Jack the Ripper

Louis Diemschutz, a Russian Jew, was driving his pony cart to Dutfield Yard, off Berner Street in Whitechapel at 1 a.m. on Sunday, September 30, 1888. Diemschutz and his wife lived at the International Working Men's Educational Club (IWMC) and took care of the club's premises. The IWMC was a club composed primarily of Eastern European Jewish Socialists.

In his spare time, Diemschutz sold costume jewelry at various outdoor markets and was returning from this commercial enterprise when he pulled into the club yard. As he did so, he saw an object on the ground near the wall of the club building. He struck a match and saw that it was a woman.

Diemschutz rushed into the club and got a young member to help him. When they saw that the object was a woman with a stream of blood running from her body, the two men ran screaming for a policeman.

A few minutes later, Police Constable Henry Lamb and his associate were on the scene. Lamb felt warmth in the woman's face, but could detect no pulse. His associate went immediately to look for a doctor. PC Lamb did not see any signs of a struggle, nor were the woman's clothes unduly disturbed, like the earlier victims whose skirts had been raised up past their knees.

Dr. Frederick Blackwell was on the scene at 1:16 a.m. with his assistant who had arrived a few minutes earlier. He detailed his findings at the inquest:

"The deceased was lying on her left side obliquely across the passage, her face looking towards the right wall. Her legs were drawn up, her feet close against the wall of the right side of the passage. Her head was resting beyond the carriage-wheel rug, the neck lying over the rut...

"The neck and chest were quite warm, as were also the legs, and the face was slightly warm. The hands were cold. The right hand was open and on the chest, and was smeared with blood. The left hand, lying on the ground, was partially closed, and contained a small packet of cachous (breath sweeteners) wrapped in tissue paper.

"The appearance of the face was quite placid. The mouth was slightly opened... In the neck there was a long incision ...(which) commenced on the left side, 2 inches below the angle of the jaw, and almost in a direct line with it, nearly severing the vessels on that side, cutting the windpipe completely in two, and terminating on the opposite side..."

Dr. Phillips, the police surgeon had joined Blackwell at the scene of the crime. Between the two of them, the estimate of her time of death was between 12:36 and 12:56 a.m.

The police continued to investigate the death scene, but nothing in the way of clues or weapon was found. They did determine however that the chairman of the IWMC had walked through the yard around 12:40 a.m., some 20 minutes before the body was found and saw nothing suspicious nor was anyone standing around. Likewise, Diemschutz had not seen anyone when he pulled into the yard at 1 a.m.