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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try it at progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance and affiliates not available in all states and situations. Prices may vary on how you buy
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hello and welcome to my Victorian Nightmare A. 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 84th episode. I hope that you had a cozy week today. I'm going to continue mixing things up a bit based off of last week's poll, which you can still vote in by the way on Spotify. On that episode, you seem hungry for more Victorian true crime. So today I am going to discuss the most horrific Jack the Ripper Ripper adjacent serial killer murder spree, the Thames Torso murder cases of 1887-1889. But first, thank you to Regina, Lisalu, Carla, Gina and Tramika for subscribing to the Patreon this week. You and everyone who has joined are the reason why my show can continue. Whether you're subscribing only to the show to hear it ad free, you subscribe to the extras tier to listen to more Victorian true crime or you subscribe to the Fan Coven to get the show true crime extras and witchy content every single week. You are all making this show possible. It's insane to think that about a year ago I lost my job and I had to sink or swim with this show. And you know what? You guys saved me. You made my dream come true and you continue to. So thank you. If you would like to subscribe to the show, just go to myvictorianightmare.com to find out how. In my previous life. Well, my life just over a year ago, I worked in a very small business. There were just four of us and to make all of our lives so much easier, my tiny company chose Gusto for all of our payroll and HR tasks. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all in one remote, friendly and incredibly easy to use so you can pay, hire, onboard and support your team from anywhere. So many companies that I've worked for in the past made everything from requesting time off to changing my benefits tracking down forms a nightmare. Gusto keeps everything that you need as an employee or business owner all in one place. Again, everything that you need is a small business all in one elegantly designed place. The interface itself is so charming and easy to understand. You get automatic payroll tax filing, health benefits, workers comp, simple direct deposits, 401k info, and you get unlimited payroll runs for one month monthly price. There are also no hidden fees, which if you're trying to run a small business, those are right out. You can also automate boring, complicated admin work. And best of all, you get direct access to certified HR experts to help support you through tough HR situations. Which, let's be honest, unless your small business is a small HR business, these kinds of things are probably not what you got in the business. For their expert help is priceless. Try gusto today@gusto.com for and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll@gusto.com Victorian Gusto.com Victorian thank you to everyone who voted in the poll last week about what segments and topics you are most interested in. Here's the thing. I love all of this creepy, horrible stuff, but if you guys are more into certain things than others, I'm more than happy to gab about all of it. So thank you for sharing what you enjoy the most about the show. I'm going to lean into your suggestions. I'm still going to do the who are these people Seance room and With Their Own Eyes segments, but I don't think I'm going to be doing them all of the time, like every single week going forward. It's also occurred to me that I'm going to run out of personal accounts of petrified Victorians at some point, so I'm going to sprinkle those segments in, but I think I'm going to do deeper dives into particular creepy topics. It sounds like you guys are into that idea as well. But before we get to the Thames Torso Murders, I need to share something with you guys because I can't believe how cool this is and I think you might appreciate it. I am related to Noah Webster of Webster's Dictionary. I always thought it was like a fun fact about the family. He's my fifth great uncle, but my sister did one of those genealogy tests and she discovered that we're not only related to Noah Webster, but he was related and as such, so am I. To the only known witch to survive her own execution, Merri Webster, otherwise known as Half Hanged Mary. She is My ninth great aunt, Margaret Atwood, dedicated the Handmaid's Tale to Merri Webster. And if you don't know her story, I'm going to give you a quick rundown. Now, when I say that she was a witch, I mean she was a woman who owned land and she didn't hold her tongue. That's it? That's all you needed to be accused and executed for witchcraft? In 1600s Massachusetts, a good number of my ancestors were women just like her. They were also midwives, folk healers, and at least five that we know of in the family were executed as witches. Merry Webster was a poor elderly widow who inherited her husband's land when he died. Land that other people wanted. And when a local man named Philip Smith got sick, people blamed her. They tried her for witchcraft. She was found guilty and then dragged through the snow and hanged from a tree. They left her to hang until it appeared that she was dead, then buried her in the snow. Then in the morning, she dug herself out and walked herself home. Strangely, she couldn't be tried twice as a witch because of double jeopardy laws. You could execute someone based on zero evidence for witchcraft, but double jeopardy was still double jeopardy in those days. She couldn't be tried again. She also survived for 17 years after her unsuccessful execution. But