[GreatOne]

Very interesting. I've always thought that the identity, if ever discovered, would turn out to be someone who was not previously suspected. I've seen a show about Cornwell's case and the evidence she has accumulated, and I was pretty impressed. Seems like she's got it nailed to me.

[Paul Atreides]

DNA samples may identify Jack the Ripper

But, not O.J. the Ripper.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

a tormented artist...wouldn't surprise me.

[DWSUWF]

Damning though this may seem to be we can't be sure until we use the DNA to clone him and see if his clone manifests a tendency to slice and dice women.

If he does, then we can execute him and finally be done with it.

[stanz]

I saw the program,too, and recall that Cornwell staked her professional reputation on this one.

[AnAmericanMother]

Here's another view.

Patricia Cornwell and Walter Sickert - a Primer

The evidence is by no means as cut-and-dried as the publicity would have you believe. (It's that old "cui bono" thing again.)

These guys have put together a Jack-the-Ripper website examining the evidence against the various suspects, the witnesses, etc. [WARNING: the crime scene photos are hideously graphic, and I'm speaking as a former arson death investigator.]

[Paradox]

The best part is that many Brits are apoplectic about what this woman has done to prove her point. She is rich, and has paid huge sums for his paintings (Swickerts). He is considered one of Britians best painters in his era. Anyways, she has shredded some of his art in order to search from clues.. they think she is a loon.

[Notforprophet]

BUMP for perusal later (when not blocked by corporate Big Brother firewall.)

[nickcarraway]

Wasn't there a Law & Order roughly based on Patricia Cornwell?

[SpringheelJack]

a team of investigators came to their conclusion after analyzing DNA samples from 55 letters, envelopes and stamps sent by Jack the Ripper; Sickert, as well as his wife and his mentor, and Ripper suspect Montague John Druitt.

What Ripper letters? As I recall, the only letter that has any plausible claim to being authentic is the Lusk letter that was sent with part of a human kidney - and if it's even still around, I'm sure that after more than 100 years of handling whatever DNA might remain is pretty well contaminated. Furthermore, there are several more suspects than just Sickert and Druitt.

[Snuffington]

I'm looking forward to reading the book. Though her evidence is bound to have problems (what murder investigation over 100 years old would not), her strategy is sound. She applied modern forensic investigation techniques to raw evidence, rather than relying on second hand reports resulting from primitive investigative techniques of late 19th century Scotland Yard.

[SpringheelJack]

Very interesting. I've always thought that the identity, if ever discovered, would turn out to be someone who was not previously suspected.

Sickert's name has been floating around as a suspect for a few years now, mostly on the crackpot fringe.

[grumpster-dumpster]

"Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed,"

The case will NEVER be closed... not as long as there is a buck to be made from it!

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

The DNA samples only identify who wrote the "Jack the Ripper" letters, NOT who commited the crime. There was only one letter that was considered authentic and it was not signed, "Jack the Ripper", it was signed, "Catch me if you can, Mr. Lusk".

There is substantial evidence that M.J. Druit was the killer. If it was not him, it was someone very much like him. Walter Sickert did not come close to matching the physical description of the killer and M.J. Druit is the only suspect who did.

Druit killed himself and the murders stopped. The murderer had been molested by a woman as a child and he, therefore hated and feared women (an FBI criminal profile done in 1988). Druit's mother was insane and was commited in a nut house.

These are just some of the tantilizing evidence pointers that point to Druit.

Read the books by Donald Rumbelow.