World3 min(s) read
Author issues plea as '100% DNA match' identifies Jack the Ripper
.jpg_xKEaT0?tr=cr-0.328.2730.3058,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
A man who has claimed to have identified the man behind the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper has issued a warning.
It's been nearly 140 years of mystery and conspiracy theories, with the identity of Jack the Ripper long speculated; the serial killer who terrorized Whitechapel in London during the late 19th century may finally have been revealed.
British author and self-described 'Ripperologist' Russell Edwards has claimed to know the true identity behind the killer: Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski.
If his findings are proved correct, we may finally have an answer to one of the most notorious murder mysteries in British history.
The serial killer is believed to have murdered at least five women, known as the Canonical Five: Mary Nichols, 43, Annie Chapman, 47, Elizabeth Stride, 44, Catherine Eddowes, 46, and Mary Jane Kelly, 25.
Following the discovery, Edwards has revealed the impact it may have on the victims' descendants.
Edwards issued a warning over discovery
The expert was asked whether descendants of the victims have been able to find closure, to which he assured that this is the case.
Speaking in a video posted to TODAY’s YouTube channel, Edwards explained: “Oh, yes, so obviously the direct female descendant of the fourth Ripper victim, Catherine Eddowes, Karen Miller, she’s overwhelmed greatly, but again, she wants closure.
“And so we’ve got 10 other descendants of Catherine Eddowes’ family who all want closure.
“And really what we want is to stop the name being bandied around because the name actually was created by an enterprising journalist and actually didn’t have anything to do with the murder whatsoever.
“But this is the name given to this murderer. And also really no more people coming up with false, I would say, suspects. There are only ever three. So we basically want to close the story.
“That’s really what we’re trying to do.”
Edwards began his mission to solve the 19th-century case in 2007, when he bought a shawl which reportedly belonged to Catherine Eddowes, one of Jack's victims.
The fabric contained blood and semen stains, and years later, forensic testing revealed that DNA from two people was found.
One was linked to Eddowes' descendants and the other to a Polish immigrant who lived in London at the time, named Aaron Kosminski.
The Science Behind the Discovery
Edwards' forensic breakthrough took four years to complete after concerns over contamination and the challenge of extracting usable DNA from 19th-century evidence.
“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 explained.
“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.”
But while there is now a name, and Edwards remains confident of his findings, the vast majority of people will need convincing.
This research is yet to be published in a scientific peer-reviewed journal, so the DNA results have not yet been fully scrutinized or independently verified.