she often suffered beating and surely nothing but disrespect from her neighbors. But she endured. Margaret Atwood not only dedicated the Handmaid's Tale to her, she wrote one of the most rad and profound poems about her. It's quite long, but if I may share an excerpt from her poem, Half Hanged Mary. When they came to harvest my corpse. Open your mouth. Close your eyes. Cut my body from the rope. Surprise, surprise, I was still alive. Tough luck, folks. I know the law. You can't execute me twice for the same thing. How nice. I fell to the clover, breathed it in and bared my teeth at them in a filthy grin. You can imagine how that went over. Now I only need look out at them through my sky blue eyes. They see their own ill will staring them in the forehead and turn tail. Before, I was not a witch, but now I am one. Okay, let's discuss the Thames Torso Murders that occurred between 1887 and 1889. A warning. I will be discussing graphic details about these murders. My main references are a few articles from casebook.org by Deborah Arif, Wikipedia articles, and quite a number of newspaper articles from the time. All of these and my other references can be found in the show notes. The Thames Torso Murders were a series of Very sadly unsolved murders that occurred in London at the same time as the Jack the Ripper murders, which took place in 1888. The canonical five victims of Jack the Ripper, the ones who they are most certain all were victims of the same person, happened in that same year. There were others who may have been victims of Jack that happened before and after 1888, but again, those are uncertain. The MO of the Thames Torso Murderer or seemed at first to be similar to those of Jack the Ripper, and they believed that this might be the same person. But very specific differences led police to believe that they were dealing with a whole other monster altogether. Just like with Jack the Ripper, none of these cases were solved. In fact, only one of the four believed victims of the same perpetrator was identified at all, which makes it all the more tragic to me. And it's believed that there were likely even more murders that could have been attributed to the same killer between 1873 all the way up to 1902. The M.O. was similar, but officials couldn't apply the same amount of certainty to these victims that they felt that they could to. The canonical four victims, three of whom are delineated by the names of their cases, known as the Raynham Mystery, the Whitehall Mystery and the Pinchin Street Torso Murder. And the fourth by her name, Elizabeth Jackson. What set these murders apart from Jack's were that Jack would start by slashing the throat, then progressively mutilate the abdominal and genital areas of his victims. He didn't dismember all arms and legs, then decapitate like the Thames Torso Murderer did. And we will begin with the first of the four, the Raynham Mystery. And if you would follow me along this gray and foggy Thames river. It is May 11, 1887, just about 11:30am I brought us a lovely thermos of English breakfast tea and a cup for you. Here, take that. Ah, isn't that just perfect for the vibe? Raynham is not an area like say Whitechapel, where most of Jack the Ripper's victims were found. It's mostly rural, surrounded by marshland and river frontage. Be careful, you do not want to stick step too far off that path. You could easily disappear, like sink right down to the bottom of the marsh in an instant. And that would be the story of you. It has a fairly sparse population, mostly all working in the river based economy, like fishermen. It is not known for being a dangerous area, just a bit lonely, I'd say, isolated but fairly serene, quiet somewhere where if you Intended to do harm. It would likely take some time for your ill deeds to be discovered. Goodness, it certainly is foggy today. Like pea soup. You could barely even see the water. Wait. Quiet. Did you see someone following us onto the boardwalk? Do you hear footsteps? Oi. Oi, there.
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Loves, it's just me.
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Oh, Jimmy. Thank you for announcing yourself. I can barely see you through all of this.
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Not used to the London fog there?
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No, sir. I'm used to chewing the air in New York City, but it's certainly not like this. I can generally see my hand in front of my face.
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I thought I'd join you. There's a malevolent element in your midst. Just wanted to be sure you were all right.
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Thank you very much for that, Jimmy. We are aware. When was the last time that we saw you? Was it Sally Winchester's grave?
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No, I think it was Mary and Percy Shelley's graveyard role. Episode 53.
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Oh, yes, that's right. Here, just this way. Looks like the fog is clearing up. Just enough to see. Oh, yes, Just down there by the river. There's a man fishing something out of the river. Caught in a fishnet. Oh, God. It's a bit. It's a bit too much for me to look at. Jimmy, would you be kind enough to explain what the man has found? You have stronger nerves than I do. Of course.
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Oh, my God. It's the decomposed torso of what looks like a young woman, though she does not have an ed. He's pulling the body up onto the shore. He moved back a bit. Looks like he's looking for someone to assist. Poor man. Sir, Hello. Do you require assistance? Yes, please. I found something terrible. I need help. I'm going to go help the man.
