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Speaker 1: Please be advised the following episode contained scenes of an

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Speaker 1: extremely graphic nature that may be distressing for some listeners.

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Speaker 1: As the flames rolled ever higher into the night sky,

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Speaker 1: the thick clouds that had been so gray only hours

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Speaker 1: before were now lit up, turning a strange shade of

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Speaker 1: sanguine in the process. It gave the impression, if only

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Speaker 1: just for a moment, that it wasn't drops of rain

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Speaker 1: that were falling, but drops of blood. As the merciless

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Speaker 1: downpour continued, mixed with flashes of lightning and eruptions of thunder,

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Speaker 1: it was as if everything had been turned on its head,

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Speaker 1: the heavens above replaced by the bowels of hell. But

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Speaker 1: where heaven had gone to exactly none could say. For surely,

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Speaker 1: wherever it was, it certainly wasn't down here. The East

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Speaker 1: end of London, eighteen eighty eight. The fires had begun

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Speaker 1: sometime in the evening, the first having broken out at

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Speaker 1: the South Key warehouses. A scent of charcoal had blown

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Speaker 1: softly through the streets before the fire announced itself with

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Speaker 1: an immense explosion from out of the dockyard. Before long,

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Speaker 1: two hundred yards of warehouse stuffed with the dubious spoils

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Speaker 1: of colonial practices were ablaze under that reddening August sky,

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Speaker 1: flashing with electricity, each jagged discharge appearing like rips in

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Speaker 1: the air, cracks that might at any point be opened

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Speaker 1: up for something abominable to come through. Three hours later,

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Speaker 1: with the help of twelve steam pumper fire engines and

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Speaker 1: almost a hundred firefighters, the flames were subdued and the

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Speaker 1: men able to return to their beds. But chaos will

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Speaker 1: not be stilled at Shortly before one o'clock, another call

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Speaker 1: came in. A second fire had broken out at Ratcliff

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Speaker 1: dry Dock, even more devastating than the first. A large

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Speaker 1: two story warehouse was soon consumed. The flames then danced

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Speaker 1: on the wind across the yard and set light to

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Speaker 1: a sailing ship fresh in for repairs, before making their

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Speaker 1: way to the mother load, a one hundred and twenty

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Speaker 1: foot long warehouse stuffed with eight hundred tons of coal.

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Speaker 1: Hundreds of nearby residents crammed into the surrounding tenements, now

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Speaker 1: threatened by the flames, poured into the street fearing for

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Speaker 1: their lives. Others drawn in by the strange confluence of chaos,

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Speaker 1: beauty and destruction, came simply to watch the ominous spectacle.

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Speaker 1: One face among them was fifty year old Emily Holland,

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Speaker 1: a long time resident of the East End's Whitechapel district,

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Speaker 1: a woman for whom the spectacle was a welcome respite

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Speaker 1: from the hellish existence of a life spent on the

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Speaker 1: margins of society, doing anything to stay afloat in the gutter,

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Speaker 1: where any distraction from the sheer truth of it all

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Speaker 1: was about as much as you could hope for. You're

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Speaker 1: listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard mc lane Smith. Having

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Speaker 1: seen enough of the fire, Emily set off back towards Wilmot's,

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Speaker 1: a roughly twenty minute walk away, where she shared one

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Speaker 1: room with five other women. Framed by the deep red

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Speaker 1: sky above, she made her way west along the main

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Speaker 1: thoroughfare of Commercial Road, careful to stay away from the

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Speaker 1: many narrow roads and unlit alleyways, but branched off it,

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Speaker 1: for she was only too aware of what horrors might

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Speaker 1: await women who walk through such places alone. No doubt

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Speaker 1: each of them had a story. Five months previously, forty

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Speaker 1: five year old local resident Emma Smith was brutally raped

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Speaker 1: and beaten on an unlit corner of near by Brick

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Speaker 1: Lane by four young men who finished their assault by

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Speaker 1: jabbing a blunt object into her vagina, ripping through the

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Speaker 1: internal wall. After the assault, Smith had stood up and

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Speaker 1: walked alone back to her lodgings against her will. The

