Today (30th September 1888) sees the 125th anniversary of the so-called “night of the double murder.”
To mark the occasion we are releasing the next instalment in our Unmasking Jack the Ripper drama/documentary, which you can watch at the end of this short introduction.
This was the night when Jack the Ripper, after an absence of several weeks, returned to the streets of Whitechapel and the City of London and murdered to women in less than an hour.
The body of the first victim that morning was found at 1am in Dutfield’s Yard, off Berner Street, by the steward of an adjoining club.
The second victim was found at 1.45am in Mire Square, in the city of London, by a policeman on his regular beat.
The Berner Street victim was later identified as Elizabeth Stride, and the Mitre Square victim as Catherine Eddowes.
The fact that Elizabeth Stride had only had her throat cut, and their were no mutilations to the rest of the body, suggested to the police that the killer had been interrupted by the steward as he turned in to the Yard.
However, the injuries sustained by Catherine Eddowes were truly horrific and represented an increase in the ferocity of the attacks.
The fact that Catherine Eddowes had been murdered in the City of London was also significant in that it brought a second police force, the City Police, into the investigation.
So, press play below and watch as our Jack the Ripper documentary takes you on a step by step journey through the events of that long ago autumn morning, 125 years ago.
The next instalment will be posted soon, so please be sure to check in regularly.