 On Monday 4 February , William bought some rope at the local grocer 's shop , and spent the rest of the day observing cases at the Sheriff Court from the public gallery . He was later reported to have listened attentively to the proceedings . On 7 February , he attended the court sessions again . On 10 February , he visited his acquaintance , Walker , who lent him a newspaper that featured a woman 's suicide by hanging . Walker asked Bury to look up any news of Jack the Ripper , at which Bury threw down the newspaper with a fright . That evening , he walked into the Dundee Central Police Station on Bell Street and reported his wife 's suicide to Lieutenant James Parr . He said they had been drinking heavily the night before her death , and he had woken in the morning to find his wife 's body on the floor with a rope around her neck . Bury had not summoned a doctor , but had instead cut the body and concealed it in one of the packing cases brought from London . Bury told Parr that his actions were now preying on his mind , and he was afraid that he would be arrested and accused of being Jack the Ripper . 
