Annie Chapman - Aftermath

Aftermath

A leather apron belonging to John Richardson lay under a tap in the yard, placed there by his mother who had washed it. Richardson was investigated thoroughly by the police, but was eliminated from the inquiry. Garbled reports of the apron probably fed rumours that a local Jew called "Leather Apron" was responsible for the murders. The Manchester Guardian reported that: "Whatever information may be in the possession of the police they deem it necessary to keep secret ... It is believed their attention is particularly directed to ... a notorious character known as 'Leather Apron'." Journalists were frustrated by the unwillingness of the CID to reveal details of their investigation to the public, and so resorted to writing reports of questionable veracity. Imaginative descriptions of "Leather Apron", using crude Jewish stereotypes, appeared in the press, but rival journalists dismissed these as "a mythical outgrowth of the reporter's fancy". John Pizer, a Polish Jew who made footwear from leather, was known by the name "Leather Apron" and was arrested, even though the investigating inspector reported that "at present there is no evidence whatsoever against him". He was soon released after the confirmation of his alibis. Pizer was called as a witness at Chapman's inquest to clear his name, and demolish the false lead that "Leather Apron" was the killer. Pizer successfully obtained monetary compensation from at least one newspaper that had named him as the murderer, and the name "Leather Apron" was soon supplanted by "Jack the Ripper" as the media's favourite moniker for the murderer.

The police made several other arrests. Ship's cook William Henry Piggott was detained after being found in possession of a blood-stained shirt while making misogynist remarks. He claimed that he had been bitten by a woman, and the blood was his. He was investigated, cleared and released. Swiss butcher Jacob Isenschmidt matched the description of a blood-stained man seen acting strangely on the morning of the murder by a public house landlady, Mrs Fiddymont. His distinctive appearance included a large ginger moustache, and he had a history of mental illness. He was detained in a mental asylum. German hairdresser Charles Ludwig was arrested after he attempted to stab a man at a coffee stall shortly after attacking a prostitute. Isenschmidt and Ludwig were exonerated after another murder was committed while they were in custody. Other suspects named in the police files and contemporary newspapers include Friedrich Schumacher, pedlar Edward McKenna, apothecary and mental patient Oswald Puckridge, and insane medical student John Sanders, but there was no evidence against any of them.

Edward Stanley was eliminated as a suspect as his alibis for the nights of two of the murders were confirmed. On 30–31 August, when Mary Ann Nichols was killed, he was on duty with the Hampshire militia in Gosport, and on the night of Chapman's murder he was at his lodgings.