Best Description of the Murderer

[etenguy]

There are a number of witnesses who provided a description of a man that there is reason to believe may have been the murderer. None are without questions. I wondered though if there was any kind of consensus about who (perhaps more than one) was the most likely to have provided a description of the murderer. Some people often discussed in this vein are:

Joseph Lawende (corroborated by Joseph Levy and Harry Harris)
George Hutchinson (corroborated by Sarah Lewis?)
Elizabeth Long (corroborated by John Richardson and Albert Cadosch but a poor description?)
Israel Schwartz

The best description comes from George Hutchinson, but of course there are questions about his veracity (though the Sarah Lewis statement supports his statement), the second best from Joseph Lawende but is not as detailed.

Is there a better description from any witness?

[DJA]

Elizabeth Long.
The height she gives is the height of the GSG writer, ~ 5'3".

[Wickerman]

I have to choose the description given by PC Smith, though I choose his original police statement, not the one published after the inquest. The difference being of course the type of hat, - a hard felt hat is not a soft deerstalker, they are not the same.

"At 12.35 a.m., 30th September, with Elizabeth Stride, found murdered at one a.m., same date, in Berner-street - A man, aged 28, height 5ft 8in, complexion dark, small dark moustache; dress, black diagonal coat, hard felt hat, collar and tie; respectable appearance; carried a parcel wrapped up in a newspaper."


Then I must include the various descriptions given of the man outside the Britannia on the morning of Nov. 9th.

Composite description taken from Mrs Kennedy, & Sarah Lewis.
He was about 40, short about 5' 7 or 8'', pale faced, small black moustache, a round high-hat, short black coat, pepper & salt trousers, he walked with an extremely awkward gait, and carrying a black leather bag.

[GUT]

Not convinced any of them saw the killer,

[etenguy]

I have to choose the description given by PC Smith, though I choose his original police statement, not the one published after the inquest. The difference being of course the type of hat, - a hard felt hat is not a soft deerstalker, they are not the same.

"At 12.35 a.m., 30th September, with Elizabeth Stride, found murdered at one a.m., same date, in Berner-street - A man, aged 28, height 5ft 8in, complexion dark, small dark moustache; dress, black diagonal coat, hard felt hat, collar and tie; respectable appearance; carried a parcel wrapped up in a newspaper."


Then I must include the various descriptions given of the man outside the Britannia on the morning of Nov. 9th.

Composite description taken from Mrs Kennedy, & Sarah Lewis.
He was about 40, short about 5' 7 or 8'', pale faced, small black moustache, a round high-hat, short black coat, pepper & salt trousers, he walked with an extremely awkward gait, and carrying a black leather bag.

Of the two I favour PC Smith, but of course no direct tie to the murder.

[etenguy]

Not convinced any of them saw the killer,

Not even Hutchinson? I think that unless he is lying, he was most likely to have seen the killer and provided a good description.

[Wickerman]

Not even Hutchinson? I think that unless he is lying, he was most likely to have seen the killer and provided a good description.

And yet, the press published a statement by Mrs Kennedy on the 10th, that placed Mary Kelly outside the Britannia "about 3:00am", talking to a strange man. Which should indicate that anyone seen with Kelly prior to that time is unlikely to be the killer.

[Michael W Richards]

The man seen in morning in the pub down the road from the Hanbury murder scene. I can see him being Annies killer...and being Isenschmidt.

[FrankO]

Not convinced any of them saw the killer,

Even if they did, GUT, how sure can we be that their descriptions were accurate?