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Oh, Jimmy, you're too kind.
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Oh, you'll give me a big head. It's no bother. Please, take our friend here. Far away.
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Be safe, honey. I hope to see you soon. Here. Come back with me and I'll tell you what has happened. And what will happen? The man who found this unidentified torso's name was Edward Hughes. He was just fishing when he came upon the torso in his net. Police were called to the scene and the body was taken to a local tavern called the Phoenix Tavern to be inspected by the coroner. Why a local tavern? That is unclear. It may simply have been the closest indoor location. The coroner said that he could not tell how the victim actually died. All he could say was that the dismemberment likely happened after the murder of the woman. The dismemberment wasn't the cause of death, he could also tell that she had been around 27 to 29 years old and her body was in a very well nourished condition. She wasn't starved or particularly unhealthy when she died. He also said that he could determine that the murderer was someone skillful, perhaps a surgeon. It appears appeared as though the decapitation was done by someone, quote unquote, thoroughly acquainted with anatomy. For better or for worse. I looked into how exactly they were able to determine this in this era, and this is gonna get a little graphic, but this is how they could tell. Apparently the tems torso dismemberments were cut cleanly at natural joint lines. They were not hacked at through bone. Detachments were done where ligaments connected bone ends. Arms were removed at the shoulder joint, legs at the hip joints. To do this effectively without any mistakes or unclean cuts, you need to have had practice. I looked through articles about this and although it said that this woman was never concretely identified, in like Wikipedia and other current sources, there were women who they thought that she may be at the time there was a woman named Ms. Cross. Her mother reported her missing three weeks before the body was found. She was a woman of the same presumed age and build. This woman mysteriously disappeared, appeared from her home not too far away. It was said in an article that this young woman was essentially developmentally disabled. And from time to time she would leave her home and then be found, sometimes days later, she would wander to the river and even get up onto barges, boats and yachts that were moored alongside the towing path of the river. It doesn't appear that this woman was ever found. There was also another woman who was reported missing nearby before the body was found, a Ms. Carter. But she had been reported missing a number of months earlier and it appeared that the body was only very recently deceased. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell for sure if the woman was either of these missing women. Almost a month later, a peerman named John Morris found a right thigh with a knee floating close to Temple Pier in central London. On the same day, the lower thorax and upper abdomen were found on the south bank of the Thames. It was determined that these parts fit with the torso that was found in Raynham and with them. It was further decided that all of this was not done in a medical school, which was a belief in the beginning. But it's unclear how the finding of the other parts did away with that theory. The coroner's jury were forced to return a verdict of found dead in this case. After this first torso murder was discovered, the mood in London was unsettled and uneasy, but not panicked. The first Jack the Ripper murder had not yet occurred and it wouldn't for a few months. So unease in the public about a madman on the loose was only just beginning to simmer. When first body was found, the papers leaned heavily into the grotesque nature of the crime and the likelihood that it was a surgeon or doctor who committed it. I've discussed before that at this time, surgeons were not respected. They were very easy targets. They were considered to be by many unholy monsters for cutting into the bodies of the dead. A prevailing belief among Victorians was that the body must remain intact if it is to rise on Judgment Day. And so cutting into a body would deprive them of heaven. This is why only the bodies of executed criminals were allowed to be legally cut into by surgical students. But medical schools required far more bodies than the law would allow. So the public was well aware most bodies in these schools were ill gotten, stolen from graves by body snatchers and sold to the schools. Long story short, the public, which already derided the surgeons, were even more disgusted and interested in the details that this killer may be a surgeon. And then Jack the Ripper struck. Mary Ann Nichols was found mutilated in Whitechapel in August. She had been seen walking along Whitechapel Road at 11pm on Aug. 30. And by 3:40am she was found lying on her back with her eyes open, legs straight, her skirt raised above her knees and her throat cut. And not even two weeks later, on September 11, the second torso murder was discovered. First, a female female arm was discovered floating in the Thames off pimlico. Then on September 28, another arm was found along the Lambeth road. And on October 2, the full decapitated torso of a woman and a leg was discovered on the grounds of the construction site for the New Scotland Yard police station. In what was believed to be a sick and twisted joke, either a catch me if you can kind of gesture, or just a monstrous prank from a medical student. This discovery was called the Whitehall Mystery. In the press, it was quickly