This one isn't a murder, but a strange crime that was happening in London, England in 1681.
In 1681 lone women were afraid to walk around central London due to a criminal known as Whipping Tom. Whipping Tom was a man who would wait in alleys for a lone woman. When he found a victim he would quickly come up behind her lift up her dress, bend her over his knee, and spank her with a rod or his hand. Sometimes he would even scream "Spanko!" and then run off and disappear quickly.
He was so quick in disappearing some believed that he may have been supernatural. He was termed Whipping Tom and given a little moniker of "The enemy of milkmaid bums everywhere." His attacks went no further than a quick spanking.
Locals began questioning whether or not the policing in the area was doing their job. Women started carrying weapons like pen knives in order to protect themselves. There were many men who became vigilantes and dressed in women's clothing and try to catch him.
There may have been another serial spanker in 1672 as one article mentions that another serial whipster was operating in London. It's unknown if this serial spanker was caught or if they thought it was the same man. In 1712 copycat had operated in the Hackney area. He was caught though and had done it because he was hurt by a woman.
SOURCES:
http://theunexplainedmysteries.com/2017/06/11/whipping-tom/
http://www.bpi1700.org.uk/research/printOfTheMonth/mayjune2009.html
https://funfactz.com/law-and-crime-facts/whipping-tom/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipping_Tom
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