thumb|250px|Contemporary newspaper illustration of the Whitehall Mystery, depicting the discovery of the victim's torso

The Whitehall Mystery is an unsolved murder that took place in London in 1888. The dismembered remains of a woman were discovered at three sites in the centre of the city, including the construction site of New Scotland Yard, the new police headquarters. The incident belongs to the so-called Thames Torso Murders.

Discoveries

On 11 September 1888, a right arm and shoulder were discovered on the muddy shore of the River Thames in Pimlico. The Times newspaper had initially suspected that the arm was placed in the water as a medical students' prank.

thumb|1837 illustration of the premises occupied by the Metropolitan Police

On 2 October 1888, during construction of the Metropolitan Police's new headquarters, to be known as New Scotland Yard, on the Victoria Embankment near Whitehall in Westminster, a worker found a parcel containing human remains. The female torso was discovered in a three-month-old vault that made up part of the cellar. It was placed there at some point after 29 September when Richard Lawrence, a workman, had last been inside the unlocked vault. The body had been wrapped in cloth, possibly a black petticoat, and tied with string. The torso was matched by police surgeon Thomas Bond to the previously found arm and shoulder.

On 17 October 1888, reporter Jasper Waring used a Spitsbergen dog, with the permission of the police and the help of a labourer, to find a left leg

Speculation

Newspapers suggested a connection between this murder and the Jack the Ripper murders in and around the Whitechapel district that were occurring simultaneously, but the Metropolitan Police ruled out any connection between the cases. It was also revealed that the victim had been wearing a broché satin dress at the time of death. nothing was found to indicate that the victim had borne children; the heart was healthy and the right lung, liver, stomach, kidneys and spleen were normal. She had been dead for around six weeks to two months

It has become a point of trivia and irony that Scotland Yard was originally built (it later moved to a new location) on a crime scene related to an unsolved murder.

See also

  • List of unsolved murders (before the 20th century)

References

Sources

  • Contemporary news article pertaining to the Whitehall Mystery
  • Casebook.org inquest reports into the death
  • 2016 news article pertaining to the Whitehall Mystery
  • BBC History magazine article detailing the Whitehall Mystery
  • The [https://whitechapeljack.com/thames-torso-murders/ Thames Torso Murders at whitechapeljack.com