The Double Event

[Michael W Richards]

she,s contradicting herself within the same newspaper. it appears that she went from being at her door from 12:45ish to 12:55ish up to being at her door for the entire half hour. i think that your first example is more accurate, more telling. if she HEARD the tramp of the constable, that would place her INSIDE the house; or else, she would have stated, "i SAW the constable walk by..." if she had truly been at her doorstep. the second example really just generalizes her story from 12:30 to 1a, but picks up the detail regarding her account of what happened AFTER liz,s body was discovered.

MWR, i find it interesting that the doctor ended his times on the ,6,. he must have been looking at his watch on a ,6,... like 1:16a, and calculated that liz had been murdered (20 or 30) minutes ago.

Id agree with that, but I also bear in mind that the 2nd physician onsite thought it possible she had been cut within the past hour, and he arrived around 1:30. Everyone likes to make time allowances for the inconsistent data in this investigation, but when it comes to precise time of cut pronouncements I would allow some leeway. I think its possible Louis arrived as the murder was happening, or just after. 5 minute leeway makes that possible, his lack of corroborating data for his arrival time makes it shaky ground to base a story on.

Now, the time he actually went out for help and sent Issac alone, and Eagle, might be as he claims. That would fit with the police and medical timings. I just believe that there was a delay in acting. That the discovery, the gathering of club members outside, the discussions about what to do, took longer than allowed for using Diemshitzs times.

[Michael W Richards]

Edward Spooner's evidence is in no way consistent with the two witnesses who gave a discovery time of 12:45 (and there's absolutely no indication that either of those witnesses even had a watch.)

Thus, in the citation that you gave he gives a time of between half past twelve and one o'clock, which basically means he hadn't a clue.

As for Fanny Mortimer, her evidence actually supports Louis D: she stated that she saw a man, later identified as Leon Goldstein, pass by and about 4 minutes later she heard the pony and cart. And Goldstein passed by shortly before 1:00am.

I would also note that Mortimer wasn't at her door for the whole period 12:30 and 1:00am and she didn't, for instance, see Charles Letchford, Morris Eagle, PC Smith, or Joseph Lace, all of whom would have been in the area between those times.

The above highlight is why I believe Fanny to be a very important witness here. Although she claimed to be at her door off and on from 12:30 until 12:50, she stated she was at her door from 12:50 until 1. Fanny didn't see or hear a cart approaching during that time, but she did see Leon Goldstein, who on Tuesday night claimed to be the passing bag man. She would have HAD to have seen or heard that cart and horse if it arrived at 1am, as is claimed. Technically, Liz is not seen by anyone after PC Smith leaves at 12:35 until she is found. Israel Schwartzs story contrasts with Fanny recollections of what she saw and heard, and there was no 4 person party with screams and shouting anywhere in the street that night.

[Robert St Devil]

hellolo joshua rogan, mwr

she,s contradicting herself within the same newspaper. it appears that she went from being at her door from 12:45ish to 12:55ish up to being at her door for the entire half hour. i think that your first example is more accurate, more telling. if she HEARD the tramp of the constable, that would place her INSIDE the house; or else, she would have stated, "i SAW the constable walk by..." if she had truly been at her doorstep. the second example really just generalizes her story from 12:30 to 1a, but picks up the detail regarding her account of what happened AFTER liz,s body was discovered.

MWR, i find it interesting that the doctor ended his times on the ,6,. he must have been looking at his watch on a ,6,... like 1:16a, and calculated that liz had been murdered (20 or 30) minutes ago.

[John G]

Spooners saunter and loiter explanation for the time after they left the pub and ended up outside the Beehive is consistent with the other early times given.

He says "On Sunday morning, between half-past twelve and one o'clock, I was standing outside the Beehive Public- house, at the corner of Christian-street, with my young woman. We had left a public- house in Commercial-road at closing time, midnight, and walked quietly to the point named. We stood outside the Beehive about twenty-five minutes, when two Jews came running along, calling out "Murder" and "Police."

