The Witnesses
Police Constable Thomas Barratt gave a statement saying he saw a soldier in Wentworth Street about 2.00 a.m. on the morning of the 7th of August, 1888, about two hours before Martha Tabram's body was found. The soldier was aged between 22 - 26, height 5 foot nine inches, fair complexion, dark hair and a small brown moustache turned up at the ends.
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J. Best and John Gardner said they saw Elizabeth Stride with an English-looking gentleman outside the Bricklayers Arms about two hours before her death. The man was about 5ft. 5in. tall, dressed in a black morning suit with a morning coat. He had a thick black moustache and no beard and wore a black billycock hat.
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James Brown saw a man with Elizabeth Stride 15 minutes before she died with a man wearing a long coat which reached very nearly down to his heels. The man was about 5ft 7" and of average build.
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Ellen Callaran was walking along Commercial Street with Frances Coles when they met a man dressed in a sailor suit with a pea-jacket and cheesecutter hat. The man offered her money but then grabbed her and punched her in the face before he left with Frances twenty minutes before Coles was found dead.
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Mary Ann Cox said she last saw Mary Jane Kelly about a quarter to Midnight on Thursday 10th of November. Kelly was drunk at the time and was with a short, stout man, shabbily dressed, with a round billycock hat on. He had a blotchy face and a heavy carroty moustache. Mary Jane was mutilated about three hours later.
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Thomas Eade stated that on Saturday, September 8th he was going towards Whitechapel Road when he saw a man who attracted his attention, as he was holding his arm stiffly.. As he moved his arm, Eade saw the blade of a knife sticking out of his trousers pocket. He said the man looked like a mechanic and was about 5ft 8in. in height and thirty-five years of age. He wore a dark brown jacket, a pair of white overalls, and a double-peaked cap. He had dark whiskers and a moustache. The description was given about the death of Mary Ann Nichols.
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A woman named Jenny said to a doctor that if she were well enough to get about she would soon find and identify the murderer who frequently maltreated the women of the streets, and extorted money from them under threats of "ripping them up. She described him as a foreigner, about forty years of age. She believed that he had been a doctor, was dressed fairly well, and generally carried a big heavy stick.
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Sarah Lewis said she had visited a friend at Miller's Court on Friday morning at half-past two and saw a man standing on the pavement. He was short and stout and wore a wideawake hat. An hour later she heard a woman cry 'murder' which she believed came from Mary Jane Kelly's room.
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At 5.30 a.m.. Elizabeth Long passed by 29 Hanbury Street and saw Annie Chapman with a brown hat a dark complexion and a dark coat. He was about 40 years old and looked like a foreigner. She said he looked what is called shabby-genteel.
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William Marshal saw Elizabeth Stride with a middle-aged man he described as being 5ft 6" tall wearing a small black coat and dark trousers, and was of stout build. This happened about an hour before Stride was murdered.
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Matthew Packer claimed to have sold some grapes to Elizabeth Stride and a man about an hour before Elizabeth died. The man was about 35 years; about 5ft. 7", stout, square-built and wore a wideawake hat and dark clothes. He had the appearance of a clerk; had a rough voice and a quick, sharp way of talking.
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Mrs Paumier claimed to have been approached by a gentleman at midday on the 10th of November who asked her if she had heard about the murder in Dorset Street and then told her he knew more about it than her. She described the man who had a black moustache, was about 5ft 6" tall, and wore a black silk hat, a black coat, and specked trousers. He also carried a black shiny bag, about a foot in depth and a foot and a half in length. She said that the man had approached three women the previous evening who asked what he had in the bag, He told them "Something that the ladies don't like."
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George Hutchinson made a detailed statement to police describing the man he saw enter Mary Jane Kelly's home on the night of her murder. He said he was about 34 or 35 years of age, and 5 feet 6 inches tall, He had a pale complexion, dark hair with dark eyes and eyelashes and a slight moustache that curled up at each end, He wore a long dark coat, collar and cuffs that were trimmed with astrakhan Beneath his coat he wore a dark jacket, he had a light waistcoat, dark trousers, and a dark felt hat that turned down in the middle. He had button boots and gaiters with white buttons. He was wearing a very thick gold chain and had a white linen collar. A black tie with a horseshoe pin. He was of respectable appearance and walked very sharp. The man was Jewish in appearance and said he could identify him again.
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