Elizabeth Stride

Elizabeth "Long Liz" Stride (née Gustafsdotter; 27 November 1843 – 30 September 1888) is believed to have been the third victim of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, who killed and mutilated at least five women in the Whitechapel and Spitalfields districts of London from late August to early November 1888. Unlike the other four canonical Ripper victims, Stride had not been mutilated following her murder, leading some historians to suspect she had not been killed by Jack the Ripper. However, Stride's murder occurred less than one hour before the murder of the Ripper's fourth canonical victim, Catherine Eddowes, within walking distance, and her act of murder is suspected to have been disturbed by an individual entering the crime scene on a two-wheeled cart. In addition, both women had been murdered by slash wounds to the throat, leading most authors and researchers to consider Stride the third of the Ripper's canonical five victims. Stride was nicknamed "Long Liz". Several explanations have been given for this pseudonym. Some believe it derives from her married surname (a stride being a reference to a long step), while others believe this is a reference to either her height, or her general facial structure.