The medical authority first onsite believed the cut was likely made between 12:46 and 12:56, the second one believed it to have been "within the hour". Its within that framework that a possible cut time around 12:45-46 exists. Which, if Diemshitz told the truth, means too much time alone for no signs of further actions. If he didn't, then its a matter of reconciling the accounts to see where some inconsistencies lie. 3 witnesses gave a discovery time around 12:45, 1 witness gave a victim struggle account for 12:45, and the steward says he was still 15 minutes away.

Didn't Fanny hear boots by her door around 1:50...when she came out to stand by the door for the last ten minutes of the hour? Isnt that statement by Fanny also a contradiction to the story that Louis gives about arriving at precisely 1am? Surely, had she actually been there...as her sighting of Goldstein suggests, she would have heard and seen the cart and driver approaching just before 1.

Edward Spooner's evidence is in no way consistent with the two witnesses who gave a discovery time of 12:45 (and there's absolutely no indication that either of those witnesses even had a watch.)

Thus, in the citation that you gave he gives a time of between half past twelve and one o'clock, which basically means he hadn't a clue.

As for Fanny Mortimer, her evidence actually supports Louis D: she stated that she saw a man, later identified as Leon Goldstein, pass by and about 4 minutes later she heard the pony and cart. And Goldstein passed by shortly before 1:00am.

I would also note that Mortimer wasn't at her door for the whole period 12:30 and 1:00am and she didn't, for instance, see Charles Letchford, Morris Eagle, PC Smith, or Joseph Lace, all of whom would have been in the area between those times.

[Michael W Richards]

Here is an Evening News interview with Fanny - the previous woman, although unnamed, is almost certainly her too;

"Mrs. Mortimer, living at 36, Berner-street, four doors from the scene of the tragedy, says: I was standing at the door of my house nearly the whole time between half-past twelve and one o'clock this (Sunday) morning, and did not notice anything unusual. I had just gone indoors, and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a commotion outside, and immediately ran out, thinking that there was another row at the Socialists' Club close by. I went to see what was the matter, and was informed that another dreadful murder had been committed in the yard adjoining the club-house, and on going inside I saw the body of a woman lying huddled up just inside the gate with her throat cut from ear to ear. A man touched her face, and said it was quite warm, so that the deed must have been done while I was standing at the door of my house. There was certainly no noise made, and I did not observe any one enter the gates. It was soon after one o'clock when I went out, and the only man whom I had seen pass through the street previously was a young man carrying a black shiny bag, who walked very fast down the street from the Commercial-road. He looked up at the club, and then went around the corner by the Board School. I was told that the manager or steward of the club had discovered the woman on his return home in his pony cart. He drove through the gates, and my opinion is that he interrupted the murderer, who must have made his escape immediately under cover of the cart. If a man had come out of the yard before one o'clock I must have seen him. It was almost incredible to me that the thing could have been done without the steward's wife hearing a noise, for she was sitting in the kitchen, from which a window opens four yards from the spot where the woman was found. The body was lying slightly on one side, with the legs a little drawn up as if in pain, the clothes being slightly disarranged, so that the legs were partly visible. The woman appeared to me to be respectable, judging by her clothes, and in her hand were found a bunch of grapes and some sweets. A young man and his sweetheart were standing at the corner of the street, about twenty yards away, before and after the time the woman must have been murdered, but they told me they did not hear a sound."

This evidence is consistent with Louis, Eagle, PC Lamb, Dr Blackwell and his assistant. Note she says she saw no-one enter or leave the gates before 1am.

The evidence does not support Louis, she never saw or heard him and she was at the door from 12:50 until 1am, it doesn't support Eagle because she said she was at her door off an on from 12:30 until 12:50 and never saw or heard him arrive... when she remained at the door until 1am, and she didn't see anyone but the young couple on the corner...which explains Browns statements. The time that Lamb arrived back on the scene isn't the critical point I'm addressing, nor is Blackwells timing, nor is the fact that Fanny goes to find out what happened just after 1am.

The issue is that based on contradictory statements about what time people were notified at the club about the body in the yard, and that Fanny never saw or heard Louis, he may have arrived at around 12:45 and between that time and the time he and Eagle....and Issac by himself, went out for help..they, or he, decided what to do and what to say. The problem is that he wasn't able to get to some witnesses before they were interviewed on their own, to let them know that they should say that the arrival time was 1am.