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Speaker 1: lodgings manager helped her to a nearby hospital, where she

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Speaker 1: later succumbed to her injuries. Only three weeks ago, the

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Speaker 1: body of thirty nine year old Martha Tabrim was found

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Speaker 1: in the stairwell of a building on George Yard, which

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Speaker 1: ran parallel to Brick Lane. Tabrim, who occasionally carried out

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Speaker 1: sex work, had been last seen heading off with a

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Speaker 1: client before her body was discovered in a pool of blood,

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Speaker 1: left displayed in such a way by her killer in

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Speaker 1: an effort to inflict maximum shame on the woman. She

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Speaker 1: had been stabbed twenty one times across the body, predominantly

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Speaker 1: in the breasts and around the groin. Only minutes away

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Speaker 1: from Wilmot's, Emily turns into Osborne Street at the bottom

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Speaker 1: of Brick Lane, where she spots her friend and fellow lodger,

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Speaker 1: Polly Nicholls, stumbling down the road. She didn't recognize her

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Speaker 1: at first, owing to the new black straw bonnet she

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Speaker 1: was wearing. It was good to see her, since although

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Speaker 1: she had lodged at Wilmot's for the last six weeks,

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Speaker 1: she had recently been staying somewhere else. As it happened,

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Speaker 1: Polly had just been back to Wilmot's to ask for

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Speaker 1: a bed for that night, but had been told to

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Speaker 1: come back when she had the money for it. Clearly

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Speaker 1: a little drunk, she joked about how she had made

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Speaker 1: three times the amount for a bed already that night,

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Speaker 1: only to drink it all away. The type of service

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Speaker 1: that Polly was supplying that evening could be had for

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Speaker 1: as little as threepence, the price of a large glass

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Speaker 1: of chin. Worried for her friend, Emily tries to convince

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Speaker 1: her to come back to Wilmot's. Perhaps they can make

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Speaker 1: a bargain with the deputy, she says, but Polly refuses,

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Speaker 1: deciding instead to try the White House, a lodging only

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Speaker 1: a few minutes away on Flower and Dean Street that

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Speaker 1: permitted sex workers to use their beds. The pair say

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Speaker 1: there goodbyes as a nearby church bell makes the chime

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Speaker 1: two thirty am Emily watches her friend stumbled down Whitechapel

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Speaker 1: Road as the rains continue to fall. She hated to

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Speaker 1: leave her on her own, especially in such a state,

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Speaker 1: but reassures herself that at forty four years old and

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Speaker 1: no stranger to this world, Polly was more than able

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Speaker 1: to look after herself. An hour later, thirty nine year

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Speaker 1: old cart driver Charles cross steps into the cool early

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Speaker 1: morning air and sets off on his way to work.

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Speaker 1: Turning into the darkness of Buck's Row, he made his

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Speaker 1: way hurriedly towards the sanctuary of the soft light of

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Speaker 1: a gas lamp. At the far end, he notices what

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Speaker 1: looks like a tarpaulin lying on the pavement just ahead

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Speaker 1: of him, but as he draws closer, he realizes it

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Speaker 1: is in fact the body of a woman lying unconscious

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Speaker 1: in the street. Spotting his friend Robert Paul at the

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Speaker 1: other end, he calls him over. I think she's dead,

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Speaker 1: he says, as Paul bends down to examine her, checking

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Speaker 1: her wrist for a pulse. She's breathing, but it's little

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Speaker 1: if she is, he says, looking furtively about the street. However,

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Speaker 1: not wanting to be late for work, the two men

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Speaker 1: decide to leave her, agreeing only to alert the first

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Speaker 1: policeman they see. Minutes later, P. C. John Neil, walking

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Speaker 1: his usual beat turned into Buck's row. Angling his light

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Speaker 1: into the dimness, he spots the body and hurries over

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Speaker 1: to it. He calls out to the woman but gets

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Speaker 1: no response. Bending down, he holds the light to her

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Speaker 1: face and recoils in horror at the sight of blood

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Speaker 1: leaking out of a deep wound around the neck. Her

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Speaker 1: eyes still open wide frozen in shock, he placed the

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Speaker 1: lamp on the pavement, illuminating a black straw bonnet left

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Speaker 1: upturned next to the body. Seeing two colleagues enter the street,

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Speaker 1: he calls for them to fetch a doctor immediately. By

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Speaker 1: the time doctor Llewelyn arrives minutes later, the woman is dead.

