Following the murder of Annie Chapman , which took place in the backyard of number 29 Hanbury Street on the 8th of September, 1888, newspapers began to take a greater interest in, not just the murders, but in who the perpetrator of the dreadful atrocities might be,
The Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal, in it edition of Friday the 14th of September, 1888, was one of several newspapers that began seeing the crimes in biblical terms:-
THE WHITECHAPEL MURDERS
The East of London has during the last few weeks been the scene of no fewer than four diabolical murders.
A fortnight ago a poor woman named Nicholls was discovered dead, having been murdered in a most atrocious manner. No clue to the crime was discovered. It appeared to be the work of fiend, judging from the outrages committed on the victim, and the police were completely baffled.
The feelings of dread and horror with which the people in Whitechapel heard last Saturday that another – and almost precisely similar – murder bad been committed in their midst, can, therefore, be easily understood.
ANNIE CHAPMAN’S MURDER
A woman, known by several nicknames, but whose real name was Annie Chapman, was found lying in a most horrible condition, in the backyard of No. 29, Hanbury street, Spitalfields.
She had been murdered in the same way as the victim of the previous week.
Her throat had been cut so dreadfully that the head was almost severed from the body, and – horrible to relate – the woman bad been completely disembowelled.
In every respect the atrocity resembles the murder of Nicholls. The deed had been done with the same fiendish savagery, and in the same mysterious manner.
MONSTER IN HUMAN SHAPE
For the second time within a fortnight this monster in human shape, who is responsible for this devilry, appears to have come and gone unnoticed by any person, and without leaving any trace behind.
The police believe – indeed common sense suggests – that the murder was perpetrated by the person who committed the three previous ones, whilst the ghastliness of the crimes gives colour to the supposition that they are the work of a lunatic.
This theory is very likely a true one, but it renders the speedy capture of the miscreant a matter of most argent necessity, as his taste for human blood seems insatiable.
NO TRACE DISCOVERED
We regret to learn, however, that up to the present time no trace of the maniac has been discovered.
As usual, several mistaken arrests have been made, but the author of this series of diabolical outrages is at liberty and seems likely to remain at large.
THE CURSE OF CAIN
Truly horrible is the idea that wandering and down, unknown and unsuspected, is one who already bears a double or treble curse of Cain upon his brow, and who still waits his opportunity again to revel in human blood and the mutilation of his victims.
The police must let themselves have no rest until, having tracked this wild animal to his lair, they are able to terminate his campaign of butchery.
NOT ENOUGH POLICE
It is said that the East of London is in the ordinary way insufficiently protected by the police, whose visits are, comparatively speaking, but “few and far between.” If this is so no time must be lost in reforming such a scandalous state of things.
A VIGILANT WATCH
The poor have at all times as much right to protection as the rich, and especially is it necessary in rough places like Whitechapel that day and night the representatives of the law should keep vigilant watch and ward over the lives and property of the people.