determined that the arms that were found a few weeks earlier belonged to this torso. And at this point, police believed that the murder may have been perpetrated by the same person who murdered Mary Ann Nichols and the first woman whose torso was found. It was determined that just like the first torso murder, this murderer knew what he was doing with a knife. He was someone who understood anatomy. By now, London was more than just anxious they were terrified and infuriated that this murder happened so soon after Marianne Nichols killing. It was seen as incompetence by the police force not doing a good enough job to catch this killer who is now on a rampage, as it was believed. But apart from horror and anger, the public was getting increasingly fascinated with the gruesome nature of these crimes. Hundreds of people surrounded the morgue where the second torso was brought for an inquest. People were desperate to be picked to be on the coroner's jury to help determine the cause of death. But mostly to get a look for themselves. The body had to be locked in a room and was viewed by the jury through a window for fear of contagion. They were afraid that these folks may try to touch the body. The arm that was found was placed in the socket and the whole body was of a dark brown color. The man who found the body was called in to testify. Name was Frederick Wilborn. He was a carpenter at the site of the New Scotland Yard. He said that he saw what he thought was an old coat. And he didn't take much notice of it at first. But the next day he decided to approach it. The torso was actually wrapped in a parcel. He called over the foreman to help open it up to take a look. And that's when they both found the body inside. It was noted that it may be one of the construction men who placed it there. As the site was locked during the day and only men who were working could easily get in. It was determined by the coroner that the woman did not die from suffocation or drowning. But it was impossible to definitively determine the cause of death, much like the other murder, although it was determined that she had been dead about two months and had not been kept in water. The arm had been separated from the body after death, and the age of the woman would have been about 25. It was also noted that the body had been drained of blood. So wherever the woman met her death, the place would be marked with large amounts of blood. Over the next 10 weeks, Jack the Ripper's rampage shook London to its core. And the more women that he killed, the more clear it became that this one monster had a very particular MO that differed from the MO of whoever was responsible for the torso murders. And when the legitimate Jack the Ripper letters began appearing, none of them referenced the torsos that were found. 1888 was known as the Year of the Ripper. The stories of his cases overshadowed the torso cases, which is wild to consider that decapitated torsos could be quickly forgotten and overshadowed. But people became glued to the Ripper murders around the entire world. And quick side note, folks often wonder why killers are given these fancy names like BTK and the Zodiac. And some people find it offensive because names like this add a mystique to these terrible monsters. But there's a very good reason why this is still done. It helps to catch them. In the case of the Golden State Killer, who was caught Michelle McNamara, who was an American true crime author, she coined that name for him. And the snappy name is what gets people talking. It makes it easier to keep them in the news, keep the public eyes on the case. You might not know the name Joseph James DeAngelo, but you know the Golden State Killer. And with Jack the Ripper, although he was not caught, the name helped to raise awareness. It helped to keep details in the news. It does serve a purpose. Okay, I might be a goth and find a lot of inspiration in misery and horror, but I need to be extra careful when I start feeling like that misery and horror is taking over. Without therapy, the darkness can start getting a bit too heavy. And that's why I love Rula. Rula is a mental healthcare provider group that makes finding the right therapist for you easy. As someone who was diagnosed with both depression and anxiety anxiety years ago, I knew a thing or two about the nightmare that used to be finding the right therapist and the added anxiety and depression that would come from only being able to find therapists that didn't take insurance. But now with Rula, you have access to a network of over 15,000 therapists and psychiatrists that actually take insurance. Rula partners with over 100 insurance plans, making the average copay just $15 per session. And Rula isn't just affordable, it's an experience that is tailored around you and your specific therapy needs. You're partnered with a professional based on your goals, your preferences and your background to ensure that your therapist is most aligned with your needs. No wait lists, no back and forths, no surly doctor's office secretaries, and they often have appointments available as soon as tomorrow. Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high quality, quality therapy that's actually covered by Insurance. Visit rula.comvictorian to get started. After you sign up, you'll be asked how you heard about them. Please support my show and let them know that I sent you. That's r u l a.com Victorian. