David Cohen

[How Brown]

Open for discussion

[Scott Nelson]

Martin Fido made an interesting observation some years ago about a Home Office Report by Charles Warren dated September 19, 1888.

Warren wrote, "A brothel keeper who will not give her address or name writes to say that a man living in her house was seen with blood on him on the morning of the murderer [Chapman's on September 8th]. She described his appearence and where he might be seen - when detectives came near him he bolted, got away and there is no clue to the writer of the letter."

Martin wondered if this report may have actually originated from Mary Jones, a brothel keeper, who was charged with indecent assault on N. Cohen, along with a procuress, Gertrude Smith and a young prostitute, Ellen Hickey. N. Cohen, who was not present at their December 7, 1888 court arraignment, was actually Aaron Davis Cohen (or David Cohen) who was taken by MET police to the Leman St. Police Station on that very same day.

But if this was Cohen who was living in the brothel in September and if he killed Chapman and was seen with blood on him, would he have risked staying in the brothel for another three months? I am told that the wheels of Victorian justice moved very quickly in those days, so it is unlikely that if the police knew where he was, even though they had nothing on him, they would have waited so long to pull him into the dock. That is, unless he wasn't going to be charged with anything, being a victim rather than an assailant. It would be nice to actually see the court record, a copy of which is in the possession of Keith Skinner, I believe.

On the other hand, recall the commentary by retired Detective Inspector (City Police) Henry Cox, who told of keeping a suspect under surveillance for three months. Maybe it was Cohen.

Another thing of interest is that the day previously, on December 6th, Joseph Isaacs, a Polish Jew cigar-maker was also taken to the Leman Street Police Station for stealing a watch. The police thought for sure that they had JtR (was it Isaacs who was the subject of unnamed brothel keeper's letter? See the A-Z entry for Joseph Isaacs, Mary Cusins lodging house at Little Paternoster Row.) Nobody knows what became of Isaacs. He could be Anderson's suspect for all we know. Isaacs may even have briefly shared the same cell with David Cohen, who came into the station the day after Isaacs was confined. Some interesting scenarios, anyway.