Jack the Ripper is one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers. He killed more than five women and has remained in the history books due to the fact that he was never caught and so his identity is a mystery! I found this article online which appeared in The London Times on the 10th of August, 1888. I have removed some of the key vocabulary and am challenging you to fit the correct words in the correct gaps.
Witness - someone who saw the event happen.
Dreadful - terrible or awful.
The deceased - the person who died.
Identified - Found out who the person is.
Endeavour - to try
Inquiry- an attempt to find information about a specific event.
Body - the physical structure of a human being.
Yesterday afternoon Mr. G. Collier, Deputy Coroner for the South-Eastern Division of Middlesex, opened an _(1)_ at the Working Lads' Institute, Whitechapel-road, respecting the death of the woman who was found on Tuesday last, with 39 stabs on her body, at George-yard-buildings, Whitechapel.
Detective Inspector Reid, H Division, watched the case on behalf of the Criminal Investigation Department.
Alfred George Crow, cabdriver, 35, George-yard-buildings, deposed that he got home at half-past 3 on Tuesday morning. As he was passing the first-floor landing he saw a _(2)_ lying on the ground. He took no notice, as he was accustomed to seeing people lying about there. He did not then know whether the person was alive or dead. He got up at half past 9, and when he went down the staircase the body was not there. The_(3)_ heard no noise while he was in bed.
John S. Reeves, of 37, George-yard-buildings, a waterside labourer, said that on Tuesday morning he left home at a quarter to 5 to seek for work. When he reached the first-floor landing he found _(4)_ lying on her back in a pool of blood. He was frightened, and did not examine her, but at once gave information to the police. He did not know the deceased. The deceased's clothes were disarranged, as though she had had a struggle with some one. Witness saw no footmarks on the staircase, nor did he find a knife or other weapon.
The coroner said he was in hopes that the body would be _(5)_, but three women had identified it under three different names. He therefore proposed to leave the question open until the next occasion. The case would be left in the hands of Detective Inspector Reid, who would _(6)_ to discover the perpetrator of this (illegible) murder. It was one of the most _(7)_ murders any one could imagine. The man must have been a perfect savage to inflict such a number of wounds on a defenceless woman in such a way. The inquiry would be adjourned for a fortnight.
To read the full article and discover more about Jack the Ripper, visit : http://www.historybuff.com/library/refLT81088.html
Lesson by Caroline