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. By the end of 1888, when still no one was caught and the killings had appeared to stop. Public interest waned. By June of 1889, nearly seven months had passed since the last murder and it was assumed maybe the bloody reign of terror that gripped London was over. But by June 1889, another torso was found and the next would be the only of the Thames torso murder victims to be identified. Early in the morning of the 4th of June, three young boys were bathing near Battersea Parkside of Albert Bridge, and they noticed a strange object against the muddy foreshore. They decided to go investigate. Into their traumatiz horror, they discovered it was a leg wrapped in white cloth. The boys picked it up and good lads brought it to the police station. Imagine being the cop who's like, how can I help you boys? And they walk in and hand over a decomposing leg. The Battersea assistant divisional surgeon was immediately called for. His opinion was that it had not been in water for more than 24 hours. The cloth that the leg was wrapped in was part of a lady's underclothing. It had a waistband and had the letters LE and the name Fisher written on it. Just as the inspectors were getting word of the discovery of this leg, reports came in that even more human remains had been found at George's Stairs Horsley, down just below the London Bridge, which was about five miles away from where the leg was found. And this is a strange detail. A man named John Reagan, who was a waterside laborer, saw a bunch of kids throwing rocks at a parcel that had newly washed up onto the shore. It's unclear if the boys were throwing rocks at it because they saw what was inside and were afraid, or if they were there just having fun throwing rocks at random things that morning. Regardless, the man approached, told the boys to scram and found that the parcel contained human remains. He flagged down a police boat and police took what were described as the lower part of a female body to the police station. The body appeared to have not been dead long. There was still fresh blood in the body, and one of the surgeons who examined the remains believed that the woman had recently had an abortion. Also determined that the leg that was found earlier belonged to this lower half of a female's body. Not long after, the upper part of a woman's trunk and a few organs were found in a parcel in some shrubbery by the Thames by a gardener about 200ft from the river in Battersea Park. The smell was what attracted him. He found it, was horrified, then placed the parcel in his garden basket and took it to the Police. That's another wild detail there to me. This time the incisions were a little more sloppy, but still believed to have been performed by someone with knowledge of anatomy. The sloppiness was due simply to a new tool that they determined was used. It was determined that a saw was used. More pieces were found in and around Battersea, enough pieces to be able to create a crude description of what the woman would have looked like. Although her head was never found, they could tell the color of her hair by her arms and legs. They knew her build, her height, her age. She had vaccination marks on one arm. There was a ring mark on one of her hands, indicating that she may be married. She had a few distinctive scars and the initials on the fabric were also considered an important clue. Her description was circulated around London and a few people came forward who had missing relatives, a number of whom luckily turned up alive. Once more pieces were found, the theory that she had recently had an abortion was contested. It was believed that she was about eight months pregnant when she was killed and the unborn child was removed. Removed after her death. Although some coroners disagreed on this point, they believed it would give motive for an abortionist who mistakenly killed a woman to try to make her unidentifiable so that the crime couldn't be traced. But again, the actual cause of death was a mystery. They didn't find her stomach, so they couldn't test for poisons. But they did alter their belief about the skills of the person who committed this crime. It was now believed that neither a surgeon or even a surgical student would have dismembered a human this way. But instead, they believed it was more likely a butcher. The final consensus was that this was not an abortion gone wrong. The similarities to the other murders could not be denied by detectives. The way the parts had been wrapped into parcels like the previous murder, the scattering of parts, all of this indicated the same twisted scavenger hunt MO of the last torso murders, there had been two suspicious letters that arrived at the police, one with a headline, he is not dead but liveth. And this letter made vague implications that he, whoever he was, intended to recommence operations. And it was signed Jack the Ripper, as well as another that said, I see you have not caught me yet. Look out for the pieces. But both of these letters were sent after papers published the story of the newly found victim. And they were believed to be part of the many fake Jack the Ripper letters sent to police over the past year. Now, it's unclear who. Who Exactly. Came forward first to say that they believed the woman. To be a sex worker named Elizabeth Jackson. It's possible that it was another sex worker. Who declined to give her name. When she came to the police to share the tip. Elizabeth was homeless. She had been brought up in Chelsea. And was known to the police there. She had not been seen by any family or friends since the end of May. And the father of the victim had even expressed a worry. That this new torso murder. Sounded like his daughter. By the description in the picture papers. Her solid identification was determined by the initials on her clothing. They were not her initials. But it was stated that she had clothing with those initials. She was known to be about eight months pregnant at the time. She was described as having a scar on her wrist. From a