Something told Mrs. Angel, a Polish ?migr? living in Whitechapel, east London, that all was not well with her daughter Miriam, so she set out on June 29th, 1887, to visit her at her home in Batty Street, Commercial Road East. Her intuition proved to be right Miriam, 22, lay dead in her bedroom, alongside Israel Lipski, a family friend.
Both had been poisoned with nitric acid, but Lipski soon recovered. He told the police he had heard a disturbance, and when he investigated he saw two men robbing Miriam. The intruders forced both him and Miriam to swallow acid.
When he was brought for trial at the Old Bailey in July 1887, no motive was suggested, but after a two-day hearing he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. After that Lipski, who had so far vehemently denied the murder, made a full confession. He claimed that his motive was to rob Miriam while she was asleep and not to sexually assault her, although the police believed he intended both. He was hanged on Monday, August 22nd, 1887, at Newgate.