Robert Anderson Vs. George Kebbell

Who was Jack the Ripper?

Some time ago we partly shared the story of the woman murderer of Whitechapel, made by Sir Robert Anderson, then head of the Criminal Investigation Department and British police commissioner. According to him, Jack the Ripper was one of the lowest class in an insane asylum and was identified as the women's killer. But by then the only witness against him refused to confirm his signature under oath, so the accused was never prosecuted. This report is now however addressed by a well-known London lawyer named George Kebbell. He claims, that Jack the Ripper was a 28 year old Irishman who was trained for the medical profession but after he was repudiated by his family, he then hit the rocks, and was caught and arrested by the police when he attacked a woman in public with a particular type of knife . He was defended in the police court by Mr. Kebbell, but without legal assistance through the criminal court, was referred for maltreatment of women, he was sentenced to forced labour for ten years and, to our Lord Kebbell's knowledge, died in prison. After the arrest of this Irishman, the Whitechapel murders ended promptly. The police suspected him of all the killings, and while he was under arrest, they saw him cut an apple in the same way as he carved the women. He could not find enough direct evidence of negligence on the killings. So it is just for the abuse of a woman that he could be prosecuted. Whom should one believe? Because of these conflicting stories, the mystery of who Jack the Ripper was remains unsolved.

Source: De Gelderlander, Friday 29 April 1910, Number 97

JACK THE RIPPER NOT A JEW.

Mr. George Kebbell writes that Sir Robert Anderson has fallen into a blunder concerning the identity of Jack the Ripper. "The latter was not a Jew, but an Irishman, educated for the medical profession, and for reasons disowned by his relatives. Just before the Whitechapel murders he had been getting his living as a fireman on a cattleboat, and, having been suspected and watched by the police, was arrested in the very act of mutilating a woman, who, as by a miracle, recovered, and, looking like a ghost, gave evidence at his trial." Mr. Kebbell defended the man before the magistrate, but at the Old Bailey he was unrepresented. He was sentenced to ten years' penal servitude, and died in prison.

Source: The Shoreditch Observer, Hackney Express, Bethnal Green Chronicle and Finsbury Gazette, April 23, 1910, Page 6

THE IDENTITY OF JACK THE RIPPER.

Cattleman Who Died While in Prison.
DISCOVERED BY RELATIVES.

A curious controversy has arisen over the "Ripper" murders.
Sir Robert Anderson, ex-Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has declared that the assassin of the unfortunate Whitechapel and Spitalfields women was a Jew, and that the police could not get evidence because those of his race who knew of his guilt refused to give evidence.
Yesterday Mr. George Kebbell, the well-known City solicitor, declared that this was inaccurate, and that the man arrested proved to be of Irish birth, was found guilty of the minor charge (his victim recovering), and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. Mr. Kebble added that he believed the man died in prison.
Seen at his offices, 57, Gracechurch-street, Mr. Kebble yesterday told a "Lloyd's News" representative his reasons for contradicting Sir Robert Anderson.
"I cannot understand him making that statement about a Jew," he remarked, "because he must remember the circumstances perfectly well.
"Moreover, he must have had the knife with which the man attacked the woman, a very curious weapon, and if it is not in the criminal museum has probably got it still.
"The newspapers came out one afternoon with bills announcing "Arrest of the 'Ripper'"! Next morning someone who had interested himself in the matter asked me to represent the man.
"When he was brought up at the old Worship-street Police Court I found that the woman was in such a critical condition that we all expected he would have to answer the capital charge.
"He had been caught in the very act of mutilation, with the knife in his hand, and he had removed parts of the body which had always been the objects of attack in the earlier cases.
"To the surprise of everyone the woman recovered, and as the police could not obtain evidence to convict the man of the murder, he was for the time charged with the minor offence.
"When he was committed for that I got into communication with his friends. The father was an official of some distinction, and, the son having disgraced his family, he would have nothing to do with his defence.
"When the trial came on at the Old Bailey the man was undefended, and got ten years' penal servitude. I always understood that he died in gaol, and that the police, although quite convinced he was "The Ripper," never got direct evidence of it.
"The young fellow had been educated for the medical profession, but had been on a cattle boat, as fireman or something. He had been under suspicion some time before he was arrested, and that was how they were able to get him."
"Have you any doubt from your knowledge of the case, as his legal representative, that he was the guilty man?" Mr. Kebble was asked, and he immediately replied with emphasis: "I have no doubt whatever. It was always assumed he was the man. And the most significant thing is that there were no more murders."

Source: Lloyd's Weekly News, April 17, 1910, Page 2