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Speaker 1: Inspecting the body at the scene, it was clear that

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Speaker 1: she had bled to death due to the severity of

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Speaker 1: two brutal cuts to her neck, each reaching from one

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Speaker 1: ear to the middle of the throat, cutting all the

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Speaker 1: way back to the vertebrae. Since there are no signs

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Speaker 1: of blood on the woman's clothing, the doctor assumes there

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Speaker 1: are no other injuries. Noticing a large crowd gathering, Llewellyn

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Speaker 1: is keen to preserve what he can of the woman's

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Speaker 1: dignity and have the body removed to a moutree before

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Speaker 1: continuing his assessment. The crowd stare aghast as the body

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Speaker 1: is lifted from the pavement and placed in the back

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Speaker 1: of a police wagon as all about the surrounding streets

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Speaker 1: workers from the nearby slaughterhouses in blood spattered overalls lend

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Speaker 1: a further macabre edge to the proceedings. With the body

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Speaker 1: having finally been taken away, local resident James Green steps

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Speaker 1: forward into the space and throws a bucket full of

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Speaker 1: water onto the ground, before sweeping the resultant bloody wash

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Speaker 1: into the gutter. An hour later, Llewellyn, who is now

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Speaker 1: back at home, receives a call from the police inspector

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Speaker 1: with a hint of grave concern in his voice. They

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Speaker 1: had discovered something else. Soon after, Llewellyn is led into

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Speaker 1: the morgue and toward the body, now lying prostrate on

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Speaker 1: an autopsy table. He gasps at the sight of it.

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Speaker 1: It was like nothing he had ever seen before. Three

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Speaker 1: inches from the left side, at the lower part of

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Speaker 1: the abdomen ran a very deep, jagged wound. It was

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Speaker 1: only one of four similar cuts that ran downward on

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Speaker 1: the right hand side, as if centered on the woman's womb.

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Speaker 1: All the cuts appeared to have been made with the

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Speaker 1: same long bladed knife and inflicted with a very deliberate brutality.

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Speaker 1: At the Wilmot lodging House, Emily Holland wakes to the

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Speaker 1: devastating news that yet another woman had been murdered. For

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Speaker 1: a moment, she sees Polly's face as it disappears into

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Speaker 1: the sheds of Whitechapel Road. A short time later, she

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Speaker 1: learns the news from Mary Anne Monk, another friend of

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Speaker 1: Polly's whom she had met at Lambeth Workhouse, that the

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Speaker 1: dead woman was indeed Polly. A devastated Emily will later

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Speaker 1: travel to the mark herself that day to identify her

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Speaker 1: friend at the inquest to Polly's death. On being asked

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Speaker 1: if he knew anyone who might have done this to

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Speaker 1: his daughter, her father will reply, I don't think she

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Speaker 1: had any enemies. She was too good for that. Are

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Speaker 1: you always taking care of your family? Do you often

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Speaker 1: take care of others and not yourself? Now it's time

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Speaker 1: to take care of yourself. To make time for you

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Speaker 1: you deserve it. Tell a doc gives you access to

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Speaker 1: a licensed therapist to help you get back to feeling

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Speaker 1: your best, to feeling like yourself again. With teledoc, you

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Speaker 1: can speak to a licensed therapist by phone or video.

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Speaker 1: Therapy appointments are available seven days a week from seven

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Speaker 1: a m. To nine p m. Local time. If you

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Speaker 1: feel overwhelmed sometimes maybe you feel stressed or anxious, depressed

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Speaker 1: or lonely, or you might be struggling with a personal

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Speaker 1: or family issue, teledoc can help. Teledoc is committed to

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Speaker 1: facilitating great therapeutic matches, so they make it easy to

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Speaker 1: change counselors if needed. For free. Teledoc therapy is available

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Speaker 1: through most insurance or employers. Download the app or visit

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Speaker 1: teledoc dot com Forward Slash Unexplained podcast to Day to

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Speaker 1: Get Started. That's t e l a d oc dot

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Speaker 1: com slash Unexplained podcast. Annie Smith was twenty eight when

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Speaker 1: she met and married John Chapman in eighteen sixty nine.

