Alaska the Malay cook and Maurice

[Chris Scott]

Fort Worth Daily Gazette
17 November Gazette

Are the Whitechapel Murderer and the Austin Murderers One and the Same?

Austin, Tex. Nov. 16.
A very curious circumstance has been discovered here bearing on the London woman murders, and which strengthens the opinion entertained by many that the Whitechapel murderer is identical with the assassin that killed eight women in 1885. An article produced in the Daily Statesman calling attention to the similarity of the Austin and London crimes, and especially the fact that a Malay cook running on an ocean steamer was suspected, called forth a letter to the editor. The letter stated that a Malay cook had been employed at a small hotel in Austin in 1885, the date of the Austin assassinations. A reporter investigated the matter, calling on Mrs Schmidt, who kept the Pearl House near the foot of Congress Avenue, opposite the union depot, three years ago. It was ascertained that a Malay cook, calling himself Maurice, had been employed at the house in 1885 and that he left some time in January 1886. It will be remembered that the last of the series of Austin women murders was the killing of Mrs Hancock and Mrs Eula Phillips, which occurred on Christmas Eve night, 1885, just before the Malay departed, and that the series then ended up (to) the present. A strong presumption that the Malay was the murderer of the Austin women was that all of them except two or three resided in the immediate neighborhood of the Pearl House. Mrs Hancock with her husband lived within one block, and so did Mary Ramle, the colored girl and others who were assassinated in their beds and dragged out into their yards.

[Crystal]

MURDERED WITH AN AXE

THE TRAGEDY THAT CAUSED A SENSATION IN SAN ANTONIO

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, Jan. 31. – The recent epidemic of mysterious outrages and murders at Austin having been so frequently published throughout the State, ever one has become familiar with the method adopted by the mysterious monster of sacrificing his human victim with an axe. Residents of this city were therefore greatly startled yesterday morning when news spread that a good-looking serving Mulatto woman had been murdered with an axe. ‘Why with an axe?’, everybody asked, and the conclusion was general that the Austin murderer has moved to this city. The crime occurred on the premises of E.B. Chandler, at Arsenal and South Flores streets. The woman, Pattie Scott, had retired to her room, at the rear of the house, at her usual hour on Friday night, and was discovered yesterday morning by the dairyman. She lay on the floor weltering in blood, and had been dead several hours. Across her head were three terrible gashes, which had been inflicted by a blunt axe. There was the same deadly cut across the base of her skull that three of the Austin victims bore, and the blow on the crown of her head was identical with that in the Austin tragedies. In one corner of the room lay the bloody axe. It belonged to the premises, as did the Austin axes. Suspicion at once pointed to William Scott, the woman’s husband, as the murderer, for they had separated, and Scott had recently been arrested for abusing his wife. He was under a peace bond at the time of the murder. Scott was found at work several miles from the town, and evinced great surprise when arrested. He bears no traces of the crime, and tells a straight story touching his whereabouts on Friday night. Testimony at the inquest yesterday showed that Scott had several times brutally abused his wife, but other than this no evidence could be adduced incriminating him, and it is the general belief that Scott is innocent and the deed was done by the Austin murderer. This belief has created a perfect panic among the females of the city. The detectives admit that if Scott is innocent they have no clue.

New York Times, 1 February 1886

Got about a bit, didn't he, the Austin Murderer? Differences are that this guy used an axe, targetted servant girls, and had sex with them. I don't think the Austin Murderer is Jack, but this report does highlight that he wasn't the only clever serial killer in the world at that time. Old Austin used the household axe for the job - genius!

[Chris Scott]

Hi Crystal many thanks for that
Below is an account of the Hancock and Phillips murders as mentioned in the article I first posted:

The 1885 Austin Murders

Fort Worth Daily Gazette
25 December 1885

A NIGHT OF BLOOD
Are the Demons of the Infernal Regions Turned Loose on Unfortunate Austin?
Two Women and a Man Have Their Skulls Crushed in by the Murderous Midnight Assassin?

Special to the Gazette

Austin, Tex. Dec. 24.
The worst horror in all the long list of demoniacal deeds that have disgraced Austin occurred just a little before midnight. Mrs M H Hancock, a white lady residing at 204 East Water Street, was foully attacked by an assassin and is now said to be dying.
Mrs Hancock is one of the most refined ladies of Austin. Her husband was sleeping in an adjoining room. At midnight he heard moans from the yard, and, going out, he found his wife lying prostrate, bleeding from the head, which, on examination, proved to be awfully cut with an ax. The bloody weapon was picked up in the yard near by the lady. It seems that the murderer entered Mrs Hancock's room, broke open a trunk and then assaulted her, afterwards dragging her out into the yard. She is still at this hour (12:30) alive, but the skull is reported mashed, and she cannot recover. There is intense excitement, but the assassin escaped, and there is no clew whatever to his identity. The police are about starting the bloodhounds on his trail. Mrs Sue Hancock, the victim of this terrible crime, is the wife of Mr M H Hancock, a highly respected citizen of Austin.
The long list of murders and outrages of women, mostly colored girls, has given the city an unenviable reputation. The murders are all conducted on the most mysterious plan, and no clews are ever found. Our people tonight are in a state bordering on frenzy, but it is doubtful whether or not the wretch will be caught. He would never be put in jail if he were arrested tonight. Mr Hancock is almost distracted with grief.

