Posted on 12/17/2005 12:33:45 PM PST by wagglebee
A SCIENTIST from Blantyre is playing a key part in solving one of the world’s most famous mysteries ... the identity of serial killer Jack the Ripper.
Last week, Professor Ian Findlay (39), who grew up in Station Road, and now works in Australia, was in London to test traces of saliva on stamps attached to letters sent to police at the time they were trying to catch the notorious murderer.
Ian has developed DNA identification technology called Cell-Track ID at Brisbane forensic laboratory, Gribbles Molecular Science, which can extract and compile a DNA fingerprint from a single cell or strand of hair up to 160 years old. This could potentially help shed light on who was behind the gory deaths of five prostitutes in the Whitechapel area of London in 1888.
When the saliva samples are tested back in Australia, they will then be compared to DNA from the descendants of Ripper suspects.
Ian, whose parents Elizabeth and Charles still live in Blantyre, says being involved in the Ripper case is “daunting”.
“As a youngster growing up in Blantyre I always wanted to be a police scientist, and today I’m working on one of the world’s biggest murder mysteries,” he said.
“The Ripper case is huge, and one mention of it in Australia landed me on the front pages of some of the daily newspapers there!”
The former pupil of Blantyre High and graduate of Glasgow University is based at Griffith University in Queensland, and will also be testing a hair believed to have come from Catherine Eddowes, one of the Ripper’s victims, sent by a private collector to see if it is genuine.
“It will take until mid-January for the test results to come through and we hope members of the public who may have other items relating to Jack the Ripper, such as the famous letter thought to have contained a piece of kidney from one of the his victims, will come forward,“ continued Ian.
Much of Ian’s career has been spent studying genetic identification and analysis, and in 1994 he was the first scientist in the world to perform DNA fingerprinting on a single cell. This technique is currently being used for DNA fingerprinting single cells found at crime scenes, flakes of dandruff from ransom notes, and single sperm in rape cases.
Ian was also named Scientist of the Year by the European Society of Human Genetics in 1998 and has been published over 50 times in medical and scientific journals.
He added: “ The Ripper case is very famous and has always fascinated people, so it’s amazing to think we could really be changing history here.”
Montague was always my favorite suspect, especially since his parents told the cops he was the Ripper.
Time after Time where Malcom McDowell as HG Wells was chasing an associate who turned out to be Jack the Ripper. A little film I've always liked, but haven't watched in awhile.
Not too far off from 'Time After Time.'
It'll be interesting to see if Patricia Cornwell's theory of who he was pans out. She thought it was an artist (can't remember his name, Slick or something like that). It was a real page turner.
I've also heard that one of these writers used the time machine to take a copy of one of these books back in time before the book was first published...and successfully sued the rest of the writers for copyright infringement.
They presented all the known facts and at the end had each investigator submit his vote on a card.
When they tallied them, each one had named the same person. I can't recall his name but he was a Polish Jew.
that would make an interesting story
God help us. :-)
The JOOOOOOOOS done It?
No a guy who happened to be a Jew may have done it.
I've always suspected someone in the Royal family.
My favorite line from "Time After Time" was uttered by Jack the Ripper, who after spending some time in San Francisco reflects, "In my era I was considered a freak. Here I'm just a bloody amateur."
Five dolla'....OK...ten....but it's gotta be for all night.
I think, at the very least, the murders were committed to protect the royal family.
In some way the Royal family was involved, IMHO.
You should have a look at the site I linked in #19.
That's actually a description of my mother-in-law, so prices may change without notice.
And it was proven using undiscovered evidence!
I also liked that show's reenactment of the sinking of the Titanic. Great movie, One of Landis' best ever, IMHO.
Mark
"It is commonly accepted by the experts on the case that none of the letters purported to have been written by the Ripper were in fact written by him."
This may not be a good way to prove the case after all.
http://www.casebook.org/intro.html
Patricia Cornwell does not deserve any credit for fingering painter Walter Sickert as Jack the Ripper. That case was made by Stephen Knight in "Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution," published first in 1976 by Granada Publishing Ltd., and republished in 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1981, copyright George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., London, UK. Cornwell promoted "her" so-called solution to the mystery in a TV special with Diane Sawyer a few years ago, during which she never once mentioned Knight or his work. I wish I knew some way to get Mr. Knight the recognition he deserves. Any suggestions?
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