George Hutchinson: Local Man And Jack the Ripper Suspect
110 years after Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror in the Whitechapel of 1888, a new suspect was revealed.
In 1998, From Hell: The Jack the Ripper Mystery by Bob Hinton was published, and the author gave it this description:
“There have been countless books written about the Whitechapel murders. In writing 'From Hell,' I was trying to provide the expert with some new angles on the crimes but at the same time give the novice something to whet his appetite. The suspect offered here has never before been the subject of a book.”
Casebook.org, the comprehensive website dedicated to the mystery of Jack the Ripper, said:
“An interesting book, taken from the perspective of a modern magistrate with experience in murder investigations. Hinton is to be applauded for his research, though his ultimate conclusion as to the identity of the Ripper (witness George Hutchinson) is rather hard to swallow. Recommended.”
Two decades later, George Hutchinson was again identified as the killer known as Jack the Ripper.
Author Stephen Senise published his book Jewbaiter Jack The Ripper: New Evidence & Theory in 2017. And just one year later, in 2018, he published a second book on the case: False Flag Jack The Ripper.
For any writer on Jack the Ripper, identifying an as-yet-unnamed contender for the killer is obviously appealing, but apart from the novelty of George Hutchinson, is there any solid evidence?
George Hutchinson enters the story toward the end of the fourth day after the murder of the fifth victim.
Mary Jane Kelly’s mutilated body was discovered on the morning of Friday, November 9th.
It was not until 6 pm on Monday, November 12th, that George Hutchinson walked into the Commercial Street police station and gave his evidence. The Daily News of November the 14th reported:
“On Thursday last, I had been to Romford, in Essex, and I returned from there about two o'clock on Friday morning, having walked all the way. I came down Whitechapel Road into Commercial Street.
As I passed Thrawl Street, I passed a man standing at the corner of the street, and as I went towards Flower and Dean Street, I met the woman Kelly, whom I knew very well, having been in her company a number of times.
She said, "Mr. Hutchinson, can you lend me sixpence?" I said, "I cannot, as I am spent out going down to Romford."
She then walked on towards Thrawl Street, saying, "I must go and look for some money."
The man who was standing at the corner of Thrawl Street then came towards her and put his hand on her shoulder and said something to her which I did not hear, and they both burst out laughing.
He put his hand again on her shoulder and they both walked slowly towards me. I walked on to the corner of Fashion Street, near the public house.
As they came by me, his arm was still on her shoulder. He had a soft felt hat on, and this was drawn down somewhat over his eyes.
I put down my head to look him in the face, and he turned and looked at me very sternly, and they walked across the road to Dorset Street.
I followed them across and stood at the corner of Dorset Street. They stood at the corner of Miller's Court for about three minutes.
Kelly spoke to the man in a loud voice, saying, "I have lost my handkerchief." He pulled a red handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to Kelly, and they both went up the court together
I went to look up the court to see if I could see them, but could not. I stood there for three-quarters of an hour to see if they came down again, but they did not, and so I went away.
My suspicions were aroused by seeing a man so well-dressed, but I had no suspicion that he was the murderer.
The man was about 5ft 8in in height and 34 or 35 years of age, with a dark complexion and dark moustache turned up at the ends.
He was wearing a long dark coat trimmed with astrachan, a white collar with a black necktie, in which was affixed a horseshoe pin. He wore a pair of dark "spats" with light buttons over button boots, and displayed from his waistcoat a massive gold chain. His watch chain had a big seal with a red stone hanging from it.
He had a heavy moustache, curled up, and dark eyes and bushy eyebrows. He had no side whiskers, and his chin was clean-shaven.
He looked like a foreigner.
I went up the court and stayed there a couple of minutes, but did not see any light in the house or hear any noise.
I was out last night until three o'clock looking for him. I could swear to the man anywhere. I told one policeman on Sunday morning what I had seen but did not go to the police station.
I told one of the lodgers here about it yesterday, and he advised me to go to the police station, which I did last night.
The man I saw did not look as though he would attack another one.
He carried a small parcel in his hand, about eight inches long, and it had a strap around it. He had it tightly grasped in his left hand. It looked as though it was covered with dark American cloth. He carried in his right hand, which he laid upon the woman's shoulder, a pair of brown kid gloves.
One thing I noticed, and that was that he walked very softly.
I believe that he lives in the neighbourhood, and I fancied that I saw him in Petticoat Lane on Sunday morning, but I was not certain.
I went down to the Shoreditch mortuary today and recognised the body as being that of the woman Kelly, whom I saw at two o'clock on Friday morning.
Kelly did not seem to me to be drunk, but was a bit "spreeish." I was quite sober, not having had anything to drink all day.
After I left the court, I walked about all night, as the place where I usually sleep was closed. I came in as soon as it opened in the morning.
