The group of murders commonly attributed to The Ripper are a subset of a larger group known as "The Whitechapel Murders." Researchers must exercise some caution in confusing the two events. However, there was considerable contemporary speculation as to whether or not some of the other murders in the temporal period were committed by the Ripper. Here are the other cases that comprise the total of the infamous Whitechapel murders.
"Faerie Fae": Christmas week, 1887: Numerous accounts of the Ripper slayings, especially those written within the first 4 decades of the events, list the murder of an unknown prostitute during Christmas week of 1887. Later researchers have dismissed this case, some speculating that it arose as a work of fiction, perhaps several years after the events of the fall of 1888.
My own research indicates that this murder probably was entirely fictional. There is no indication from surviving police files that the police were investigating a murder in that time frame. Nor are there any press accounts mentioning a murder around that time. However, I believe that the origins of the story, whatever their source, date back to the time of the murders themselves. A newspaper article that appeared in the London edition of the New York Herald, on September 11, 1889 mentions this murder in an appended list of "Ripper victims." The story dealt with the discovery of a headless woman's torso on September 10, 1889 (see below). While the murder in question almost certainly never occured, there was some widely mistaken view that it was factual within the public conscious a year after the Ripper slayings. Its possible that the origins of the tale involved the attack upon Margaret Himes on December 8, 1877. She was admitted to the London hospital with facial and chest injuries. She survived the attack.
Emma Smith: April 3, 1888: Early on Tuesday morning, April 3, Emma Smith was assaulted by what she described as a gang of 3 men. She was apparently robbed of her money, beaten and sexually assaulted with a blunt instrument. She died in the hospital the following day as the result of peritonitis. The assault was in the same area, and similar in character, to the attack upon Margaret Himes the previous December. The press was later to speculate that this attack was related to the Ripper killings, although police apparently never suspected a link.
Martha Tabram: August 7, 1888: On the evening of August 8, Martha Tabram and her friend, Mary Ann Connelly met with two soldiers at around 10 P.M. According to Connelly, one was a private, the other a corporal. At around 11:45 PM, the group seperated, as Connelly went off the the corporal, and Tabrum the private.
At 4:45 the following morning, John Reeves, a laborer discovered the brutally murdered body of Tabrum on the first floor landing of the building where he lived. She had been stabbed 39 times. A cabby named John Crow had passed the same landing at 3:15, and the body was not there at that time. Police conducted extensive investigations into soldiers who had been on leave that evening, however Connelly was unable to identify any suspects in subsequent line-ups.
Rose Mylett aka Lizzy Davis: December 20, 1888: Early on the morning of December 20, the body of a prostitute was discovered by two police officers in the Poplar area. There was no sign of struggle, and a small, empty vial was found in the woman's dress. Post-mortem examinations caused a stir as discrepancies arose as to the cause of death. One doctor offered the opinion that the woman had died of strangulation, while another opined that she had died of suicide, or possibly natural causes. Police never officially determined whether or not foul play was involved, however the press quickly siezed upon the case as another Ripper killing.
Alice McKenzie: July 17, 1889: Early on the morning of July 17, the body of a prostitute later identified as Alice McKenzie was discovered by a police officer in Whitechapel. The throat had been cut, but there was no other sign of mutilation. While some police officers believed that the murder may have been the work of The Ripper, Dr. Phillips offered the opinion that the wounds were not similar in character to the previous killings. A policeman who discovered the body had passed the area where it was found about 10 minutes prior, so the murder had to have been committed rapidly.
Unknown Woman: September 10, 1889: The body of a headless, legless torso of a woman was discovered under a railway arch in the early morning hours. The victim was never identified, and the woman was apparently murdered elsewhere and dumped at the location where it was discovered. Two reporters from the New York Herald were apparently approached by an unknown man on the evening of the murder, and warned that a body would be discovered. The man turned out to be a street hawker for the newspaper. He claimed to have been told of the imminent discovery by a man in uniform, possibly a soldier or policeman. Upon going to the site where the body was supposed to be found, the reporters said they found nothing. But the body was later discovered by police. The mysterious man in uniform was never found.
Frances Coles: February 13, 1891: At 2:15 AM the body of Frances Coles was discovered by a policeman in Whitechapel. Her throat had been cut. Police immediately suspected that the crime was related to the earlier killings, but doubts later arose. James Thomas Sadler ultimately became the leading suspect in the murder of Coles. He was extensively questioned with regard to his possible involvement in the earlier slayings, although it ultimately became apparent that he probably wasn't involved in the Ripper slayings.