childhood accident. That was consistent with one of the wrists of the victim. And police were able to trace her movements up until the time of her disappearance. She had been staying in lodging houses in Chelsea. And it was discovered that she had not been seen at any of her usual haunts. And no one had claimed to see her up until two weeks before she was found. Some witnesses said that when Elizabeth couldn't afford lodgings at night. She would sleep in the Chelsea embankment. And a friend warned her. That there was a rough element of waterside laborers. Who got a kick out of beating up sex workers in that area. It's believed that her murder likely took place there. Once the identity was just about confirmed. A formal inquest was called to interview witnesses. Her family and friends. Which is just so horrible. Her mother, brother, sisters and acquaintances were present. They all looked at what was there of the body. All but Elizabeth's brother expressed a small doubt that it could be her. In this inquiry, it was testified that someone actually did see Elizabeth. Only 24 hours before the body parts were found. And they saw her with a man named John Faircloth. A man who was believed to be the father of her child. He was an army deserter. And Elizabeth was known to wear a fake brass ring. To pass herself off as his wife. This man was quickly found and arrested. He didn't resist in the slightest. Cooperated entirely. And willfully gave detailed testimony about their entire relationship. And that they had the wrong guy. He was able to provide a solid alibi. It turns out that he wasn't the man seen with Elizabeth the night of her murder. This was a mistake. He was seen miles away that night by numerous witnesses. He was also not a butcher or a surgeon. He had no experience in any trade. That would have taught him the dismemberment intricacies that the killer used. Also, within just two weeks of Faircloth being brought in for questioning and being detained, the murder of Alice Mackenzie, who would later be determined to be Jack the Ripper's victim, had just been found. The murder of Alice Mackenzie cast doubt that Fairchild was the killer because it was still believed by some that Jack the Ripper and the Thames Torso Murderer were the same person. And he may have been switching up his MO just to throw the detectives entirely off the scent. If all of these were Jack's murders, they weren't done by the guy currently sitting in a cell, although by detectives. The prevailing belief was indeed that they were dealing with two separate killers. But neither of them were this guy. His alibi for the night of Elizabeth's murder held up and was released. The coroner was convinced by the testimony of Elizabeth's family and friends that the identity of the murdered woman was in fact Elizabeth She Jackson. And he made an order for the remains to be officially buried in her name. Less than three months after Elizabeth was found, one more torso would be discovered with telltale signs that she was a victim of the same killer. At 5:15 on September 10, 1889, a female torso with arms still attached but no head was discovered by Police Constable William Pennant on Pynchon street under a railway arch. The torso was already heavily decomposed. The constable ran, ran for more officers to search the area and three men were arrested. They were simply men in the area, sleeping, homeless men. All were quickly released. The abdominal region of the body had been heavily mutilated and this made detectives consider that although there were clear similarities to the torso killings, the abdominal mutilation was the MO of the Ripper. Again, like two other victims, the identity of this woman could not be verified. The police believed that she may be a factory worker. By the state of her hands and arms. The possibility that the identity was another sex worker by the name of Lydia Hart was raised. But luckily that woman was found in a hospital after quote unquote, a bit of a spree. Good for her. The estimated date of death was September 8, 1889, the exact one year anniversary of one of the Ripper's victims, Annie Chapman. But detectives came to the consensus that although there were similarities to the Ripper killings, too many more aspects. Aspects were more similar to the torso killings. She was placed in a parcel, tied up, clearly murdered elsewhere, then placed in this location. The full decapitation, the kinds of cutting that was used. Although unlike with other victims, it appeared that there was extensive bruising on her back, hip and arm, which indicated that she had been severely assaulted before her death. No other sections of her body were ever found. This was the last murder believed to be done by the Thames Torso Murderer. Now, strange. Strangely, there were other murders going as far back as 1873 that were incredibly similar to the four believed victims of the torso killer. But for some reason, they're not considered a part of this series. Another quarter of a woman's trunk was discovered near Battersea, the location where other parts of other bodies were found. Different parts of this body were scattered around nearby villages. The manner in which it was displayed dismembered also appeared to be done by an expert, someone familiar with anatomy. There are, like I said, others that were very similar, but not quite similar enough to be definitively tied to the four specific cases. After the fourth torso murder was discovered, the public were still reeling from the Ripper murders. The reaction was a mix of revulsion, grim fascination and frustration and disappointment. Distrust of the police. Few members of the public believed that the Ripper was a different killer than the torso killer. And of course, not all details