This, for me, is basic CYA 101... as the steward of the club, considering the climate of fear about the killer on the loose and the anti-Semitism in the East End.

I suggest Louis lied about what time he arrived and called for others in the club so he could decide how to go public with this news.

[Joshua Rogan]

Spooners saunter and loiter explanation for the time after they left the pub and ended up outside the Beehive is consistent with the other early times given.

He says "On Sunday morning, between half-past twelve and one o'clock, I was standing outside the Beehive Public- house, at the corner of Christian-street, with my young woman. We had left a public- house in Commercial-road at closing time, midnight, and walked quietly to the point named. We stood outside the Beehive about twenty-five minutes, when two Jews came running along, calling out "Murder" and "Police."

Spooner's early arrival time estimate may be vaguely consistent with other early estimates, but his evidence isn't even consistent with itself. If he was standing outside the Beehive "between half past twelve and one o'clock", then he couldn't have been summoned to the yard by Louis at about 12:35 as he later said.

[Joshua Rogan]

Here is an Evening News interview with Fanny - the previous woman, although unnamed, is almost certainly her too;

"Mrs. Mortimer, living at 36, Berner-street, four doors from the scene of the tragedy, says: I was standing at the door of my house nearly the whole time between half-past twelve and one o'clock this (Sunday) morning, and did not notice anything unusual. I had just gone indoors, and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a commotion outside, and immediately ran out, thinking that there was another row at the Socialists' Club close by. I went to see what was the matter, and was informed that another dreadful murder had been committed in the yard adjoining the club-house, and on going inside I saw the body of a woman lying huddled up just inside the gate with her throat cut from ear to ear. A man touched her face, and said it was quite warm, so that the deed must have been done while I was standing at the door of my house. There was certainly no noise made, and I did not observe any one enter the gates. It was soon after one o'clock when I went out, and the only man whom I had seen pass through the street previously was a young man carrying a black shiny bag, who walked very fast down the street from the Commercial-road. He looked up at the club, and then went around the corner by the Board School. I was told that the manager or steward of the club had discovered the woman on his return home in his pony cart. He drove through the gates, and my opinion is that he interrupted the murderer, who must have made his escape immediately under cover of the cart. If a man had come out of the yard before one o'clock I must have seen him. It was almost incredible to me that the thing could have been done without the steward's wife hearing a noise, for she was sitting in the kitchen, from which a window opens four yards from the spot where the woman was found. The body was lying slightly on one side, with the legs a little drawn up as if in pain, the clothes being slightly disarranged, so that the legs were partly visible. The woman appeared to me to be respectable, judging by her clothes, and in her hand were found a bunch of grapes and some sweets. A young man and his sweetheart were standing at the corner of the street, about twenty yards away, before and after the time the woman must have been murdered, but they told me they did not hear a sound."

This evidence is consistent with Louis, Eagle, PC Lamb, Dr Blackwell and his assistant. Note she says she saw no-one enter or leave the gates before 1am.

[Joshua Rogan]

Didn't Fanny hear boots by her door around 1:50...when she came out to stand by the door for the last ten minutes of the hour? Isnt that statement by Fanny also a contradiction to the story that Louis gives about arriving at precisely 1am? Surely, had she actually been there...as her sighting of Goldstein suggests, she would have heard and seen the cart and driver approaching just before 1.

The Evening News reports this, which corroborates Louis;
"A woman who lives two doors from the club has made an important statement. It appears that shortly before a quarter to one o'clock she heard the measured, heavy tramp of a policeman passing the house on his beat. Immediately afterwards she went to the street-door, with the intention of shooting the bolts, though she remained standing there ten minutes before she did so. During the ten minutes she saw no one enter or leave the neighbouring yard, and she feels sure that had any one done so she could not have overlooked the fact. The quiet and deserted character of the street appears even to have struck her at the time. Locking the door, she prepared to retire to bed, in the front room on the ground floor, and it so happened that in about four minutes' time she heard Diemschitz's pony cart pass the house, and remarked upon the circumstance to her husband."

