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Emma Smith - Ripper Victim or Husband's Revenge?
-A. J. Griffiths-Jones-
http://ajwriter.simplesite.com/435440238
On 6th April 1888, Coroner Wynne Baxter reported to police the death of 45 year-old Emma Smith, a woman who had been attacked four days previously by a gang of men, and had died from her terrible wounds. It was later believed that this was the first of the infamous 'Whitechapel Murders' perpetrated by a fiend who became known as 'Jack the Ripper.' However, a case brought before London magistrates in 1880, may hold the key to poor Emma's murderer.
In 1880 a shoemaker named Samuel Smith was found guilty of stabbing his estranged wife, Emma, in the chest with a knife. The assault was the direct result of a domestic argument in which Emma had returned to the family home to visit the children. Samuel had demanded she return her wedding ring and a pair of earrings but the woman refused, causing her husband to become enraged.
During the trial, Emma Smith gave evidence stating that she had been taken to the London Hospital for treatment and that it had been necessary for her to stay on a ward for several days. She also confessed that, upon her release, Emma was threatened by her brother-in-law who wanted the couple to reconcile. Given the gravity of the wound, after testimony from Dr. Albert Jones who attended the victim, Samuel Smith was sentenced to eighteen months in prison.
I have been able to ascertain that upon release Smith became a pauper inmate at the local workhouse. This case could of course have no bearing upon that of the Emma Smith from 1888, but the ages match and the circumstances of Emma's unfortunate lifestyle would make sense. Perhaps we shall never know.
-A. J. Griffiths-Jones-
http://ajwriter.simplesite.com/435440238
On 6th April 1888, Coroner Wynne Baxter reported to police the death of 45 year-old Emma Smith, a woman who had been attacked four days previously by a gang of men, and had died from her terrible wounds. It was later believed that this was the first of the infamous 'Whitechapel Murders' perpetrated by a fiend who became known as 'Jack the Ripper.' However, a case brought before London magistrates in 1880, may hold the key to poor Emma's murderer.
In 1880 a shoemaker named Samuel Smith was found guilty of stabbing his estranged wife, Emma, in the chest with a knife. The assault was the direct result of a domestic argument in which Emma had returned to the family home to visit the children. Samuel had demanded she return her wedding ring and a pair of earrings but the woman refused, causing her husband to become enraged.
During the trial, Emma Smith gave evidence stating that she had been taken to the London Hospital for treatment and that it had been necessary for her to stay on a ward for several days. She also confessed that, upon her release, Emma was threatened by her brother-in-law who wanted the couple to reconcile. Given the gravity of the wound, after testimony from Dr. Albert Jones who attended the victim, Samuel Smith was sentenced to eighteen months in prison.
I have been able to ascertain that upon release Smith became a pauper inmate at the local workhouse. This case could of course have no bearing upon that of the Emma Smith from 1888, but the ages match and the circumstances of Emma's unfortunate lifestyle would make sense. Perhaps we shall never know.
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