Thomas Arnold (police officer)
Police Superintendent Thomas Arnold (7 April 1835 – 1907) was a British policeman of the Victorian era best known for his involvement in the hunt for Jack the Ripper in 1888. It was his opinion that Mary Jane Kelly was not a victim of the Ripper.[1][2]
The son of Thomas and Elizabeth Arnold, Arnold was born at
In 1887 Arnold was involved in the
On the wall above where the apron was found was discovered
Although the
Later, in his report of 6 November to the Home Office, Arnold claimed, that with the strong feeling against the Jews that already existed, the message might have become the means of causing a riot:
I beg to report that on the morning of the 30 September last my attention was called to some writing on the wall of the entrance to some dwellings No. 108 Goulston Street, Whitechapel which consisted of the following words: "The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing", and knowing in consequence of suspicion having fallen upon a Jew named 'John Pizer' alias 'Leather Apron' having committed a murder in Hanbury Street a short time previously, a strong feeling existed against the Jews generally, and as the Building upon which the writing was found was situated in the midst of a locality inhabited principally by that Sect, I was apprehensive that if the writing were left it would be the means of causing a riot and therefore considered it desirable that it should be removed having in view the fact that it was in such a position that it would have been rubbed by persons passing in & out of the Building."[6]
In an interview with the Eastern Post in February 1893, Arnold said that "...not more than four of these murders were committed by the same hand. They were the murders of
On 1 February 1893 Arnold retired from the Police.[3][5] He died in Leytonstone in January 1907.
References
- ^ a b "Jack the Ripper ‘was invented by journalists’ " The Times 1 May 2009
- ^ Jack the Ripper 'was several different killers' Daily Telegraph 1 May 2009
- ^ The National Archives; [The Catalogue, The National Archives; see also image of page.
- ^ a b Arnold on Casebook: Jack the Ripper website
- ^ a b Arnold's Pension Application 3 February 1893
- The National Archives; quoted in Evans and Skinner, Jack the Ripper: Letters from Hell, pp. 24–25 and The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook, pp. 185–188