of the specific MOs were accurately reported in the papers. So it all just seemed like a gruesome blur of very similar cases that most couldn't tell the difference between middle and upper class. Women felt safe at first when the Ripper cases seemed to be only targeted at sex workers, something we now know women wasn't true. Not all of his victims were sex workers. But the torso murders made no woman feel safe. These were killings reported to have likely been done indoors somewhere, then they were removed and placed elsewhere. Anyone in their own communities could be this killer and these ladies could be anyone. Similar to how women cut their hair and dyed it blonde during the Son of Sam murders. Because it was reported that he was targeting women with only long brown hair. Victorian women also altered their behavior to attempt to avoid being killed by Jack or the torso killer. Again, a lot of people thought they were the same guy. Interviews with women about how they were trying to stay safe said that they avoided men with foreign accents. Of course, numerous newspapers falsely reported that the killer was likely a foreigner. One of the men falsely accused of being Jack the Ripper was a Polish Jewish man, John Peyser. And already there was a great deal of anti Semitic and anti immigrant sentiment at that time. Women also avoided, quote, unquote, respectably dressed strangers as witnesses who believed to have seen Jack the Ripper described him as a well dressed and well groomed man. And of course, unless women had to be out at night, they stayed in. And interestingly, church attendance dramatically rose during the murders in parts of the East End. Pamphlets were posted all across London framing the murders as a divine warning, and people fell for it. There was also the notion that the devil himself was walking among them. And the closer to God a woman found herself, the safer she would be. Of course, it was hardest for sex workers to feel safe. Many tried to work in groups, not go out by themselves and always have another girl close by. But this wasn't always possible. A quote in a newspaper that interviewed anonymous sex workers quoted the ladies as saying, quote, every man we see, we think is him. And if we had money to pay for a bed, we would not be out. We must go out or starve. That's just so heartbreaking. Now, despite the fact that neither the Ripper or the Torso Killer were ever found, there is one person who a few historians believe to be the most likely Thames Torso Killer, and that is a man named James Corporation Crick. He was a waterman who came under suspicion during the series of torso killings. He worked on the Thames river and he knew it well. The secluded embankments, the landing spots. He could easily scatter parts along the water without attracting any notice. He was also a butcher, and it's written that he made some troubling statements about the murders. Now, I couldn't find the exact sources for these statements, but it was said that he had made comments suggesting that the Torso murders were exaggerated and misunderstood. Strange thing to say about torso murders. He had also made jokes to other watermen about how easily bodies could be disposed of in the Thames. But again, since I couldn't find those original sources, they should be taken with a grain of salt. He had been taken to court for violence against his wife. He was also found guilty of two cases of attempted murder and rape. He was sentenced to 15 years hard labor in 1880, which just so happened to be the year that the Torso murders stopped. But again, there isn't any real evidence that can connect this man to the crimes, other than statements that he may or may not have made, other crimes that he had committed, which that's less than nothing. Just like Jack the Ripper, there is no way that we will ever know definitively who this monster was. As I said in the beginning, the Thames Torso murders are even more heartbreaking to me than the Ripper murders for one reason, and that's because not only were the victims lives taken, but for three of them, so were their identities. With the exception of Elizabeth Jackson, the victims were buried in Unmarked graves, not given funerals, no mourners attended. There are no public memorials or plaques for these victims. It was discovered that two of the unidentified victims are buried somewhere in Brookwood Cemetery. There are records that confirm the arrival of the two victims by the London Necropolis Railway. These women, whoever they may have been, had families, had friends, had stories. But I think I should rephrase what I said a minute ago. The killer didn't take their identities. They only took them from us. And despite the savagery, how thoroughly I'm sure the murderer enjoyed the idea of erasing these women. He didn't. He couldn't. He couldn't erase who they were. They lived and no doubt loved, felt joy and sadness, learned, shared themselves with their world. The lives that they lived could not be erased. They had been lived. It is tragic to know that their families never knew what became of them. And it is tragic that they were killed by someone who was never brought to justice. And I do hope that one day a proper moment memorial is created in London for these women. But for now, may we take a moment to honor the lives lived by these women. We need not know their names to know that they lived. If you enjoyed this podcast and would like to hear more, please rate the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Leave me comments because I love them so much and join the fan coven to directly support my show. Listen ad free and for even more creepy and witchy content. Until next time, be kind to yourselves and I will see you in your nightmares.