Bradford’s Jack the Ripper: The Mutilation of John Gill
News of the Times | Episode 507 | 1888
In December 1888, the brutalised body of 8-year-old John Gill sent shockwaves through Bradford — a young boy mutilated and arranged in a grotesque parcel, echoing the horrors of Jack the Ripper just weeks earlier. As panic swept the streets, suspicion fell on a familiar milkman, and London detectives were summoned to examine the boy’s remains for Ripperesque parallels. The case exploded into national headlines, yet despite the chilling circumstantial evidence, the trial ended in discharge… and the crime remains an open wound in Victorian criminal history.

Further Particulars:
Also in Bradford, a young woman with a flair for drama is arrested for sending "Jack the Ripper" letters — to the press, to the police, and presumably anyone with a postal address. Her motive? “To make a sensation.” And she certainly did.

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