Although the Jack the Ripper atrocities dominated the newspapers throughout late 1888 and early 1889, they were by no means the only murders that occurred during this period.
Thew newspapers carried stories of numerous homicides that occurred over the same period, so much so that, by January 1889, several of them were expressing the belief that a murder epidemic was occurring across the country.
The Hampshire Independent, in its edition of Saturday the 12th of January 1889, carried the following story:-
SHOCKING TRAGEDY IN SURREY
AN ARTIST MURDERS HIS SWEETHEART
A terrible murder was committed at Godalming, Surrey, on Monday night, and was discovered on Tuesday.
An artist, named Jenkins, alias Weathercroft, had been keeping company for a considerable time with a young and attractive dressmaker, named Emily Joy.
THEY WENT OUT
On Monday evening, it is stated, Jenkins called for the girl at her home, and they went out.
The girl did not return, and late at night the mother and sister went to find her, but their search, continued till Tuesday, was unsuccessful.
JENKINS GIVES HIMSELF UP
About midday, Jenkins gave himself up at Guildford.
It seems that he went towards Hindhead after the murder, and the following morning called at the Punch Bowl Inn and said that he and his girl had determined to jump into the river Wey and drown themselves.
The girl, he added, did so, but his pluck failed him.
HE CONFESSED TO STRANGLING HER
The innkeeper took him to Guildford, on reaching which place he confessed he had strangled her.
The alleged murderer, on being interviewed by Superintendent Berry, of the borough police, stated that he had committed the murder about eight o’clock on Monday night.
Jenkins further said that he was an artist, and had resided with the girl’s mother, and had kept company with the deceased, to whom he was engaged.
He had enticed her into his studio, which was situated some distance from the house, and had outraged her and strangled her.
THE DOCTOR’S OPINION
A doctor who was called in declared, from a casual examination of the body, that death was due to strangulation, whilst appearance went to confirm the truth of the other portion of Jenkins’s statement.
SYMPATHY FOR THE RELATIVES
Much sympathy is felt for the relatives of the deceased girl.
The prisoner also stated that he prayed for the girl after he had murdered her.
No motive has been assigned for the deed.
HIS DEMEANOR IN COURT
Jenkins was brought before the magistrates on Tuesday, and remanded until Saturday, charged with murder.
He is calm, and persists in the statement that he first seduced the girl, and then strangled her, but the police believe that she was cruelly outraged.
The prisoner’s hands were bitten by his victim, and the body of the deceased bears all the usual evidence of strangulation.
THE INQUEST
The inquest on the murdered girl, Emily Joy, opened at Godalming, Surrey, on Thursday.
Mary Ann Joy, the deceased’s mother, gave evidence, stating that she last saw her daughter alive on Monday evening, when she and Jenkins went for a walk.
The next day she received a letter from Jenkins stating that the deceased and himself had gone for ever, and asking that they might be buried together.
Walter Ede, a butler, deposed to hearing a noise at the studio on Monday evening.
COMMITTED FOR TRIAL
Evidence having been given of the prisoner’s confession, Dr. Newman gave his opinion that the deceased had been outraged and then suffocated.
The Jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Jenkins, who was committed for trial on the Coroner’s warrant