Emma Elizabeth Smith attacked in Whitechapel

Background. Smith lived in a lodging-house at 18 George Street, Spitalfields, for approximately eighteen months. Her life prior to the murder remains obscure. She was last seen by fellow resident Margaret Hayes at 12:15 a.m. on Tuesday, 3 April 1888, the day after the Easter Monday bank holiday.

Attack and Death. Smith was assaulted and robbed at the junction of Osborn Street and Brick Lane, Whitechapel, approximately seventy-five minutes after leaving her lodging. Upon returning, she told deputy keeper Mary Russell that she had been attacked by two or three men, one of whom was a teenager. She died on 4 April 1888.

Investigation and Attribution. Police made efforts to track down the assailant, but Smith provided no descriptions and no witnesses came forward. The case was listed as the first of eleven Whitechapel murders. Most modern authors consider her unlikely to be a Jack the Ripper victim, suspecting instead the work of a criminal gang.