page_title: Elizabeth Stride
section_title: Conclusion
hierarchical_section_title: Elizabeth Stride / Conclusion
context_page_description: Elizabeth "Long Liz" Stride is believed to have been the third victim of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, who killed and mutilated a minimum of five women in the Whitechapel and Spitalfields districts of London from late August to early November 1888.
  Unlike the other four canonical Ripper victims, Stride had not been mutilated following her murder, leading some historians to suspect Stride had not actually been murdered by Jack the Ripper. However, Stride's murder occurred less than one hour before the murder of the Ripper's fourth canonical victim, Catherine Eddowes, within walking distance, and her act of murder is suspected to have been disturbed by an individual entering the crime scene upon a two-wheeled cart. In addition, both women had been murdered by slash wounds to the throat, leading most authors and researchers to consider Stride to be the third of the Ripper's canonical five victims.
  Stride was nicknamed "Long Liz". Several explanations have been given for this pseudonym; some believe it sources from her married surname, while others believe this is a reference to either her height, or her general facial structure.
context_section_description: The inquest into Stride's murder lasted five days, with the final day of hearings being adjourned until 23 October. This final day of hearing saw three witnesses testify—all of whom provided testimony confirming the identity of the decedent.
  At the conclusion of this final day of hearings, coroner Baxter stated his belief that Stride had been attacked in a swift, sudden manner, with her death undoubtedly being a homicide, and no known circumstances being available which could reduce the crime to one of manslaughter. The murderer could have taken advantage of the checked scarf Stride was wearing to grab her from behind before slitting her throat, as had earlier been suggested by Phillips. Baxter, however, thought the absence of a shout for assistance and the lack of obvious marks of a struggle indicated that Stride had willingly lain down on the ground before the wound had been inflicted. Stride was still clenching a packet of cachous in her left hand when she was discovered, indicating that she had not had time to defend herself and that the attack had been sudden.
  In relation to the actual crime scene, Baxter noted the decedent had been attacked in the passageway leading into a courtyard in which several families resided in cottages located a matter of yards from where her body was discovered, and that although this location afforded darkness, it was unlikely the murderer would have selected the location on account of Dutfield's Yard being an unfrequented location. Baxter further noted the windows of the International Working Men's Educational Club had been open, and that both Stride and her assailant would undoubtedly have heard the patrons' singing and dancing.
  With regard to the witness testimony pertaining to the man or men seen in Stride's company in the two hours before the discovery of her body, Baxter stated many points of similarity had been given with regards to the physical description of the individual in her company, but also some of dissimilarity. However, Baxter stated these discrepancies did not conclusively prove there had been more than one man in the company of Stride between 11:00 p.m. and 12:45 a.m., but that the eyewitness descriptions suggested either that she had been in the company of a minimum of two men in her final hours, or that one or more eyewitness was mistaken in details of the description of the man he had seen.
  Following a short deliberation, the jury, having been instructed to deliberate precisely how, when, and by what means Stride came about her death, returned a unanimous verdict: "Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown."
caption: Death certificate of Elizabeth Stride, 24 October 1888
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