Off The Record
Jack The Ripper Unmasked: 137-Year-Old Mystery Solved With DNA Evidence
The identity of Jack the Ripper, the notorious serial killer who terrorised London’s East End in 1888, may have finally been revealed after more than a century of mystery, conjecture, and innumerable speculations.
Russell Edwards, a self-described “Ripperologist” and British author, says he has identified the man behind the legend thanks to a breakthrough in forensic DNA.
And if his conclusions are confirmed, one of the most infamous murder mysteries in history might finally have a solution.
The Chilling Crimes That Defined an Era
At least five women are thought to have been brutally murdered by Jack the Ripper; these are referred to as the “Canonical Five”:
- Mary Nichols, 43
- Annie Chapman, 47
- Elizabeth Stride, 44
- Catherine Eddowes, 46
- Mary Jane Kelly, 25
These ladies were killed in London’s impoverished Whitechapel neighbourhood between August and November of 1888. Theories that the murderer had surgical expertise were spurred by his gory tactics, which included slitting necks, dismembering bodies, and occasionally extracting internal organs.
Police, historians, and crime specialists have been trying to identify the murderer for decades. Theories have ranged from writers and demented psychopaths to royals and surgeons.
However, no one was able to identify Jack the Ripper despite innumerable books, films, and studies; however, a recent discovery might have changed everything.
DNA Evidence Leads to a Name
When Russell Edwards bought a shawl that purportedly had belonged to victim Catherine Eddowes in 2007, he started his investigation into the case.
There were stains of semen and blood on the fabric.
When the shawl was subjected to forensic testing years later, DNA from two individuals was found on it: one was connected to Eddowes’ ancestors, and the other was to a Polish immigrant who was residing in London at the time of the killings.
That foreigner? Kosminski, Aaron.
“Considering his DNA is on the shawl that was at the murder scene and he was named, I have never considered anyone else to be the Ripper,” Edwards told News.com.au.
“I have, however, looked into every other suspect in order to eliminate them.”
Who Was Aaron Kosminski?
Born in Kłodawa, Poland, Kosminski and his family relocated to London when he was a young boy, where he worked as a barber in Whitechapel, the area where Jack the Ripper hunted.
According to the records, Kosminski experienced auditory hallucinations as well as other severe mental illnesses. He was housed in several asylums in London and was notorious for his paranoid tendencies, which included ignoring basic cleanliness and refusing to consume food that had been prepared by others.
Despite being a suspect at the time of the killings, Kosminski was never prosecuted.
Later, in 1919, at the age of 53, he passed away in an asylum.
The Science Behind the Discovery
Because of worries about contamination and the difficulty of obtaining useable DNA from evidence from the 19th century, Edwards’ forensic discovery took four years to complete.
“When we matched the DNA from the blood on the shawl with a direct female descendant of the victim, it was the singular most amazing moment of my life at the time,” Edwards said.
“We tested the semen left on the shawl. When we matched that, I was dumbfounded that we actually had discovered who Jack the Ripper truly was.”
A Lifelong Obsession with the Ripper
For more than 11 years, Edwards has been committed to cracking the Jack the Ripper case. After seeing the movie From Hell, which shows the murders, he became fascinated.
“I saw the movie From Hell and then did a Jack the Ripper tour,” he said.
“It was then I realized I had been walking in his footsteps all that time and didn’t know. After that, I called Scotland Yard and asked where the case files were. I was told they were in the National Archives at Kew,” Edwards continued.
“I went and conducted some research and found quite quickly that nobody would ever know the identity of Jack the Ripper as there was not any evidence. It was only when I bought the shawl that my journey really began.”
Victims’ Families Demand Justice
The heirs of Jack the Ripper’s victims are demanding an official police inquiry to validate the results now that Kosminski has been identified as the murderer.
According to victim Catherine Eddowes’ great-great-great-granddaughter Karen Miller, it would provide her family with long-overdue justice.
“The name Jack the Ripper has become sensationalized, it has gone down in history as this famous character,” Miller told The Daily Mail. “It has all been about him, this iconic name, but people have forgotten about the victims who did not have justice at the time.”
“We have the proof, now we need this inquest to legally name the killer,” she said, pleading the authorities to establish an inquest into Kosminski.
“It would mean a lot to me, to my family, to a lot of people to finally have this crime solved.”
Could the Case Finally Be Closed?
Not everyone agrees with Edwards’ conclusions, even though he is confident in them. The DNA results cannot be thoroughly examined or independently confirmed because the study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.
Citing “not sufficient new evidence,” Attorney-General Michael Ellis declined to hold a new inquest into the matter two years ago. It remains to be seen if Edwards’ most recent discovery will alter that.
For the time being, the world has a name after 137 years of rumours and dead ends, and it might be the solution to one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in history.
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