouses where she stayed first identified her body, but then later she would be identified by her father, Edward Walker, her oldest son. The One who went to live with her father also came to view the body of his mother. He was described by the coroner as respectfully dressed and seemed much affected at her untimely end. An hour later, William Nichols, Mary's estranged husband, would come. While looking down at her, he was reported to have said, quote, I forgive you as you are what you have been to me, End quote. It is now that the police began interviewing other sex workers in the neighborhood, seeing that a pattern was beginning to emerge again. The first two murders may or may not have been perpetrated by Jack, but their deaths would guide suspicion that there was someone targeting sex workers in the area. The ladies told the police that a man nicknamed Leather Apron was extorting money from them for the past year. They didn't know his real name, but he often threatened them with extreme violence. He was so nicknamed because of a leather apron that he would wear. The Star newspaper published a story about this supposed killer, and it caught like wildfire. Other papers began running articles with titles like Leather Apron, the only name linked with the Whitechapel murders. A Noiseless Midnight Terror. And another one, quote, the strange character who prowls Whitechapel after midnight. Universal Fear among Women. Slippered feet and a sharp leather knife. Those were just the headlines, by the way, created to strike fear into the residents of London. And not just London. There's an important reason why these murders specifically were and continue to be so well known around the world. Thanks to the transatlantic telegraph cable, a very long cable that was literally stretched between Canada and Ireland in 1866. Under the sea, this story was able to quickly spread between Europe and North America. It's incredible that the cable broke numerous times and they still gave it another try and another one and another one before it finally worked without breaking. Okay, back to the story. The hunt for this illumination elusive Leather Apron was on, and soon after, the body of Annie Chapman would be found. She would become the second of the five women definitively tied to Jack the Ripper. These five would later be called the canonical five. Annie married her husband, John James Chapman, in 1869. They had three children. Their youngest son, John, was born with a disability and would be placed in the care of an institution for the physically disabled close to Windsor. It's believed that Annie began heavily drinking at this time. Understandably, Annie's second little girl died of meningitis on her brother's second birthday at the age of 12. After her death, both Annie and her husband began to drink even more heavily and their marriage dissolved. John took custody of Their only remaining child and Annie moved to London. In 1886, John died of cirrhosis of the liver, but young Annie Georgina, their daughter, is believed to have either been placed in a French institution or to have joined a traveling circus in France. The records are debated. In September 1888, Annie lived with symptomatic tuberculosis at Crossingham's lodging house at 35 Dorset Street. She paid eight pence a night for her own double bed. The deputy keeper of the lodgings described her as an inoffensive soul with a fondness for alcohol. A few days before her murder, however, she would get into an altercation with a fellow lodger named Eliza. Annie asked Eliza to borrow some soap, but she never returned it. This angered Eliza, which escalated into a full blown fight where Annie slapped her across the face. Eliza then returned more devastating blows, something she was very anxious about when she would be later questioned by police after Annie's murder. After the fight, Annie was quite beat up and she spent the next few days in pain, unable to work. A concerned friend lent her two pence so that she could at least get herself a movie meal. Despite her pain, she would tell this friend, quote, it's no use giving way. I must pull myself together and get some money or I shall have no lodgings. She pulled herself together, told her friend, I won't be long. See that Tim keeps the bed for me. Tim was the deputy of the lodgings. These were the last words that she would tell her friend or anyone. It's heartbreaking to think that it was her fear of losing her home for the night that forced her out onto the street where she would meet Jack the Ripper. My heart also breaks for that friend and that deputy of the lodgings. Only 2 pence would have saved her life. At about 6am on September 8, an elderly man named John Davis, resident of 29 Henry street found Annie in his backyard, mutilated. He called for help and two men came running. Horrified and stunned, they each dispersed to find the nearest policeman. One was found, who quickly sent for more along with a coroner who quickly established a link between her murder and Mary Nichols. Like Mary, she had suffered two deep slash wounds to her neck pulled from ear to ear. Her throat was cut first before her abdomen, which was then mutilated with a blade similar to that used on Mary. Although her legs were drawn up, feet resting on the ground. Unlike Mary, by the time she was found, her face was swollen. Her tongue, also swollen, protruded between her front teeth. The coroner pointed out that there appeared to be indications of anatomical chemical knowledge to her incisions. Her throat had been cut so deeply that the bones of her spine were visible. She had been disemboweled with a section of her stomach being placed on her left shoulder. Her intestines were placed on her right shoulder. She was wearing a thin scarf which the coroner believed may have been used to strangle her first before her throat was cut. A few objects were recovered close to the body. A comb, a torn envelope, pills that had been prescribed to Annie for her tuberculosis, a piece of fabric and a leather apron. The press went wild with this one detail because the papers were already pushing a theory that the killer may be this man, who the sex workers called Leather Apron, despite the fact that the apron belonged to a man named John Richardson who lived there, who was quickly dismissed as a suspect. The apron had been placed by his mother outside for washing. Despite this, the papers ignited with where is leather Apron? Stories which quickly began to fuel anti Semitic anger because it was not too soon after that it was discovered the identity of this man named John peyser was a 38 year old Polish Jew. He wore the leather apron because he made leather footwear. He was quickly apprehended and taken before magistrates and was able to produce a rock solid alibi for both of the Whitechapel murders. There was a terrible fire on the London docks on the night of the Nichols murder and Pizer was seen watching the fire and even spoke to a police officer among a few other people that evening. At the same time that she was killed. During Chapman's murder, he was staying with relatives. He also suffered from a chronic health condition that would have made it impossible to overpower and attack the victims in the manner that they were attacked. His name was clear, but police were beginning to feel the heat and pressure to catch this monster before he could strike again. And on September 27, the Central News Agency received a frightening letter ominously signed Jack the Ripper. The story will continue on next week's episode. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more, please rate, review, subscribe and leave me comments on Spotify or Apple podcasts. Be kind to yourselves and I will see you in your nightmares.