I am able to fix the time, as it was between ten and five minutes to two o'clock as I came by Whitechapel Church. When I left the corner of Miller's Court, the clock struck three o'clock.
One policeman went by the Commercial Street end of Dorset Street while I was standing there, but not one came down Dorset Street. I saw one man go into a lodging house in Dorset street, but no one else. I have been looking for the man all day.”
It’s interesting that Hutchinson says, “He pulled a red handkerchief out of his pocket.”
At around 2 a.m. on a wet November night in Whitechapel, how could he tell what colour the handkerchief was?
It must be said that there was a gory obsession with every detail of these murders by the East End population. A ‘red handkerchief’ was one of those well-publicised details.
Joseph Lawende had added that detail to the story.
Lawende was a man also blessed with great vision.
At 1:35 on the morning of November 30th, he included a red handkerchief in the description of a man he saw talking to a woman in the entrance to an alley that led to Mitre Square. 9 minutes later the body of the 4th victim, Kate Eddowes, was found in a dark corner of Mitre Square.
It’s worth remembering that it was more than three days after George Hutchinson saw this “foreign-looking” man with Mary Kelly at two o’clock in the morning.
Try thinking back to where you were around three or four nights ago. Picture any of the people you saw. Maybe even somebody you talked to. Maybe you asked them for directions or exchanged a polite “Good Evening” with them.
Now, close your eyes and describe them to yourself.
Can you match the degree of detail that George Hutchinson delivered at the Commercial Street police station a full three nights and a whole day after he saw this man?
Here’s the description again:
“The man was about 5ft 8 in height and 34 or 35 years of age, with dark complexion and dark moustache turned up at the ends.
He was wearing a long dark coat trimmed with astrachan, a white collar with a black necktie, in which was affixed a horseshoe pin.
He wore a pair of dark "spats" with light buttons over button boots, and displayed from his waistcoat a massive gold chain. His watch chain had a big seal with a red stone hanging from it.
He had a heavy moustache, curled up, and dark eyes and bushy eyebrows. He had no side whiskers, and his chin was clean-shaven. He looked like a foreigner.”
Looking at this description, we might have doubts about just how reliable this witness is. And it is this very doubt that first awakened suspicion in the minds of both these writers.
They suggest that this was all an elaborate alibi.
Hours before George Hutchinson strolled into Commercial Street police station, Sarah Lewis, a laundress, gave evidence on the first day of the inquest into Mary Jane Kelly’s death. She said:
“I know Mrs Keyler in Miller's Court and went to her house at 2, Miller's Court, at 2.30 a.m. on Friday. It is the first house. I noticed the time by the Spitalfields' Church clock.
When I went into the court, opposite the lodging-house, I saw a man with a wideawake. There was no one talking to him. He was a stout-looking man, and not very tall. The hat was black.
I did not take any notice of his clothes. The man was looking up the court; he seemed to be waiting or looking for someone.”
What is suggested is that George Hutchinson now realised he had been seen near the scene of the crime. So he came up with this story to give an innocent explanation as to why he was standing just yards from the murder site at 2:30 in the morning.
Presumably, this means that George Hutchinson was “a stout-looking man, and not very tall” and in the habit of wearing a black ‘wide-awake’ hat.
There isn’t any description given of George Hutchinson so we can’t say for sure. But surely if George Hutchinson were “a stout-looking man, and not very tall” somebody would have suggested that Sarah Lewis take a look at him.
The description that Hutchinson gave is a composite of what newspapers had been presenting since the murder of Polly Nicholls.
Stephen Senise points out in his book False Flag: Jack the Ripper that George Hutchinson’s description matches the description that had been given in the newspapers papers of Leather Apron in that:
His expression was sinister.
He moved noiselessly.
He would never attack a man.
Black hair and black moustache.
Foreign/Jewish.
Repellent looking/surly.
Leather Apron carried a knife. Hutchinson describes the man carrying a parcel about eight inches long.
The most straightforward explanation for George Hutchinson’s behaviour is that like Mrs Elizabeth Long, the other famous witness blessed with phenomenal recall, they wanted their fifteen minutes of fame. And also an opportunity to get into the mortuary to see the body.
Both Mrs Elizabeth Long and George Hutchinson got the star prize despite the fact that both Annie Chapman and Mary Jane Kelly had already been identified, they managed to get permission to view the victim’s body.
It needed a very good story to convince the police that you should be allowed to satisfy a morbid curiosity more than three days after each of the murders.
For Bob Hinton and Stephen Senise, George Hutchinson, rather than satisfying his curiosity, was attempting to muddy the waters and give himself an alibi.
Adding more complexity to the reason George Hutchinson chose to come forward certainly makes for a good story.
Although as Agatha Christie’s sleuth, Miss Marple said: “I always think it’s best to examine the simplest and most commonplace explanations first.”
Thank you for checking out this post.
I hope I’ll get to meet you on one of my tours.