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Pic: JanBondeson/BNPS
One of the wounded ladies reveals all to the magistrates at Bow Street, with Sir Sampson Wright taking a closer look.
A historian has shed new light on a little-known predator who terrorised London's streets a century before Jack the Ripper.
The despicable culprit - dubbed The Monster - targeted well dressed young women by stabbing them in the thigh or buttocks.
His reign of terror lasted for the first half of 1790, with him clocking up six victims on a single day. Other women were kicked from behind with spikes fastened to his knees, while some were stabbed in the nose by a spike hidden in a bouquet they were invited to smell.
By the time The Monster was finally apprehended, his tally of traumatised victims was over 50. He was unmasked as disgraced Welsh ballet dancer Rhynwick Williams, who was kicked out of the theatre after committing theft and descended into the capital's seedy underworld.
Historian Dr Jan Bondeson has written about him in his book 'The London Monster: Terror on the Streets', and also contributed to an upcoming film on the sinister episode.
Pic: JanBondeson/BNPS
One of the wounded ladies reveals all to the magistrates at Bow Street, with Sir Sampson Wright taking a closer look.
A historian has shed new light on a little-known predator who terrorised London's streets a century before Jack the Ripper.
The despicable culprit - dubbed The Monster - targeted well dressed young women by stabbing them in the thigh or buttocks.
His reign of terror lasted for the first half of 1790, with him clocking up six victims on a single day. Other women were kicked from behind with spikes fastened to his knees, while some were stabbed in the nose by a spike hidden in a bouquet they were invited to smell.
By the time The Monster was finally apprehended, his tally of traumatised victims was over 50. He was unmasked as disgraced Welsh ballet dancer Rhynwick Williams, who was kicked out of the theatre after committing theft and descended into the capital's seedy underworld.
Historian Dr Jan Bondeson has written about him in his book 'The London Monster: Terror on the Streets', and also contributed to an upcoming film on the sinister episode.
©JanBondeson 7 Feb 2020 1675x1251 / 583.4KB