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Speaker 1: The following year, the couple celebrated the arrival of their

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Speaker 1: first child, Emily, and three years later a second daughter,

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Speaker 1: Annie was born. They were joined in eighteen eighty by

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Speaker 1: a brother, John, but the family would soon be torn

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Speaker 1: apart owing to some form of disability, Annie and John

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Speaker 1: were forced to send their son to a home. Their

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Speaker 1: misery was compounded when two years later the couple's first daughter, Emily,

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Speaker 1: died at the age of twelve from meningitis. John worked

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Speaker 1: as a coachman, and though they didn't have a great

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Speaker 1: deal of money coming in, it was at least stable. However,

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Speaker 1: both he and Annie struggled with alcoholism that served only

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Speaker 1: to intensify an increasingly fractious relationship, and by eighteen eighty

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Speaker 1: five the pair agreed to go their separate ways. Though

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Speaker 1: many women worked in those days, sometimes taking on entire

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Speaker 1: businesses when their partners died prematurely, the majority of work

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Speaker 1: available was strictly manual and low paid if you could

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Speaker 1: get it. The situation owed much to a sexist education system,

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Speaker 1: and though some significant changes were around the corner as

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Speaker 1: the nineteenth century drew to a close, for those like

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Speaker 1: Annie Chapman, options were few and far between. Girls from

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Speaker 1: low income households, yet they were lucky enough to get

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Speaker 1: an education at all, were schooled only in domestic skills.

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Speaker 1: Even for those from more fortunate backgrounds who might have

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Speaker 1: been given an academic education comparable to boys, it was

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Speaker 1: widely deemed unnecessary, since the only role they were considered

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Speaker 1: destined for was that of a wife and mother whose

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Speaker 1: only other occupation would be to supervise domestic staff. For Annie,

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Speaker 1: there would be no such luxuries. A semi regular payment

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Speaker 1: from her husband helped her to just about stay afloat

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Speaker 1: and out of the workhouses, and loneliness was kept at

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Speaker 1: bay in the form of a new boyfriend, John, who

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00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,360
Speaker 1: made sieves for a living and with whom she shared

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Speaker 1: a room at a lodging house in Spittlefields, just to

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Speaker 1: the west of Whitechapel. On Christmas Day eighteen eighty six,

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Speaker 1: Annie is devastated to hear that her ex husband John

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Speaker 1: has died. She breaks up with her boyfriend soon after,

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00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:43,200
Speaker 1: the summer of eighteen eighty eight sees Annie, now forty seven,

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00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:47,360
Speaker 1: bouncing about from one lodging house to another, before managing

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00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:51,840
Speaker 1: a period of stability settling at Crossingham's lodging house on

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00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:55,720
Speaker 1: Dorset Street in Spittle Fields, home to three hundred or

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Speaker 1: so residents of varying itinerancy. In recent months, she had

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00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:06,040
Speaker 1: come into an arrangement with bricklayer Edward Stanley, which covered

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00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:10,440
Speaker 1: the cost of her bed most weekends. However, The arrangement

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00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,600
Speaker 1: also complicated matters since Stanley had ordered the lodging house

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Speaker 1: Deputy Timothy Donovan not to let her stay if she

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Speaker 1: ever brought another man back with her, a situation rendered

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Speaker 1: all the more fraught. With rumors flying about in the

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00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,240
Speaker 1: wake of Polly's murder that some of the recent murders

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00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:45,000
Speaker 1: in the area could be linked. London's Metropolitan Police had

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00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,000
Speaker 1: been homing in on a suspect over the last few days,

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00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:54,000
Speaker 1: and by September fifth, the press had a name leather Apron.

