In the Shadow of the Seven Stars
Hunting the Ripper
Related songs: In the Shadow of the Seven Stars and Dead and Gone
James Thomas Sadler and Frances Coles
During the court inquest into Frances Coles’ murder, a timeline of events was established for the days surrounding her death. Of particular concern was the whereabouts of James Thomas Sadler, a seaman who had just been discharged from his ship, the S.S. Fez. After his discharge, Sadler headed into Whitechapel where he quickly proceeded to spend all of his money on food and drink, a room and a female companion with whom he reunited at the Princess Alice Public House shortly after his ship ported at the London Docks. That female companion was Frances Coles, a 26-year-old woman who had been living day-to-day for the better part of eight years as one of the unfortunates who traded her body for a night’s lodging at a low-rent doss in Spitalfields and enough food drink to iron over the edges of a very rough life.
Frances Coles spent many of her remaining hours in Sadler’s company, sharing a double room with him on White’s Row and bar hopping around Whitechapel. The pair even went shopping together and Sadler provided the money for a new hat for Coles at a milliner’s store on Nottingham St. As Thursday, February 12 wore on, however, troubles began to beset the pair. In the early evening, Sadler was attacked and robbed by a woman and two men while Coles’ stood by watching. This incensed Sadler and he wondered if Coles’ had helped to arrange the attack. The pair split up for a time and, from that point forward, were in each other’s company only intermittently until the moment Frances was murdered under a railway arch in Swallow Gardens near Royal Mint Street in Whitechapel at around 2:15 AM on Friday, February 13.
Sadler was eventually arrested in association with Frances Coles’ murder but he was never formally charged. After being held for several days, Sadler was ultimately released without charges. Initially, many had wondered if Sadler might be the notorious Jack the Ripper; however, the record clearly showed that Sadler was away at sea in 1888 when Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes were murdered, so it soon became clear that he could not be the elusive ripper.
Of course, this does not mean that Sadler was not responsible for Frances Coles’ death; it simply means that there is little chance that he was the ripper. To establish that Sadler was guilty of Coles’ murder, the police needed to show that he had the opportunity, means and motive to commit the murder. The fact that several witnesses testified to seeing Sadler in a diminished physical state just minutes before the crime would prove to be a problem. Moreover, the fact that those witnesses included police officers who had tended to his wounds made it ever the more difficult for the authorities to believe that Sadler was the the man who committed the crime.
There was also the problem connecting a murder weapon to Sadler, even though he had a knife in his possession that night. It is a matter of record that he had suspiciously sold a knife early the next day to another sailor. However, once that knife was produced, it was clear to the authorities that it was not sharp enough to have been the murder weapon.
Consequently, once all the facts were in, many doubted that Sadler had committed the murder. His motive for performing such a desperate act was also not clear. It is true that Sadler was known to be a belligerent drunk, but there was nothing in his past to suggest he was capable of murder or that he had any particular hatred of women or prostitutes.
Furthermore, according to multiple witnesses, Sadler had not behaved like a man who intended to murder his companion; in fact, he had shown concern and compassion for Frances both before and after the murder, even making sure that her lodging that night had been paid for – even when he could not pay for his own. This show of concern was in spite of the fact that he suspected that Frances may have conspired with others to attack and rob him earlier that evening. Perhaps Sadler’s outward concern for Frances’ well-being on the night of her murder was just an act and he was already intentionally covering up for a crime he intended to commit later that night.
On the other hand, there was at least one other potential suspect. According to Ellen Callana (who is also known as ‘Ellen Callagher’), Sadler wasn’t the last man to be seen with Coles that night. Callana met up with Coles on Commercial Street near the Princess Alice Pub at about 1:30 AM on February 13. As the two women walked down Commercial Street toward the Minories, they were approached by a man seeking a female companion. Callana refused to go with the man because he had been rough with her earlier in the week, but Coles takes him up on his offer. Callana also testifies that the man definitely was not Sadler, whom she knew by sight. Consequently, between 1:30 AM and 1:45 AM, approximately 30 to 45 minutes before her death, Frances Coles walked away with an unknown but violent man in the general direction of the murder scene.
Nevertheless, Sadler was definitely in that same area of Whitechapel, arguably close enough to have encountered Coles at 2:15 AM on his way back to Spitalfields from a roundabout journey to the docks, where he was forced off his ship and beaten yet again by a group of sailors. Perhaps Frances was making her way in the opposite direction to find Sadler at the docks. Perhaps the pair did meet under the railway arches near Royal Mint Street, and maybe Sadler did find Coles in the middle of a sexual act with the other man. But, if that is the case, what became of the other man? Did he run? Did he fight? There were many passers-by just prior to and right after the murder and no one reported a second man fleeing the scene.
All we know is from the testimony of a few individuals who were nearby right before and after the murder (but somehow not during?). A police constable named Ernest Thompson testifies that he heard the footsteps of a person walking away from the scene of the crime at a normal pace at approximately 2:15 AM, but he never got a chance to view the potential suspect. He instead tended to the victim. In the meantime, whomever committed the horrible act disappeared into the shadows of Whitechapel with no one to witness his or her departure.
Meanwhile, James Thomas Sadler returned to their lodging, Spitalfield’s Chambers in White’s Row, where he inquired about Frances’ whereabouts and well-being for the second time that night. When he was told that Frances was not there and he needed to leave because he could not afford a room, Sadler eventually made his way to the London Hospital, where he was treated for the wounds he received from two fights that night – and possibly from one murder.
Sadler was arrested at a nearby pub the following day and was taken away peacefully. His main concern was that he get proper representation, lest the people get ideas of blood lust before getting all their facts straight. He also must certainly have been concerned that people were already talking about Frances Coles’ murder in connection with the Jack the Ripper killings.