As the Whitechapel murders began to gather momentum in September 1888, the police were out in force rounding up likely suspects whom they thought might be responsible for having carried out the crimes.
Some of the suspects, such as John Pizer – who was arrested on suspicion of being the infamous “Leather Apron” are now well known, whilst others are now mostly forgotten.
EDWARD QUINN ACCUSED
The People, in its edition of Sunday, 23rd September 1888, covered the story of one such man who found himself arrested on suspicion of being the perpetrator of the atrocities.
There can be little doubt that the man who found himself in the unfortunate predicament of being accused of the crimes was completely innocent of any involvement in them. But his case demonstrates the seemingly hap-hazard way in which the police were apprehending likely suspects, as well as the justifiable umbrage that could be taken by those who found themselves hauled into court, on the flimsiest of evidence, on suspicion of being the Whitechapel murderer.
The article read:-
At Woolwich Police Court on Monday, a labourer by the name of Edward Quinn, aged 35, was placed in the dock before Mr. Fenwick, charged nominally with being drunk at the police station.
His face and hands were much bruised, and, when he was charged, they were stained with blood.
The magistrate was about disposing of the case briefly, when the prisoner remarked that he had a complaint to make, and he stated as follows:-
THE MAN IN THE BAR
“On Saturday I was at a bar down by the Arsenal at Woolwich having a drink. I had stumbled over something in the street just before, and had cut my face and knuckles as you can see, and I had bled a good lot.
While I was at the bar a big tall man came in and stood beside me and looked at me.
He got me in tow, and gave me some beer and tobacco, and then he said, “I mean to charge you with the Whitechapel murders.”
I thought it was a joke and I laughed, but he said that he was serious, and he pointed to the blood about me.
I said, “Nonsense, is that all the clue you have got?”
CHARGED WITH THE MURDERS
He then dropped the subject, and he took me for a walk until we got to the police station, where he charged me with the Whitechapel murders.”
THE COURT EXCHANGE
Mr. Fenwick:- “Were you not drunk?”
Quinn:- “Most certainly not, sir.”
Mr. Fenwick:- “You will be remanded until tomorrow.”
WOULDN’T MURDER A CAT
Quinn:- “This is rather rough. I am dragged a mile to the station and locked up, and I am to wait another day with all this suspicion of murder hanging over my head.”
Mr. Fenwick:- “I will take your own bail in £5 for your reappearance.”
Quinn:- “I object to the whole thing. Me, murder a woman? I couldn’t even murder a cat.” (Laughter.)
The prisoner was then released on his own recognisances.
AN EXAMPLE OF POLICE INCOMPETENCE?
The arrest and subsequent court appearance of Edward Quinn were seen by several newspapers as yet another example of the police being out of their depth when it came to the hunt for the murderer.
The Henley Advertiser wondered if the incident was, “a sample of our “detective” work”, and went on to comment that:-
“This seems rather like the ingenious coup de main that would suggest itself to our average British policeman. The man’s face and hands were bloody, and there had been a murder in Whitechapel only seven days before. What more likely than that the murderer should have forgotten to wash himself for a week.”
NO FURTHER CASE TO ANSWER
It would appear that the police chose not to pursue the case against Edward Quinn, if, indeed, they ever did entertain any suspicions against him, as it should be noted that the charge against him was, in fact, one of drunkenness, and it was he who claimed he had been arrested for the murders.
Sadly, we will now never know the truth of the matter as, following his brief appearance in the newspapers over the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd of September 1888, he disappeared from the media coverage, and became just another name that cropped up briefly in the Jack the Ripper case, added another tantalising bit of intrigue, and then faded back into the obscurity from which he had emerged.