Best sighting of the Ripper AFTER a murder?

[Harry D]

In your opinion, what is the closest we have to a sighting of the killer AFTER one of the murders? We have plenty of alleged sightings of the killer before the grisly murders took place but there was barely a glimpse of the killer after he took his next victim and slipped into the shadows. I've always found this quite extraordinary. Whether the killer was a cool customer or raving psychopath, you'd have thought that somebody would've seen something in the crowded suburb of Whitechapel.

Would it be the bloodstained man who drank in the Prince Albert after the Chapman's murder, assumed by some to be Jacob Isenschmid?

Is it the guy said to be in Church Lane wiping his hands on the steps after the Eddowes murder?

Or how about Sergeants White's (probably apocryphal) tale of the spooky individual he came face-to-face with moments before they found one of the victims?

[Pcdunn]

I definitely like the Church Lane guy, but Sgt. White's description of the man who looked into his face as he passed by-- assuming this was a true account-- has to make White the witness with the best view of any Ripper suspect.

But, like Hutchinson's description of the well-dressed "foreigner", it is a little too good, and perhaps suspicious because of that.

[nicole]

Hi Harry D,

Certainly the three examples you mentioned are interesting, but each have been investigated and scrutinized and have left doubts as to whether they were genuine or not. Each siting could never be fully corroborated.

There is one instance where a possible suspect was spotted after one of the murders and this WAS corroborated by a reliable witness and soon after by a policeman. You all know who is was....

Nicky ;

[jerryd]

I like the man, with blood on his face and collar, rushing through Mitre Square in an excitable manner, carrying a parcel under his arm about 10 a.m. on the morning of November 9th, 1888.

[richardnunweek]

Hi,
Have to agree with Jerry.this was some 40 minutes before the discovery of Kelly's body, also it may have been the same route that Strides killer was taking , when he encountered Eddowes.
This would have to point to a much later T.O.D. but witnesses lay claim to that anyway?.
Regards Richard.

[Harry D]

I like the man, with blood on his face and collar, rushing through Mitre Square in an excitable manner, carrying a parcel under his arm about 10 a.m. on the morning of November 9th, 1888.

Hi,
Have to agree with Jerry.this was some 40 minutes before the discovery of Kelly's body, also it may have been the same route that Strides killer was taking , when he encountered Eddowes.
This would have to point to a much later T.O.D. but witnesses lay claim to that anyway?.
Regards Richard.

Hang on, you mean Jerry wasn't being sarcastic with that post?

What's the source for this sighting?

[jerryd]

Hang on, you mean Jerry wasn't being sarcastic with that post?

What's the source for this sighting?

Hi Harry,

I try to be serious. Do I not come across that way?

I have only one news clip in my files at the moment.

London St James Gazette An Evening Review And Record Of News November 12, 1888

[GUT]

I'm not pursuaded that we have a sighting of the killer that we can rely on, before or after.

[Rosella]

Was he revisiting Mitre Square for sentimental reasons at that time, or was it someone who'd had a bad shave at the barbers?

[Elamarna]

Have pondered this for sometime.

I reject Whites account of seeing a suspect, but only in that it was not him. there are several reports from various police officers of all ranks, telling of a sighting near mitre square. these may well be based on a common source.

so i plump for a police officer, unknown, but not Watkins, possibly Harvey.
which was adopted by White, and noone wanted to wanted to take the credit if thats the right word for it.

Steve

[Rosella]

^ There was reputedly a night watchman near Mitre Square who noticed a man and woman passing him on the night/early morning of the murder, and the male returning alone. It's on one of the Eddowes sites here, discussing Eddowes' route after she left the police station, and I knew I ought to have noted it at the time.

[Pcdunn]

^ There was reputedly a night watchman near Mitre Square who noticed a man and woman passing him on the night/early morning of the murder, and the male returning alone. It's on one of the Eddowes sites here, discussing Eddowes' route after she left the police station, and I knew I ought to have noted it at the time.

I remember that. Does sound a bit fishy...

[Wickerman]

^ There was reputedly a night watchman near Mitre Square who noticed a man and woman passing him on the night/early morning of the murder, and the male returning alone. It's on one of the Eddowes sites here, discussing Eddowes' route after she left the police station, and I knew I ought to have noted it at the time.

I don't recall the bit about the male returning alone. But, the rest of it sounds like this report below:

"About ten minutes before the body of Catherine Eddowes was found in Mitre-square, a man about thirty years of age, of fair complexion, and with a fair moustache, was said to have been seen talking to her in the covered passage leading to the square. On the morning of the Hanbury-street murder, a suspicious looking man entered a public-house in the neighbourhood. He was of shabby-genteel appearance and had a sandy moustache. The first of these descriptions was given by two persons who were in the Orange Market and closely observed the man."

http://www.casebook.org/press_reports/daily_telegraph/dt881113.html

At first glance it appears this account is a confusion with the Lawende sighting, though why they describe Church Passage as a covered passage, and the fact the Orange Market was St. James Place, are both a mystery.
The account continues:

" The City police have been making inquiries for this man for weeks past, but without success,..."

Only reinforces the probability that it is the Lawende suspect that is being referred to.
So if that is the case, perhaps this Orange Market sighting is corrupted.

[Rosella]

I'm going to have to go through the threads, but I've got a feeling that the night watchman was near the Aldgate rail station.

[Rosella]

The night watchman at Aldgate seeing a couple and then a male is mentioned on the 'Watkins walking on his beat towards Eddowes' thread here, but I'm going to have to track it more specifically. It was on a thread which examined what route Eddowes could have taken between the police station and Mitre Square. Sometimes these threads take some remarkable twists and diversions from the original thread title!

Later: It was on the 'Where was Bishopgate Police Station?' thread. Jeff Leahy, in answer to a question of mine, kindly directed me to a press report in the New York Times of 2nd October.

'A Constable not far from Mitre Square and a watch boy near Aldgate Station...not far from the entrance to Mitre St.'
'The only trace considered of any value is the story of a watch boy who saw a man and woman leave Aldgate Station, going towards Mitre Square. The man returned shortly afterwards alone. The police have a good description of him.'