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00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:00,359
Speaker 1: Annie knew of him well. The women all talked about him,

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00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,680
Speaker 1: warning each other to stay out of his way. Real

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00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,280
Speaker 1: name John Pyser, around five and a half foot, tour

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00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:13,000
Speaker 1: with dark hair and a mustache, He was said to

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Speaker 1: stalk the streets silently, wearing a deer stalker hat and

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00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,520
Speaker 1: leather apron, looking for sex workers to extort. He was

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00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,400
Speaker 1: said also to carry a sharp leather knife at all times.

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00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:30,080
Speaker 1: On Friday the seventh, Annie is struggling to get the

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00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,160
Speaker 1: money together for a bed. If a roof over your

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00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:37,320
Speaker 1: head was your only concern, there was always the option

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00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,320
Speaker 1: of a workhouse, whereby lodging could be sought in return

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00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:46,240
Speaker 1: for a sustained commitment of work. However, it was and

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00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,240
Speaker 1: is often still the case that the ruling establishment viewed

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00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:54,760
Speaker 1: low income earners as feckless and lazy, that their predicament

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00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:58,960
Speaker 1: was down to their own ineptitude, and as such were

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00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,359
Speaker 1: to be discouraged at all times from leaning on the state.

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00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:08,400
Speaker 1: As a result, workhouses were designed to offer such unfavorable

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00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:14,359
Speaker 1: conditions that people would be discouraged from using them. A

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00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:18,480
Speaker 1: midway option could be found in the casual ward, a

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00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 1: small section of the workhouse offering little more than a floor,

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Speaker 1: a shared bucket, and some bread to those in need.

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00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,320
Speaker 1: Occupants of the casual ward were entitled to spend one night,

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00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:34,119
Speaker 1: after which they were barred from coming back within thirty days,

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00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:39,480
Speaker 1: in return for a day's work breaking rocks or unpicking rope.

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00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:44,960
Speaker 1: Having spent the last few days in a casual ward, Annie,

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00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:48,399
Speaker 1: who struggled with a serious ailment of the lungs, was

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00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,000
Speaker 1: determined not to make it three nights in a row.

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00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,760
Speaker 1: That afternoon, she made a three mile trek to Vauxhall,

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00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,680
Speaker 1: just south of the Thames, where she successfully convinces her

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00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,760
Speaker 1: mother to give her fivepence for a bed at Crossingham's.

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00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:10,560
Speaker 1: By midnight, however, she had spent it all Regardless, Annie

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00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,280
Speaker 1: makes her way to the lodging house and shares a

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00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,480
Speaker 1: drink with a friend in the communal kitchen before heading

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00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:21,199
Speaker 1: out again, hoping to sneak back in. Later. At just

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Speaker 1: past one thirty a m. Lodging house deputy Timothy Donovan

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00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:29,480
Speaker 1: is informed that Annie has just been spotted again in

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Speaker 1: the kitchen. Moments later, she is at the door of

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00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,080
Speaker 1: Donovan's office, pleading to be allowed to stay the night,

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00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:42,960
Speaker 1: but Donovan refuses, reprimanding her that if she can find

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00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,960
Speaker 1: money for her beer, then she can find money for

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00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 1: a bed. Defeated, Annie asks that Donovan at least save

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00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,080
Speaker 1: her usual bed and that she'll be back soon to

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00:20:55,119 --> 00:21:11,360
Speaker 1: sleep in it. Four hours later, local resident Elizabeth Long

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00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,280
Speaker 1: is making her way toward nearby Spittlefield's Market when she

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00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:21,119
Speaker 1: turns into Hanbury Street. It was here only the day before,

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00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:25,080
Speaker 1: under a bright sun, that a hearse carrying the mutilated

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00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:29,080
Speaker 1: body of Polly Nichols, followed somberly by her father, ex

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00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,960
Speaker 1: husband and son, had begun its four mile journey toward

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00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:38,679
Speaker 1: Manor Park Cemetery in forest Gate at five thirty am. However,

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00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,760
Speaker 1: the windows of the undertakers are blacked out, and only

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00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:46,439
Speaker 1: silence and darkness is to be found as Elizabeth hurries

