In the Shadow of Jack the Ripper: The Lambeth Poisoner

However he was eventually successfully prosecuted for the murder of Daniel Stott. Cream had been having an affair with Stott’s wife Julia. On 14th of June 1881 Daniel Stott died of Strychnine poisoning. Cream had sent a letter to the coroner blaming a pharmacist for the murder, but it was Cream that was tried and found guilty. He was sentenced to life in Illinois State Penitentiary.

The system turned out to be corrupt and in 1891 he bought his way out almost certainly by using an inheritance from the recent death of his father. (Later events have some people suggesting that he was released at least three years before this date.)

In October 1891 he returned to London, England.

During the sixth month gap that appeared in between the murder of Ellen Donworth and  Alice Marsh and Emma Shrivell, police discovered that he had in fact returned to Canada to finalise his deceased fathers affairs.

Trial and Retribution

Now convinced that they had their man, the police got a sample of Cream’s handwriting which experts confirmed matched the blackmail notes. Although the murder evidence was circumstantial they wanted him off the streets and in custody while they looked for more evidence. Therefore he was arrested on the 3rd of June 1892 on a charge of extortion, for attempted blackmail.

It was during the inquest of Matilda Cloves that the evidence began to mount up against him. Cream was recognised by witnesses who testified that they had seen him with Cloves. Evidence of his purchases of Strychnine was shown and of his speaking about her poisoning before it was discovered that she had been poisoned.
Throughout the inquest Cream appeared as a man who was not afraid of the outcome, knowing that most of the evidence was circumstantial.

However his world came crashing down when Louise Harris was called to give evidence.

Louise Harris was also known on the street as Lou Harvey.

The police had tracked her down and rather than being the dead victim that they had been looking for, she was alive and well and ready to give evidence against Cream.

She stated that Cream had given her two pills to take to “improve her complexion”.
She had not trusted him and only pretended to take the pills. At that point he had made an excuse to leave and hurried away. As soon as he had left she threw the pills into the river.

The inquest concluded that Thomas Neil Cream had consciously administered the poison to Matilda Cloves.

He was charged with the murders of Donworth, Marsh and Shrivell; the attempted murder of Lou Harvey and extortion.

He was sent to trial at the Old Bailey court, where the jury took just ten minutes to find him guilty.

In passing the death sentence Justice Hawkins described Cream’s action as “so diabolical in its character, fraught with so much cold-blooded cruelty, that it could be expiated only by your death.”

Last Words

The hanging of Thomas Neill Cream took place on the 16th of November 1892 behind prison walls.

After the executioner had put the rope around his neck, and reached for the handle that would release the trapdoor on which Cream was standing, witnesses report that Cream blurted out “I am Jack……” The noose and the drop stopped the rest.

Whether he was Jack the Ripper or not, is debatable. An important piece of evidence revolves around the date that he left the Illinois State Penitentiary.

In 1888, was he between the walls of the prison in Illinois or was he between the walls of the alleyways in the East End of London?

Other work by this writer:

The Incredible Story of Strange Fruit

The Mystery of the Screaming Man

The Mystery of Bedlam Revealed

10 Offbeat, Bizarre and Wacky Facts