Catherine Eddowes

Catherine Eddowes, admitted to the morgue

Catherine "Kate" Eddowes (born April 14, 1842 in Graisley Green, Wolverhampton , † September 30, 1888 in Whitechapel , London ) is considered the fourth victim of the serial killer Jack the Ripper ( German  Jack, der Schlitzer ), who in late summer and Autumn 1888 killed and mutilated several prostitutes in the Whitechapel slum in London.

Since it was not possible at the time to take photos from above on the table, the dead were hung on the wall with a hook so that a full-body photo could be taken.

Earlier life

Catherine Eddowes was the daughter of tinplate worker George Eddowes and his wife, also named Catherine. She was born on April 14, 1842 in Wolverhampton . Shortly after she was born, the family moved to London. Catherine Eddowe's mother likely gave birth to twelve children. The large family later fell into poverty and suffered several blows of fate. Two younger children died in early childhood. Catherine Eddowe's mother died of tuberculosis on November 17, 1855 . Her father died two years later. Until then, two older sisters had been employed as domestic servants , and another was married. Some of the younger children were the workhouse of Bermondsey and Crafts School sent. Her sister Emma sent Catherine Eddowes back to Wolverhampton when she was a teenager to live with an aunt. Catherine Eddowes was restless there and fled to Birmingham to live with an uncle, a shoemaker, for some time.

Marriage and children

Over the next few years, Catherine Eddowes met Thomas Conway in Birmingham, with whom she also lived. However, the two were never married. Around 1865 she gave birth to their daughter Annie and two younger sons. They returned to London around 1881 and separated a short time later after living together for nearly twenty years. One of Catherine Eddowes s sisters blamed Thomas Conway for the breakdown of the relationship because he drank and regularly beat Catherine Eddowes. But Catherine Eddowes had become a drinker too.

Life in Whitechapel

That same year, Catherine Eddowes met John Kelly at a hostel in Whitechapel. He was her significant other for the last seven years of her life. Witnesses reported that the couple had a good friendly relationship, although Catherine Eddowes continued to drink. John Kelly was hired as a casual laborer and Catherine Eddowes found a job as a cleaner or sold cheap jewelry on the street. Friends stated that Catherine Eddowes was never a prostitute. However, the investigation into her death revealed that she probably increased her income through occasional prostitution .

On Thursday, September 27, 1888, she and John Kelly returned to London from the Kent hop harvest on foot . Nevertheless, they arrived back in London almost penniless. After pawning some remaining items for food, John Kelly decided on Saturday, September 29, 1888, to look for some casual work. It was reported that Catherine Eddowes was said to have said she was going to visit her married daughter Annie. Annie had previously moved away, however, and it is believed that Catherine Eddowes knew about it at this point. It is not known whether she pretended to be visiting family to cover up her intention to earn money as a prostitute or if she had other reasons. After saying goodbye to John Kelly at 2:00 p.m., she made enough money to get drunk, at least in the hours that followed.

She was found around 8:30 p.m. while she was lying on the street, unable to stand. She was then taken into custody by the London police and put in a cell until she was sobered out shortly before 1 a.m. It is believed that some men leaving a club near Miter Square were the last to see them alive around 1:30 a.m. Catherine Eddowes was talking to a man who was believed to have killed her.

The discovery of the corpse

Catherine Eddowe's body was found in a dark corner of Miter Square at 1:44 am on the early morning of September 30, 1888. She was the only victim killed in the City of London, even if the place was close to the border with Whitechapel. The killing of Catharine Eddowes was very typical of the murders of the woman killer and was similar to the murder of Annie Chapman three weeks earlier.

Catherine Eddowes' throat was cut , her abdomen opened, and completely gutted . The entrails were thrown over her right shoulder and her face mutilated. The killer had taken half the uterus and the left kidney with him.

The policeman who found her body had seen nothing at this point 12 to 14 minutes earlier during his tour. Nor did he see or hear anyone in this area when he discovered the body. Catherine Eddowe's killer allegedly fled to Whitechapel, where a torn piece of her apron was later found in an entrance area on Goulston Street (see Goulston Street graffito ).

Catherine Eddowes was the night of the "Double Event" ( Engl. Killed two punch), in which also the murder of Elizabeth Stride less done than an hour before.

literature

• Philip Sugden: The Complete History of Jack the Ripper. Carroll & Graf Publishing, New York NY 1995, ISBN 0-7867-0276-1 , is widely regarded as one of the best books on the subject.
• Stewart P. Evans, Keith Skinner: The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Emphasis. Constable and Robinson, London 2001, ISBN 1-84119-452-2 .
• Hendrik Püstow, Thomas Schachner: Jack the Ripper. Anatomy of a legend. Militzke Verlag, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-86189-753-9 .
• Hallie Rubenhold : The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. Doubleday, 2019, ISBN 978-0857524485 .

Web links

Commons : Catherine Eddowes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Catherine Eddowes . In: jacktheripper.de
• Catherine Eddowes . In: casebook.org (contains numerous English-language articles on the case and reproduces many original sources)