Posted on 02/04/2025 6:30:16 AM PST by Red Badger
Jack the Ripper's murder spree claimed the lives of countless women A researcher has claimed to have definitively identified Jack the Ripper through DNA evidence, sparking calls for an official inquest into the infamous murders.
Russell Edwards says he has obtained a "100 per cent DNA match" linking the killer to Aaron Kosminski, a Polish barber who emigrated to London.
"It's very difficult to put into words the elation I felt when I saw the 100 per cent DNA match," Edwards said.
"This brings closure and it's a form of justice for the descendants," he added.
Russell Edwards says he has obtained a "100 per cent DNA match" linking the killer to Aaron KosminskiInstagram The breakthrough came from DNA extracted from a bloodstained shawl found on victim Catherine Eddowes' body in 1888.
Edwards purchased the historic shawl at auction in 2007.
Working with genealogists, Edwards tracked down a living relative of Kosminski who agreed to provide DNA for comparison testing.
The analysis revealed DNA matches for both the victim and Kosminski on the shawl.
"He can't be prosecuted because he's dead but this is the closest thing they can do," Edwards said.
Karen Miller, whose ancestor Catherine Eddowes was one of the Ripper's victims, is leading calls for an official inquest to legally name the killer.
"We have got the proof, now we need this inquest to legally name the killer," Miller said.
The 53-year-old descendant added: "It would mean a lot to me, to my family, to a lot of people to finally have this crime solved."
Yes. I apologize. I wanted to post to #22. I thought your observation and comment was very good.
I would strongly disagree with "legally naming the killer." That should be done only after a trial. Even a dead man has a right to have his name protected. There is a huge difference between a suspected serial murderer and one legally declared as such. As others have suggested, the mere presence of his DNA on a prostitute's shawl does not prove that Kosminski killed her or any of the other victims.
IMO, Kosminski has always been the most likely of the known suspects to be Jack the Ripper. This evidence might strengthen that belief but is not conclusive, at all. Unless there is some undeniable evidence yet to be found, in all likelihood, we will never know the identity of Jack the Ripper with certainty.
Did you read Redbadger’s Post 19.
He shot a big hole in my post.
im not a dna expert
but would you get a 100% match from a relative several generations away?
woudnt there just be some markers in common?
Another violent crime committed by an immigrant....
This - siblings can have significant DNA differences. Heck, even if they had this alleged perps actual dna from another source, it wouldn’t be “100%”. Might be close, but not 100%.
More nonsense.
He can’t. This claim is old and of significant doubt. Wiki does a pretty good job of summarizing the disputing DNA analysis.
Moderators: Please return my original post #12. Thanks...M
Yes. The supposed “unique” marker is actually very common.
This may be the guy or it may be a 5th cousin. It just basically tells you that whoever left the DNA was European.
Countless? Five confirmed. Up to eleven. There. Counted. Sheesh.
How many different people have been “proven” to be the perpetrator over the years?
And there’s still an immigrant crime wave in Old Blighty.
Everyone knows that it was the gaseous cloud that feeds on fear.
REDJACK
According to the article, it wasn't her shawl. And according to another article I read, only his DNA was found on it.
Both groups always had much in common. Our family has had several Italian-Jewish marriages.
“According to the article, it wasn’t her shawl. And according to another article I read, only his DNA was found on it.”
Irrelevant. Furthermore the DNA is claimed to be 100% match to a “relative” of Kosminski which, not to the suspect himself. This makes no sense. However, since “Kosminski” is undoubtedly dead, it should be possible to get a sample of his DNA from his body and match it to the sample obtained on the victim. Even if that matches, it does not prove he killed her.
They’re not even sure which Kisminski was the suspect.
There were two people by that name, one a violent lunatic in an asylum, but he was incarcerated at the time of at least some of the killings.
Thanks for the ping. It seems some believe that the victims weren’t prostitutes. Apparently the official reports say otherwise.
I found this little report interesting.
“In 1888, a series of unsolved homicides in London, England were attributed to a serial killer called “Jack the Ripper.” In 1988, Supervisory Special Agent John Douglas of the FBI’s National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime performed an analysis of the case for the Cosgrove-Meurer Production Company. This release consists of his analysis.”
https://vault.fbi.gov/Jack%20the%20Ripper/Jack%20the%20Ripper%20Part%2001%20%28Final%29/view
Edwards has been pushing Kosminski as a suspect since 2007 and previous DNA analysis supporting his theory has been problematic:
* * *
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1556-4029.15595
EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: J. Louhelainen, and D. Miller, “Forensic Investigation of a Shawl Linked to the “Jack the Ripper” Murders.” Journal of Forensic Sciences 65 no. 1 (2020): 295–303, https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14038.
This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 12 March 2019 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), and has been published by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Michael Peat; and the Publisher, Wiley Periodicals LLC, on behalf of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Following an investigation by the publisher, the Expression of Concern has been agreed due to concerns raised by third parties after publication regarding the conclusions drawn from the mtDNA analysis performed by the authors. Related concerns were also summarized in two Letters to the Editor [1, 2] published by the journal, to which the authors responded with their own Letters to the Editor [3, 4]. During the investigation, the publisher and Editor-in-Chief made every effort to obtain from the authors the original raw data from the mtDNA analysis. However, the authors stated that the data were no longer available, due to instrument data failure and other complications. Through further investigation it was concluded that, because it was not possible to examine the original data, no determination could be made regarding the third-party complaints. The journal is issuing this Expression of Concern because the concerns regarding the data and the results presented cannot be resolved. The authors have been informed about this Expression of Concern and agree to its publication.
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