Annie's account of her attack

[Jarvo]

Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen...
The murder of Annie Millwood has always been a point of indecision for me- I have never been able to satisfactorily prove to myself whether she was attacked by the Ripper, or indeed attacked at all.

It seems to me as though she may have self-inflicted the wounds, perhaps due to a desire for attention, or for free medical care, if she had an idea that her health was deteriorating as it was.
Contemporary doubts were clearly expressed in the Evening Post:

[Ms Millwood] stated that she had been attacked by a man she did not know […]. No one appears to have seen the attack and as far as at present ascertained there is only the woman's statement to bear out the allegations of an attack, though that she had been stabbed cannot be denied.

We must remember that the press then, as now, liked to sensationalise- they would not insert caveats unless there was a good reason.

Why would the press not simply declare that she was murdered? There must have been either something in her history or in the way she presented herself which put doubts into the minds of those involved as to the perpetrator of her attack.

I would like to hear others' opinions as to:
1) Who inflicted the wounds upon Annie and why: Jack, another attacker, Annie for admission to the infirmary, Annie self-harming (surely a habit as common then as it seems to be now) or Annie seeking attention?

2) Could a doctor (at that time) have warned Ms Millwood of her upcoming arterial ulceration, which may have prompted her to go to desperate ends to be in an infirmary when the ulceration came about?

And finally, does an account survive (in the words of either Ms Millwood or another) of Annie's 'attack'?

Thankyou,
The Jarvo

[RealTyche]

There are several interesting points to the Millwood attack that bears similarities to the Whitechapel murders.

The viciousness of the attack is similar to those in the Tabram murder and in the later more mature attacks of the Whitechapel killer. The nature of Millwood's wounds, numerous stabs to her abdomen and legs, can fairly conclusively rule out a self-inflicted injury on the ground that only two or three would be sufficient for a claim of attack and it is unlikely that she would have been able to perform more than that on her own.

The fact that nobody saw the crime actually adds to the favor-ability of the Ripper being her attacker, as not being seen committing the crime was one of the murderer's signatures. The report doesn't mention the location of the attack, but it was likely to have been in a secluded spot.

Millwood may not have given more specifics on the nature of the attack merely to avoid revealing that she was supporting herself by prostitution.

Coroner Baxter listed the cause of death as ' a sudden infusion of pericardium from the rupture of the left pulmonary artery through ulceration'; meaning the rupture was unexpected. Millwood could not have known that her heart was going to explode, lending further support to the fact that her injuries were not self-inflicted in order to receive medical treatment.

If we string the event together, with a few suppositions, we get: Millwood, a prostitute, takes her attacker to a secluded location, where she is suddenly violently attacked.

The hallmarks of the Whitechapel murderer.

[Lechmere]

I took this photo today of the Whitechapel Union Workhouse on South Grove, where she died. It is now called Southern Grove and it is disused, although some lights were on and there is a caretaker behind a desk by the entrance in the modern annex. The premises were offices used by Tower Hamlets Council.

[Lechmere]

A bit of a poor picture of the mortuary at the back of what was the City of London Union Infirmary. This is virtually next door to the Whitechapel Union Workhouse on South Grove – they are connected via Back Alley (now Hamlets Way). Next to the mortuary, by a back gate (to the left of the photo) is the old parish boundary marker between Mile End Old Town and Bromley St Leonard.
There is a prominent skylight window, which is very similar to one that can still be seen on the St George in the East mortuary that Elizabeth Stride was taken to. I wonder if Annie Millwood was taken to this mortuary? My maps do not show a mortuary at the Whitechapel Union Workhouse in South Grove.

[Ashkenaz]

I would very much like to read Annie's description of her attacker if it exists. Surely it does exist, but I have not found it. I believe Millwood to be another survivor of one of Jacks assaults. Ada Wilson is another.

Wilson's description of her attacker is almost a perfect match for Lawende's description of the man he saw in conversation with Eddowes a few minutes before she was found dead in Mitre Square.

If Millwood had described her attacker I am expecting to read of a man about 30 years, about 5 feet 8 inches with a fair moustache. The Jewish thing is just another red herring. JTR reads like a Nord to me.