Good guess....

[Phil Carter]

Hello all,

Having re-read William Fishman's excellent, if not essential book "East End 1888", he points out the following...

The East London Advertiser of 11th August, 4 days after the Tabram murder, was anticipating the probablility of more murders to follow, thereby predicting the terror that was to follow in the East End..

"The circumstances of this awful tragedy are not only surrounded with the deepest mystery, but there is an awful feeling of insecurity to think that in a great city like London, the streets of which are continually patrolled by the police, a woman can be foully and horribly killed almost next to the citizens peacefully sleeping in their beds, without a trace or clue being left of the villain who did the deed."

And further, he states that the fears that The ELA had were justified 3 weeks later, when the second body, that of Polly Nicholls, was found. Fishman then says something I find quite interesting...

"...The corpse appeared to have been deliberately placed across the regular route taken by the night policeman on that beat...."

Again, on the 8th of September, the East London Advertiser warned that the "murderous lunatic" would attack again, and that "three succesful murders will have the effect of whetting his appetite further"...

Guess what happens 8th Sep? "Dark" Annie Chapman...

Damned good prediction.

Thoughts anyone?

best wishes

Phil

[mklhawley]

Hello all,

Having re-read William Fishman's excellent, if not essential book "East End 1888", he points out the following...

The East London Advertiser of 11th August, 4 days after the Tabram murder, was anticipating the probablility of more murders to follow, thereby predicting the terror that was to follow in the East End..

"The circumstances of this awful tragedy are not only surrounded with the deepest mystery, but there is an awful feeling of insecurity to think that in a great city like London, the streets of which are continually patrolled by the police, a woman can be foully and horribly killed almost next to the citizens peacefully sleeping in their beds, without a trace or clue being left of the villain who did the deed."

And further, he states that the fears that The ELA had were justified 3 weeks later, when the second body, that of Polly Nicholls, was found. Fishman then says something I find quite interesting...

"...The corpse appeared to have been deliberately placed across the regular route taken by the night policeman on that beat...."

Again, on the 8th of September, the East London Advertiser warned that the "murderous lunatic" would attack again, and that "three succesful murders will have the effect of whetting his appetite further"...

Guess what happens 8th Sep? "Dark" Annie Chapman...

Damned good prediction.

Thoughts anyone?

best wishes

Phil

Wow, that seems like more than a good guess.

[Phil Carter]

Hello Mike,

Disturbingly correct isn't it....

best wishes

Phil

[perrymason]

Hello Mike,

Disturbingly correct isn't it....

best wishes

Phil

Interesting that they also speculated the killer might have left the body on a route known to be patrolled...when considering Mitre Square.

Good find Phil.

[Tom_Wescott]

Neat article, but apparently the landing was not patrolled by police. And many people expected further murders following Tabram. It was after her murder that the first vigilance committee was formed (not Lusk's), so clearly more murders were anticipated.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[E.J.H.]

It's well known, everything happens thrice ...

[Phil Carter]

Neat article, but apparently the landing was not patrolled by police. And many people expected further murders following Tabram. It was after her murder that the first vigilance committee was formed (not Lusk's), so clearly more murders were anticipated.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

Hello Tom,

Yes, after the Tabram one... some did expect more murders.. but to predict one on the EVE of the Chapman murder AS WELL as after Tabram... that is eyebrow raising and deserves some serious thought, imho.

best wishes

Phil

[Hunter]

I believe it signifies that, even in the East End, how rare this type of wanton murder was. The deaths of Smith and Tabram were enough to garner suspicion that something unusual was happening. With Polly Nichols' murder, who many now think was the first of JTR, many contemporaries already believed a serial killer was on the loose.

[Phil Carter]

Hello Hunter,

I believe that these articles referred to Tabram being the 1st victim.

best wishes

Phil

[Hunter]

Hi Phil,

I went back and read the entire article and found no mention of Smith, but I believe my original point is still valid. The author's sense of "uneasiness" shows that this type of murder was uncommon enough to get attention and speculation.

Here's another one:

East London Observer
Saturday, 11 August 1888.

A Terrible Murder.
Another fearful murder has been committed under circumstances which, it is to be feared, are too mysterious to admit of a hope that the avenging hand of justice will overtake the villain ...

The writer here, must be refering to Smith as well.

The later article about Nichols being layed out as if the murderer intended for a beat cop to find her is probably the result of a requirement of an interesting writer- a good imagination.

[Phil Carter]

Hunter,
Indeed, the point is very valid, I agree. In the ELA one, it specifies Tabram to be the first. But yes, one could easily read behind it.

The comment of the beat cop is interesting. Together with the predictions, it all seems a bit strange to me... Worth a thought.


best wishes, as always

Phil

[Hunter]

Hi Phil,

I agree wholeheartedly. This writer seemed to have a feel that something out of the ordinary was unfolding.

[Phil Carter]

Hunter,

Dare it be contemplated? "or knew something?"

nah...that's sensationalistic. Or?

just a thought

best wishes

Phil

[martin wilson]

Hello all,

Having re-read William Fishman's excellent, if not essential book "East End 1888", he points out the following...

The East London Advertiser of 11th August, 4 days after the Tabram murder, was anticipating the probablility of more murders to follow, thereby predicting the terror that was to follow in the East End..

"The circumstances of this awful tragedy are not only surrounded with the deepest mystery, but there is an awful feeling of insecurity to think that in a great city like London, the streets of which are continually patrolled by the police, a woman can be foully and horribly killed almost next to the citizens peacefully sleeping in their beds, without a trace or clue being left of the villain who did the deed."

And further, he states that the fears that The ELA had were justified 3 weeks later, when the second body, that of Polly Nicholls, was found. Fishman then says something I find quite interesting...

"...The corpse appeared to have been deliberately placed across the regular route taken by the night policeman on that beat...."

Again, on the 8th of September, the East London Advertiser warned that the "murderous lunatic" would attack again, and that "three succesful murders will have the effect of whetting his appetite further"...

Guess what happens 8th Sep? "Dark" Annie Chapman...

Damned good prediction.

Thoughts anyone?

best wishes

Phil

maybe some 'climate of fear' sensationalism, and a lucky guess. However it's another odd coincidence in a case that is absolutley haunted by them.If they did 'know something' being a newspaper the most likely source is a ripper letter? most likely a hoax but ironically, like you, they may have felt the writer 'knew something'! of course when there was another murder they would have worried about trouble as the letter should have been passed to the police. Does it say what the newspapers response to the murder was?

[Phil Carter]

Hello Martin,
Welcome to the boards!

Anexample of your question can be found here..

http://www.casebook.org/press_reports/east_london_advertiser/ela880825.html

If you look under Press reports, top left hand side, you will find masses of articles. From many different newspapers.

best wishes

Phil