Alois Szemeredy: Was he real and where was he?

[Uncle Jack]

Has it ever been verified that this character really existed and if so, what were his whereabouts at the time of the main series of murders? He seems an interesting person to look at but I'm sure there has never been any proof that he was even real.

[PaulWilliams]

There was an article by Eduardo Zinna in Ripperologist, 33, 2001, reprinted in Ripperology edited Paul Begg, 2007. In this Mr Zinna refers to the murder of a woman called Caroline Metz in Buenos Aires on 25 July 1876. Szemeredy was the suspect. He fled to Brazil. In 1892 he committed suicide in Pressburg.

Some British newspapers speculated that he was Jack the Ripper, and gave a brief chronology. In this he was sentenced to death in Argentina for the murder of Caroline Metz but reprieved on the grounds of insanity. He served two and a half years in jail, from 1881, for theft. He then returned to Hungary where he was imprisoned as a deserter then committed to the state aslyum in Budapest. He was released as cured in 1886.

On 1 October 1892 the Pall Mall Gazette referred to an interview with the Vienna head of Police, who said that Szemeredy was in Austria between 2 and 13 August 1889. On the immigration form completed by all non Austrians he gave his occupation as an American surgeon. On his return in 1892 this had changed to sausage maker.

[esm]

No doubt Szemeredy was a real person.
His crimes in Hungary and his sensational suicide were widely covered in the austro-hungarian press. For a detailed account see Ripper Notes issue 25.
I always wonder why so few attention is paid on Szemeredy. Of course he was not the Ripper, but in my opinion his life and crimes are by far more interesting than many of the other suspects. Maybe it's because there are very few english sources available...

here is the death certificate of Szemeredy. It is all written in Latin, however I guess most of it is self-explanatory.

Cheers