[Michael W Richards]

Spooner gave a different time to the other witnesses so in what sense are their statements"corroborated"?

Spooners saunter and loiter explanation for the time after they left the pub and ended up outside the Beehive is consistent with the other early times given.

He says "On Sunday morning, between half-past twelve and one o'clock, I was standing outside the Beehive Public- house, at the corner of Christian-street, with my young woman. We had left a public- house in Commercial-road at closing time, midnight, and walked quietly to the point named. We stood outside the Beehive about twenty-five minutes, when two Jews came running along, calling out "Murder" and "Police."

The medical authority first onsite believed the cut was likely made between 12:46 and 12:56, the second one believed it to have been "within the hour". Its within that framework that a possible cut time around 12:45-46 exists. Which, if Diemshitz told the truth, means too much time alone for no signs of further actions. If he didn't, then its a matter of reconciling the accounts to see where some inconsistencies lie. 3 witnesses gave a discovery time around 12:45, 1 witness gave a victim struggle account for 12:45, and the steward says he was still 15 minutes away.

Didn't Fanny hear boots by her door around 1:50...when she came out to stand by the door for the last ten minutes of the hour? Isnt that statement by Fanny also a contradiction to the story that Louis gives about arriving at precisely 1am? Surely, had she actually been there...as her sighting of Goldstein suggests, she would have heard and seen the cart and driver approaching just before 1.

[DJA]

[John G]

There are witnesses, including Issac Kozebrodski, who claim to have been alerted about a body in the passage around 12:40-12:45. Issac also claimed he was sent out alone to look for help shortly thereafter..by Louis.

I suppose its all in whom you rest your hopes on.

And your final statement seems to contradict Israel Schwartz....not that I'm opposed to that, there are many questionable elements to that story.

Yes, I consider Schwartz to be a highly questionable witness.

[John G]

There were 2 club members who stated that they were alerted to a body in the passageway before 12:45am Jon, as well as Spooners estimated time. That's 3 witnesses who corroborate each other, apparently without any prior discussions with the club steward.

Where else in the Stride case do you find 3 corroborating accounts? Louis has only his word, Schwartz has only his word, and for me, its highly probable that neither are unbiased witnesses.

Spooner gave a different time to the other witnesses so in what sense are their statements"corroborated"?

[John G]

The full quote is "It was about a quarter to one o'clock, I should think, when I heard a policeman's whistle blown, and came down to see what was the matter."
So whatever time he thought it might be, it was after the police had already arrived on site.

There's also nothing I can find to indicate he was a member of the club. He lived at 28 Berner St (some reports say 20) and didn't appear to know Louis Diemschutz.

Agreed. And PC Lamb arrived on site at about 1:05, so Heschburg must have been way out with his time estimate-as was Edward Spooner, who thought it was about 12:35 .

[Joshua Rogan]

People were let out after they had been searched. And the gate was closed, its not clear if the wicket built into the left hand door...right from the inside,. also was.

According to West's evidence the wicket was in the Northern gate, which by my reckoning would be the right-hand gate looking for the street.

[Joshua Rogan]

If youd prefer a reporters quote to one that came from the witness himself Josh, that's your call.

Read Issacs statement yourself....its in the witness files. He says he was sent out alone... around 12:45, possibly by Louis himself.

They are NOT the same person by that statement, and the club members did not report that 3 parties went out for help.

I can't see anything in his statement(s) where he says he was alone - just because he doesn't mention anyone else doesn't mean nobody else was there. In his Evening News interview, for instance, he says "I immediately went for a policeman, and ran in the direction of Grove-street, but could not find one. Then I went into the Commercial-road, where I found two policemen."
No mention of anyone else, despite mentioning Eagle in other interviews, and PC Lamb saying two men found him. So yes, just because he says "I immediately went for a policeman" it doesn't mean that Louis D wasn't right behind him.

Oh, and "the club" did report a third party searching for a PC - Phillip Krantz (at inquest) says "I went out into the street to look for a policeman".