A DOUBLE ASSASSINATION
The night's blood work was not complete with the foul murder of Mrs Hancock. It seems that fiends are abroad throughout this unfortunate city, glutting their infernal thirst for blood in a perfect carnival of gore. Hardly had the news reached the police station of the killing of Mrs Hancock when another summons announcing a similar horrible assassination, only more dreadful than the first, was wired to Sergeant John Chenneville at police headquarters to the effect that both Mrs Eula Phillips and her husband were lying at the home on West Walnut Street, weltering in their blood and mortally wounded. Both had been struck on the head with an ax in the same cruel and devilish way in which Mrs Hancock's murder was effected. Neither is expected to live till morning.
There is absolutely no clew. No words can portray the excitement. If the fiend or fiends could be found they would be torn limb from limb or burned alive. The indignation is something fearful to behold. Groups of excited men parade Congress Avenue and ask each other, with white lips, when will this damnable work end? Whose wife is safe as long as these bloodthirsty hell hounds can commit such crimes in the heart of the city? At this hour (1:45) the crowds are fast increasing, but little more sleep will be done in Austin tonight.

[Chester Copperpot]

A ripper connection?

According to this site:

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/history/servant_girl/

they have this to say on the malay cook "Maurice":

"In 1888, the Atchison Daily Globe in Kansas and the Daily Statesman in Texas, among others, drew a connection between what had taken place in the Whitechapel area of London from September through November that year and the unsolved series of murders in Austin three years earlier. "A very curious circumstance has been discovered," the article claimed, and went on to say that it was the opinion of many people that the person who had operated in Austin and gotten away before being apprehended was the very same grisly perpetrator as Jack the Ripper. In one case, five women of the lower class were dead and in the other, seven women and one man.

One suspect, who rarely gets mentioned by Ripperologists, was a Malay cook calling himself Maurice who often worked aboard ships. The London Times described him in October as a man who had threatened to kill Whitechapel prostitutes but who had then disappeared. It turned out that in 1885 he had been employed at the Pearl House, a small hotel, in Austin, Texas. A letter to the editor of the Statesman drew the newspaper's attention to it and a reporter checked it out. The information was confirmed, and it was ascertained that the cook had left the premises in January 1886. The series of murder had ended just weeks earlier. Most of the victims resided not far from the Pearl House. Some contemporary amateur sleuths -- Hollandsworth mentions one of his acquaintances -- do believe that the Servant Girl Annihilator and Jack the Ripper are one and the same, but clear proof is lacking."

Now, if this Maurice was in the same block, or even only in the vicinity of both killing sprees, it puts him high up on my list of likely ripper suspects.

So, what do we know about him? Did he live in East End during 1888? Is there any information?

[fodsaks]

One suspect, who rarely gets mentioned by Ripperologists, was a Malay cook calling himself Maurice who often worked aboard ships. The London Times described him in October as a man who had threatened to kill Whitechapel prostitutes but who had then disappeared. It turned out that in 1885 he had been employed at the Pearl House, a small hotel, in Austin, Texas. A letter to the editor of the Statesman drew the newspaper's attention to it and a reporter checked it out. The information was confirmed, and it was ascertained that the cook had left the premises in January 1886. The series of murder had ended just weeks earlier.

For this reason, 'Maurice' is very high on my list of interesting Ripper suspects too.
Does anybody know of any sources that can be investigated? Like where the complete Times article could be found and whom he made these 'threats' to?

I will be moving to Austin in a few months and would be interested in finding out more about him.

[ChrisGeorge]

For this reason, 'Maurice' is very high on my list of interesting Ripper suspects too.
Does anybody know of any sources that can be investigated? Like where the complete Times article could be found and whom he made these 'threats' to?

I will be moving to Austin in a few months and would be interested in finding out more about him.

Hello fodsaks

A search of the Casebook Press Reports section throws up a number of references to the Malay cook in The Times and other newspapers. To my mind, the fact that the victims of the Austin murders were all black servant girls and the murder weapon was an axe might seem to make the Austin series distinctly different to the Whitechapel murders. This might seem to be another example of newspapermen trying to make connections where there were none.

Chris

[fodsaks]

Hello fodsaks

To my mind, the fact that the victims of the Austin murders were all black servant girls and the murder weapon was an axe might seem to make the Austin series distinctly different to the Whitechapel murders. This might seem to be another example of newspapermen trying to make connections where there were none.

Chris

Hi Chris,

That's very true, although I can see some parallels between the victims in Austin and Whitechapel.
If you are looking at women who might be considered 'The bottom rung' of society, then would it be fair to assume that black servant girls in a confederacy state in the 1880s wouldn't be considered much higher than the Ripper's victims in East London?

Also, and this is where I need to do a lot more research, I am led to believe that while The Servant Girl Annihilator's attacks began with extreme brutality using an axe, did they not become more clinical and precise towards the end of the killing spree?

Big thanks for the links to references, by the way.

Best,
Alan