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00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:53,040
Speaker 1: along the deserted road, passing number twenty nine. However, it

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00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:55,840
Speaker 1: appears the street is not as deserted as she had

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00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,359
Speaker 1: thought when she spots a man with his back to

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00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,800
Speaker 1: her ending in the shadows. He is roughly five and

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00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,960
Speaker 1: a half feet tall, late thirtieth wearing a dark coat

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00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:12,600
Speaker 1: and a low crowned felt hat. A moment later, she

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00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:17,960
Speaker 1: realizes he is talking to a woman. As she passes,

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00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:24,160
Speaker 1: Elizabeth catches the end of their conversation. Will you, asks

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00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:31,359
Speaker 1: the man, to which the woman replies yes. Trying to

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00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:34,680
Speaker 1: mind her own business, Elizabeth hurries on and out of

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00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,520
Speaker 1: the street, just as Albert Kadosh, who lives at number

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00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:43,680
Speaker 1: twenty seven, is preparing himself for the working day. Having

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00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,199
Speaker 1: put on some clothes, he makes his way towards the

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00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,040
Speaker 1: outhouse at the back of the property. Stepping into the yard,

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00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:53,280
Speaker 1: he hears a voice cry out from behind the dividing

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00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 1: fence to number twenty nine on his right. Moments later,

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00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,760
Speaker 1: he hears something clattering aginst the fence from the other side,

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00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,120
Speaker 1: assuming it to be someone stacking crates for the business

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00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:13,800
Speaker 1: next door. He heads back inside. Minutes later, John Davis,

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00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:17,399
Speaker 1: a resident of number twenty nine, steps out the front

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00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,720
Speaker 1: door into a dividing passage between the yard and the street.

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00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: Surprised to find the gate has been left open, He

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00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,200
Speaker 1: watches a few people pass by before turning to open

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00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:34,800
Speaker 1: the back gate and stepping into the yard. It took

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00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,919
Speaker 1: a moment for Davis to process exactly what it was

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00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 1: He was looking at the body of a woman left

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00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,199
Speaker 1: lying on her back, her clothes hoisted up to her

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00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 1: waist and her feet planted on the ground with the

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00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,639
Speaker 1: knees up. The wet lump of material draped over her

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00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 1: shoulder was comprised of intestines that had been completely severed

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00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,439
Speaker 1: from and lifted out of her stomach, and at the

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00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,080
Speaker 1: neck two jagged wounds where she had been savagely sliced

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00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 1: from one side to the other. What Davis didn't see, however,

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00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:13,880
Speaker 1: before he ran screaming from the scene, was how the uterus,

325
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 1: the upper part of the vagina, and two thirds of

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00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 1: the bladder had also been entirely removed. An hour and

327
00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:35,400
Speaker 1: a half later, in the Prince Albert Pub, only four

328
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,159
Speaker 1: hundred yards from Hanbury Street, a sandy haired man with

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00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,920
Speaker 1: a large mustache curled at each end, wearing a dark

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00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:47,960
Speaker 1: jacket and soft felt hat, nervously approaches the bar, ordering

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00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,600
Speaker 1: a half pint of veil, making sure to keep his

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00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:56,360
Speaker 1: face hidden. Landlady missus Fiddimont, suspicious of his general demeanor,

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00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 1: pulls his drink while trying to catch the reflection of

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00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,160
Speaker 1: his face in a mirror on the back wall. As

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00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 1: he takes his glass, she notices blood spatters on the

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00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,199
Speaker 1: back of his hand. Realizing he is being watched, the

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00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 1: man swiftly finishes his drink and leaps. Later that day,

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00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 1: the woman found in the yard of twenty nine Hanbury

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00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:24,879
Speaker 1: Street will be formally identified as Annie Chapman. She is

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00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 1: the fourth of what the press have taken to calling

341
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 1: the White Chapel Murders. Chief Suspect Leather Apron John Pyser.

