Elizabeth Jackson murder account

[Mike Covell]

Hi Debra, i will begin posting them after I have took my son to Nursary, I have some time booked in at the Local Studies today so I will trawl through 1889, 90 and 91.

I found the Hull Daily Mail article whilst looking for Frederick Bailey Deeming reports.

Regards Mike

[Monty]

Hey Debs,

I read the gangland thing years ago, last millenium I think it was.

Man Im outta touch.

Monty

[Mike Covell]

As requested Hull Daily Mail May 1891.
The article quotes the "Star"
I will begin posting all the Torso articles on the Torso Thread at some point.
Mike

[sdreid]

Thanks Mike. That looks like the report I remember AP posting although it was likely in a different paper.

It reminds me a lot of the so-called Rainham Mystery from 1887.

[Debra A]

Thanks Mike, I survived the drilling to get back and have a poke around other papers for this story.
There were two bodies found in the Regent's canal near Cambridge Heath, one 7th April 1891, which was the body of a 12 year old boy with his throat cut apparenly from ear to ear. Murder was initially suspected but a later verdict of 'found drowned' was given at the inquest. Most of the bones in the body were broken.

The other was found was March 1891 and was a body of a woman with most of the bones and the internal organs missing from the body. Suicide was suspected in this case, with the medics giving the opinion that the mutilations were caused by barges and other crafts dragging the body along, and the internal organs being eaten by rats. [This is the case AP has posted up before]

Both bodies seem to have gone in the canal whole though complete with their heads, and the damage to their bodies done by the busytraffic in the canal and not by dismemberment The skin on the female victim was wholly intact showing no signs of cutting and the bones looked to have been 'dragged' fom the body.

I remember reading that while investigating the 1887 Rainham case police came into possession of a thigh found in the Regent's Canal that didn't correspond to the Rainham torso remains in any way, it was from an older person but no other parts ever turned up. Perhaps another 1887 victim?!

p.s. forgot to say It doesn't mention the 1891 female body, or any part of it being wrapped in anything in the newspapers I looked at though.

[Mike Covell]

Hi Debs, Glad everything was ok at the dentists, i hate them.

Anyway hot off the printer machine type thing at Local Studies and I have mound more reports.

Let me sort them out at this end as at the moment they are all over the place and I will scan them for you this week.

All the best

Mike

[Debra A]

Cheers Mike! I'll look forward to reading what you've found.
Got to go back to the dentist tomorrow too unfortunately Guess I'll have to quit my Haribo sour mix and fizzy fish addiction!

[Debra A]

It seems like a couple of people at least have read what I wrote on the Jackson murder, does anyone have any ideas about the curious 'plugging' mention I found, at all? Does anyone know how it may relate to someone with marine or medical knowledge?

[sdreid]

I didn't have any cavities in my dental checkup last Thursday.

As for body damage due to barges, around 1890, were barges propeller driven? I would guess so but I haven't studied it.

[Pinkerton]

Excellent job!

Mike,
Re the gangland thing, I know someone posted before the crash about the torsos and gangland connection, I think it may have been Pinkerton, although they didn't elaborate...wish they would though.

Yeah I mentioned in a previous thread about an organized crime connection to dismemberment, though several other people have mentioned this before. This was one of the favorite techniques of the Italian mafia for body disposal, though I'm sure criminal gangs have probably used this technique for years. It is to prevent identification or at the very least to delay identification of the corpse.

I'm glad to see someone doing more research on Elizabeth Jackson. Excellent job Debra! I've always felt that IF she was a victim of JTR she could ultimately break the case. Why? Because someone wanted her identity hidden. Why? Because they most likely had a connection to her in some way. But of course the police were ultimately able to uncover her identity, unlike the torsos in Whitehall and Pinchin Street. However whoever murdered Elizabeth Jackson was colossally stupid not to remove the writing in the clothing she was wearing. This along with a scar (which they also should have removed) was ultimately what led to her identification. Perhaps her disposal was rushed?

One of the things that always puzzled me about Elizabeth Jackson was that she was NOT a resident of the East End (which would tend to make one believe she was NOT a victim of JTR). However the Pinchin Street torso WAS found in the East End. Jackson resided in Chelsea, though I recall that she did on at least one occasion STAY in Whitechapel with her then boyfriend John Fairclough. I believe she was last seen on the Embankment in Wapping before she disappeared.

[Monty]

Debs,

Re plugging. Please see below.

Retention for burial ashore or post-mortem examination

Wherever possible, a body should be retained for post-mortem examination or for burial ashore. For the sake of the deceased person's relatives and to preserve the body in the best possible condition, thoroughly wash and dry the body all over. Comb out and part the hair, and give attention to the fingernails. Straighten the arms and legs, and interlock the fingers over the thighs. Tie the ankles together to keep the feet perpendicular. With forceps, place a good plug of cotton wool well up in the rectum. Pass a catheter tube into the bladder and empty it completely; if this is impracticable, make a firm tie around the root of the penis. A plug of cotton wool may be passed into each nostril. The body should then be put in a body bag; and kept in a refrigerator or cold store set aside for the purpose. Packing in ice in a bath is an alternative near port.

Taken from...http://www.navis.gr/medico/death.htm

To me, it would indicate the victim died at sea.

Monty

[sdreid]

Plugging was/is also sometimes done prior to execution to prevent messes but that's pretty sure not the case here unless something really freaky was going on.

[Debra A]

Thanks Pinkerton,
The thing that goes against a gangland connection, as Monty has mentioned to me, is why the mutilation and dismemberment? All it would have taken to prevent identification in those days would have been to remove the head and clothing. As you say, Elizabeth's killer didn't seem to think out the identification aspect very carefully, he removed the head but then used the victim's own clothing to wrap parts of the body, plus did anyone really think that throwing a dismembered corpse in a river was a sure fire method to it being undiscovered? The previously widely reported 1887 Rainham case must have gone a way to showing that this method of disposal was not such a good method of concealment of a crime.
Elizabeth and John stayed in Whitechapel lodging house for 5 weeks in the March of 1889 I think, other than that she doesn't seem to have any real connection to Whitechapel. She was however a working prostitute, last seen being picked up by a man who had the appearance of a navvy, outside the Hospital Tavern (which I think may be near the Chelsea hospital and a regular haunt of soldiers from Chelsea Barracks) on 2nd June, although there is some confusing reporting of the last sighting of her by Jenny Lee and Elizabeth Pomeroy (one of these two girls must be 'Ginger Nell' I feel) I'm very interested in your sighting on the embankment at Wapping , what date/time was this on?

[Debra A]

Thanks Monty, great stuff! That's the type of thing I have been looking for.

Only trouble is if Elizabeth had been murdered or just died at sea why didn't they just wrap up her body and throw her overboard while out at sea like they did with the burials? There isn't much chance of the body bobbing back up then.
It could have been someone who was used to dealing with deaths at sea though, maybe the killer couldn't dispose of the body immediately and needed a way to preserve it from stinking decomposure a little while?

[sdreid]

Hi all,

I wonder if anyone has checked the police records regarding the 1891 case. It puzzles me a little that Macnaghten didn't mention it in his 1894 memoranda. He did list Jackson, Whitehall, Pinchin St. and Rainham.