Naming Jack the Ripper: The Biggest Forensic Breakthrough Since 1888 by Russell Edwards Read Free Book Online Page A

see that Martha Tabram was dead. Earlier, at 2 a.m., she was not there: another couple passed the landing and saw nothing, so the time of her death could be narrowed
down to between 2 and 3.30 a.m.
    With an obvious murder having been committed, potential witnesses were sought by the police, but the only one who was able to shed any light on the last hours of Martha’s life was another
‘unfortunate’ by the name of Mary Ann Connelly, commonly known as ‘Pearly Poll’. After hearing of the murder, she went to Commercial Street Police Station and claimed that
she and Martha had spent much of the previous night visiting the pubs of Whitechapel. They had met two soldiers at about 10 p.m., one a corporal and the other a private, in the Two Brewers pub.
They continued to drink together in otherlocal pubs including the White Hart, which still thrives today and is a regular point of interest on the Ripper tours.
    At approximately 11.45 p.m. the two women and their soldiers split up on Whitechapel High Street. Pearly Poll saw Martha going with the private into George Yard. Pearly Poll went with the
corporal into Angel Alley, a few yards away, probably for sex. That is the last she saw of her friend, and is the last confirmed sighting before the murder. Both these passageways were narrow and
poorly lit and had mean reputations, making them ideal hiding places for criminals and perfect venues for prostitution. Pearly Poll told the police that she would be able to identify the two
soldiers.
    Detective Inspector Edmund Reid headed the murder investigation and arranged an identity parade at the Tower of London on the strength of her claims. All the soldiers from the Grenadier Guards
regiment who had been on leave that evening were brought for inspection. The parade was attended by PC Barrett, who said that at about 2 a.m. on the morning of the murder he had seen a private of
the Grenadier Guards standing at the corner of George Yard and Wentworth Street; when questioned, the soldier said that he was waiting around for his ‘chum’. At the parade, Barrett
picked out a private before changing his mind and selecting a second man, who, it transpired, had a strong alibi for that fateful night. Pearly Poll failed to turn up.
    She was eventually found by Sergeant Eli Caunter staying with a cousin near Drury Lane and so a new parade was arranged for 13 August, which she did finally attend. She failed to pick out the
two men that she and Martha were with that evening, but belatedly mentioned that they had had white bands aroundtheir caps, meaning they were from the Coldstream Guards, not
the Grenadiers.
    So another identity parade was arranged, and two days later, Pearly Poll was taken to Wellington Barracks where she picked out two soldiers, known as George and Skipper, whom she said were
without doubt the two men that she and Martha had been with. Both the soldiers were interviewed and insisted they were nowhere near the Whitechapel area on the night of the murder. After extensive
investigation, the police concluded they were telling the truth. Other soldiers were investigated, having their bayonets checked and their whereabouts on the night of 6/7 August ascertained.
    After all reasonable enquiries into the murder of Martha Tabram were exhausted, the investigation appeared to fizzle out. At the inquest, the jury delivered a verdict of ‘wilful murder, by
person or persons unknown’ yet again. The deputy coroner at the inquest said, ‘It is one of the most terrible cases that anyone can possibly imagine. The man must have been a perfect
savage to have attacked the woman in that way,’ and Inspector Reid described the case as ‘almost beyond belief’.
    The murder of Martha Tabram typified the difficulties that the police at the time faced. Evidence was often built on vague eye-witness statements that could not be confidently corroborated and
as a result the police had no further reliable information to go on. Whether