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00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 1: Pyser makes a perfect suspect for the press, not least

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00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 1: of all because he is believed to be Jewish, a

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00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:46,720
Speaker 1: cast iron boger man, if ever one was needed. Fears

345
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,199
Speaker 1: and frustrations mount throughout the East End when news of

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00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,359
Speaker 1: Annie's murder sweeps through the streets, and with the fixation

347
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:58,399
Speaker 1: on Leather apron being a Jew. It isn't long before

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00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 1: some residents are turning their anger toward the Jewish members

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00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 1: of their community. But finally, after days spent scouring the

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00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 1: neighborhood for John Peyser, on September tenth, he is apprehended. Sadly,

351
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,640
Speaker 1: for the police and the women of Whitechapel, he has

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00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,960
Speaker 1: a solid alibi for the night of Annie and Polly's murders.

353
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:24,959
Speaker 1: On the Friday, four days later, a handful of friends

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00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,639
Speaker 1: and family watch as Annie Chapman's body is buried not

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00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:33,679
Speaker 1: far from Polly Nichols in Manor Park Cemetery. By the

356
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,280
Speaker 1: time Nichols's inquest has drawn to a close on the

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00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,560
Speaker 1: twenty third, it is clear to the police that although

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00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,040
Speaker 1: the choice of victim is not by any means out

359
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:45,240
Speaker 1: of the ordinary, the manner in which Nichols and Chapman

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00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 1: were murdered suggests they are dealing with something that not

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00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 1: many had seen before. As the coroner noted in his

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00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,880
Speaker 1: summing up, the audacity and daring is equal to its

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00:26:56,880 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 1: maniacal fanaticism and abhorrent wickedness. The suggested motive may be wrong,

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00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:07,200
Speaker 1: but one thing is very clear that murders of a

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00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:20,920
Speaker 1: most atrocious character have been committed. Three days later, a

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00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 1: letter arrives at the front desk of the Central News Agency,

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00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,959
Speaker 1: a news distribution service based in the city of London

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00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,399
Speaker 1: that borders the borough of Whitechapel to the west. On

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00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 1: the envelope written in red ink, it is addressed only

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00:27:36,800 --> 00:27:42,159
Speaker 1: to the boss. Inside there is a letter, also written

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00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:47,200
Speaker 1: in red ink and dated twenty fifth September eighteen eighty eight.

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00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 1: It reads, Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police

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00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 1: have court me, but they won't fix me just yet.

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00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,040
Speaker 1: I have laughed when they look so clever and talk

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00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 1: about being on the right track. That joke about leather

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00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:08,200
Speaker 1: apron gave me real fit. I am down on horse

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00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:11,400
Speaker 1: and I shan't quit ripping them till I do get buckled.

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00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,000
Speaker 1: Grand work. The last job was, I gave the lady

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00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,680
Speaker 1: no time to squeal? How can they catch me? Now?

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00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:24,119
Speaker 1: I love my work and want to start again. You

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00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:26,560
Speaker 1: will soon hear of me with my funny little games.

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00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,840
Speaker 1: I saved some of the proper red stuff in a

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00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,359
Speaker 1: ginger beer bottle over the last job to write with,

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00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:36,200
Speaker 1: but it went thick like glue and I can't use it.

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00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 1: Red Ink is fit enough. I hope the next job

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00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 1: I do, I shall clip the lady's ears off and

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00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:48,200
Speaker 1: send to the police officers just for jolly. Keep this

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00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 1: letter back, then give it out straight. My knife's so

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00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: nice and sharp. I want to get to work right

390
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:59,320
Speaker 1: away if I get a chance. Good luck, yours truly,

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00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:07,600
Speaker 1: Jack the Ripper. Part two of the Square will be

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00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 1: out Tuesday, October two. If you enjoy listening to Unexplained

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00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,400
Speaker 1: and would like to help supporters, you can now go

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00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 1: to Unexplained podcast dot com forward slash support. All donations,

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00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: no matter how large or small, are massively appreciated. All

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00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 1: elements of Unexplained are produced by me, Richard McClain smith.

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00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:33,840
Speaker 1: Please subscribe and rate the show on night tunes. Feel

398
00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,000
Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas

399
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you

400
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Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.

401
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Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com

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Speaker 1: or on Twitter at Unexplained Pod. Now it's time to

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