Historians are dealving into murder committed 124 years ago in Whitechapel—exactly a year before Jack the Ripper—to see if an innocent man was hanged for it.

The murder of Miriam Angel remains one of the most controversial Victorian crimes in London’s East End.

Israel Lipski was hanged at Newgate prison on August 22, 1887, for killing her at 16 Batty Street, St Georges-in-the East—but many continue believing he was innocent.

Now the Whitechapel Society has taken up Lipski’s case with a debate open to the public on Saturday (June 4).

Author and society chairman William Beadle will argue that Lipski was innocent—while author Mark Ripper will insist that Lipski was ‘guilty as charged’.

The audience is invited to vote on their verdict after hearing the case for and against. The debate, open to non-members, is in the functions room at the Aldgate Exchange pub in Whitechapel High Street at 7.30pm, entry �5 on the door.