Scientists Reckon They Know Exactly Who Jack The Ripper Was
For true crime fans.
For true crime fans, there is no case more infamous and frustrating than Jack the Ripper.
People have been trying to identify the London serial killer since 1888, but despite endless theories his identity has never been confirmed.
However scientists now believe they have found Jack the Ripper once and for all.
DNA has been found on a blood-stained shawl that matches Aaron Kosminksi, who was a 23-year-old Polish barber in London at the time of the murders. The DNA matches a living relative of Kosminski.
The shawl also contains a DNA match for Catherine Eddowes, one of the Ripper’s victims. The blood-stained shawl was found next to Catherine’s body at the time of her death.
Although the shawl has been tested before, this time around the findings were confirmed by researchers from Liverpool John Moores University.
They wrote in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, “We describe for the first time systematic, molecular level analysis of the only surviving physical evidence linked to the Jack the Ripper murders.
“Finding both matching profiles in the same piece of evidence enhances the statistical probability of its overall identification and reinforces the claim that the shawl is authentic.”
Kosminski lived close to where the Ripper’s third victim, Elizabeth Stride, was killed. Elizabeth was murdered on the same night as Catherine.
Jack the Ripper committed five murders in London’s Whitechapel district, and up to six more deaths have at times been attributed to the killer.
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