Herman Cohen was born in about 1869. He lived at 24 Harold Street in Sunderland and worked as a moneylender.

Cohen was murdered on 8th March 1909. Cohen had been slashed about the head and his cash box had been stolen. According to the doctor who examined his body, the injuries had been inflicted with a large sharp implement, such as a hatchet, or possibly a butcher's knife or cleaver.

The murderer of Herman Cohen was never caught. However, on 14th August 1910, The People newspaper published an article entitled Was Dickman a Double Murderer?. According to this article, the police had found evidence that connected John Dickman to Herman Cohen.

However, research carried out by Diane Janes in her book, Edwardian Murder revealed that John Dickman could not have been the murderer of Cohen. As she points out: "He (the murderer) left 24 Harold Street via the front door, having had no opportunity to wash his hands or clean his clothing, and carrying about his person a large blood-stained weapon, which was never discovered in spite of an extensive search of the streets, yards and gardens in the locality.... No one in their right mind would have risked travelling 10 miles back to Newcastle, along gaslit streets, via tramcar or train in such a state. Cohen's killer was surely a local man, who melted into a convenient dark alley before making his way swiftly home."