Hear ye, hear ye: the infamous serial killer of 19th Century London, ‘Jack The Ripper’, might have had his secret identity revealed – and it only took 137 years!
The Victorian-era murderer wreaked havoc on the historical streets of East London from April 1888 to February 1891 and infamously targeted women and sex workers in particularly gruesome ways.
He was believed to have killed at least five victims although they saw no justice – since the elusive murderer was never discovered or charged with his crimes.
Who was Jack The Ripper?
A wide range of suspects have been accused of being the killer in the decades since Jack’s alleged killing spree, but it looks like researcher Russell Edwards might have just cracked the case via a DNA sample.
In 2007, Edwards bought a blood-stained shawl that was believed to be at the scene of the crime when fifth Ripper victim Catherine Eddowes was murdered, and extracted DNA from it with help from a biochemist.
The shawl had multiple human blood and semen samples present, which was believed to be owned by Eddowes and the unmasked murderer.
Edwards with the shawl. (Source: Russell Edwards)
Edwards, with help from genealogists, claimed a “100 per cent match” to then-suspect Aaron Kosminski following a long-distance relative of Kosminiski offering up her own DNA for comparison.
In an interview with LADbible, Edwards stated that they “put a huge amount of science that the shawl didn’t belong to the victim… because we always thought that the semen on the shawl was just one of her customers.”
“We thought it was her shawl, but through the scientific analysis, we realised that she couldn’t have afforded to own it and realised the only person that could have left the shawl at the murder scene was him.”
Kosminski was a Polish immigrant, barber, and Jack The Ripper suspect who lived from 1865 to 1919. He was later institutionalised (but never imprisoned) after threatening his sister with a knife. He died in poor health at a mental asylum.
A computer-generated pic of Kosminski. (Source: The Sun)
In an interview with The Sun, Edwards claimed that this news “brings closure and it’s a form of descendants”, for The Ripper’s victims.
“He can’t be prosecuted because he’s dead but this is the closest thing they can do.
“This man committed atrocities towards their ancestors and we know it’s him and we want the courts to say ‘yes, you’re right’.”
So the Jack The Ripper case is solved now… right?
Despite Edwards claims that Jack The Ripper has been unmasked, many remain unconvinced of his findings.
For one, there is little to no evidence that the shawl was ever present at the crime scene and, since it’s over 100 years old, it very likely has been contaminated over the decades.
Aka, the blood and semen samples could have come from a whole multitude of individuals who were kicking it during that time.
It’s practically impossible to decipher Jack’s true identity, even with our modern technology, but one fact remains true: humanity will forever be transfixed by this macabre mystery man.
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