In 1964 and 65 there were a series of murders in west London that evoked Jack the Ripper, whose murders were committed on the other side of London. The bodies of six prostitutes were found at various locations. The murders are usually referred to as the "Hammersmith Nude Murders" because the bodies were found in the Hammersmith area and their clothing had been removed. But unlike the murders of Jack the Ripper these were committed by strangulation and impact. The killer was never caught although, as with Jack the Ripper, there has been endless speculation and a list of possible suspects.
In another story a 15 year old boy was working at a store in the Welsh town of Abertillery, in 1921. His name was Harold Jones. A young girl who lived nearby was sent over to buy animal feed. The girl never returned home and her body was found the following day. There was traces of corn chaff on her body that matched the corn chaff on the floor of a nearby shed. The shed belonged to the store and Harold Jones was the one who had the key to it.
Harold Jones was accused of the murder and put on trial. The people of the town stood by him, believing that one of their own couldn't have done this, and he was found not guilty. When he returned home he was received like a hero. He clearly very much enjoyed the attention and made a speech.
But within a short time another young girl in the town disappeared. This time her body was found in the attic of the home where Harold Jones lived. He had lured her into the house and killed her when he had been home alone and apparently didn't have chance to dispose of the body so he hid it in the attic.
He was convicted and, while in prison, also confessed to the first murder. Britain had the death penalty at the time but he wasn't eligible for it because the crimes had been committed before he turned 16. He seems to have served 20 years in prison. There is conflicting information about what happened to him after his release. He served in either the military or the Merchant Navy. Britain was pressed by the war in 1941 and I wonder if he was released in exchange for service.
He is known to have lived in London afterward, but is reported to have occasionally returned to Abertillery. By the 1960s his crimes had been mostly forgotten and he was living under a different name. Harold Jones died of cancer in 1971. While the police were investigating the Hammersmith Nude Murders what they were not aware of is that Harold Jones was living close by.
No one seems to have considered Harold Jones as a potential suspect during his lifetime. He was born in 1906 so would have been in his late 50s when the Hammersmith Murders were taking place. He was added to the list of potential suspects, by the media not the police, long after his death.
What is interesting about the Hammersmith Murders is that flecks of paint were found on several of the bodies, but this didn't begin until after it was announced in the news that a serial killer was at work. From what I can gather the flecks of paint on one body matched that inside a transformer housing that the body was found near.
Has anyone ever thought that Harold Jones was purposely leaving clues? I cannot see this anywhere. Killers like this usually can't resist playing games with the public and authorities. Jack the Ripper famously sent taunting letters to the police. I remember the letters from the "Son of Sam" to the media.
Remember the corn chaff that was found on the body of Harold Jones' first victim back in Abertillery, which matched the corn chaff on the floor of the nearby shed. The paint flecks represented that corn chaff and the transformer housing represented the shed.
There is a police sketch of the likely Hammersmith killer, based on information provided by a witness. It looks like it could be Harold Jones, based on the mugshot that was taken in 1921. I believe that he purposely allowed himself to be seen as another clue.
It was known that Harold Jones liked to read when he was young. What I surmise is that he must have read about Jack the Ripper, whose murders took place more than 17 years before his birth. This is what gave him the idea of killing girls. Notice that the first known victim of Jack the Ripper, Mary Ann Nichols, had her throat slashed and her body was found in an alley. Harold Jones' first victim, in Abertillery, was found in an alley and his second victim had her throat slashed.
Blood is messy and visible and it didn't make sense to kill the second victim by slashing her throat in his own home. This is what got him caught when the police searched house-by-house, and noticed blood stains. Why didn't he kill her by strangulation or impact, like the first victim? The obvious answer is that he had made a hero out of Jack the Ripper, and was compelled to imitate him.
Then, in later life while living in London, came the murders to imitate Jack the Ripper. Serial killers usually don't begin killing in their late 50s, without ever having killed before. It is known that Jack the Ripper had some kind of medical skill, since he removed the internal organs of one victim. Lacking such medical skill the killer in Hammersmith removed their clothing instead. This also left no doubt that there was a serial killer at work.
The Hammersmith killer, just like Harold Jones in Abertillery, always moved the bodies from where they were killed. Several of the victims were mysteriously missing front teeth, and this could be another clue. The Wikipedia article on Harold Jones states that he once expressed the ambition to be a professional boxer, and this must have been reported in the news. In the early days of boxing, before the use of mouthpieces, missing front teeth were common. The final victim in Hammersmith is known to have disappeared on January 11, which was Jones' birthday.
It is not known for certain how many were killed by Jack the Ripper but the six in Hammersmith were an approximation of the number. It is also bizarre how he drained the blood from the second victim in Abertillery, which is what got him caught. This looks like an effort to imitate Jack the Ripper's removal of the one victim's internal organs.
The murders of Jack the Ripper were seasonal, taking place in the autumn of 1888. He had to use a knife because it was easier to conceal. Walking around Whitechapel with something that could be used for a blunt instrument would have drawn attention. In the autumn he would have been wearing some kind of jacket or covering, which made it possible to conceal the knife. The Hammersmith killer didn't have any difficulty concealing a blunt instrument because he was driving a car. He would also have been biased against blood because that was what got him caught back in Abertillery.
For more about serial killers who have purposely left clues see "The Unabomber And The Zodiac Killer", November 2023, and 1) DID THE SON OF SAM WANT TO GET CAUGHT in the compound posting "Investigations", December 2018.
There is so much more to be found, just by looking online, in some of these cases. With the endless volumes that have been written about the O.J. Simpson case I am still in disbelief at what had never been noticed. In "A Niagara Falls Perspective On The O.J. Simpson Case", April 2024, we saw the connection with the 1962 escape from Alcatraz. From the high school that O.J. went to the island was clearly visible, and he was going to school there when the escape happened. When playing for the Buffalo Bills he wore number 32, and the murders for which he was charged happened 32 years to the day from the Alcatraz escape.
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