Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1892-10-08 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

THE WHITECHAPEL MURDERS  A STRANGE SUGGESTION. The Vienna correspondent of the Standard, "with every precaution warranted by the circumstances," takes note of the fact that in police circles there and in Pesth it is considered very probable that Szemeredy, the Vienna murderer, who committed suicide the other day in Pressburg, is likely to be regarded in England as the perpetrator of all the "Whitechapel murders." In July, 1878, at a house of ill-fame at Buenos Ayres, Szemeredy murdered a girl named Carolina Metz by stabbing her. He then passed as a military surgeon. It appears that at the time when Szemeredy learned his trade, Eome 30 years ago, barbers in Hungary were still in the habit of acting as dentists and extracting teeth, and performing the operations of bleeding patients and ! dressing wounds, so that by such practice they ' could not fail to acquire some knowledge of the human anatomy. Barber Szemeredy, moreover, had served as a soldier in Italy during the war with Sardinia in 1859, and there he was probably employed in the military hospital, ! and might thus have picked up some surgical skill. ' It is said by those who knew him at the time that ! he despatched many an uncle whose nephews were 1 impatient to succeed to their heritage. In one description of him, it is said that "a series of tombstones marked his path through Southern America." About the murder in Buenos Ayres a significant detail is mentioned. Si,emeredy left his overcoat, hat, and umbrella in the murdered girl's room, so that suspicion was immediately fastened upon him. Ile nevertheless managed to get away to Rio de Janeiro. From the latter city he wrote anonymous letters to the authorities of Buenos Ayres which recall the alleged letters of the Whitechapel murderer to Scotland-yard. Szemeredy, moreover, owned to having committed murders, but he called himself an insane man. On being arrested for the Buenos Ayres crime, he continued to feign insanity, but the result of the trial was that he was sentenced to death. He was, however, not executtd. Public opinion was excited, and denounced the execution of "an insane man," For five years the Argentine courts were occupied with him, until at length, in 1881, he was finally acquitted of the charge of murder, but sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment for theft previous to the murder. On his return to Hungary he was imprisoned as a deserter, and sent first to the military asylum, and finally to the State asylum near Pesth. He was released from the latter as cured in 1886. Between this date and March, 1890, when he made the acquaintance of a widow who afterwards lived with him in Pesth, he i 3 only knoan to have been away in North America. With regard to the points of resemblance to the Whitechapel murderer it is 'minted out, in the first place, thtt Szemeredy commenced his criminal career by stal Ling an unfortunate. Ile had some surgical knowledee and practice, knew English from having been in North America, was tall and thin, and was fond of writing letters to the authorities and to the newspapers. It may be remarked that about six morths ago, that is during the first series of the Vienna murders and the second, the Pesth police • and newspapers received letters signed "Jack the Ripper," which at the time were considered a hoax. Saemeredy, like the Whitechapel murderer, came ;xi Vienna to commit a- crime and suddenly disappeared, coming again when the interest in the former case had died out. As his victims he chose one class of persons in Vienna, small jewellers and watchmakers. The correspondent adds that the disappearance of Szemeredy between 1886 and 1890 covers the time of the "Whitechapel murders."