Free Republic

And so one of the West’s greatest, most enduring mysteries, which has spurred numerous failed attempts to crack it, continues. It’s the saga of Jack the Ripper, who committed at least five grisly murders in East London in the autumn of 1888 and then, poof, disappeared, never to be identified.

THE search to uncover the identity of Jack the Ripper appears to be over. DNA on a shawl found near one of the victims, Catherine Eddowes, reportedly contains a match to both her and one of the chief suspects, Aaron Kosminsky. The Polish hairdresser, who moved to England with his family in 1881, was committed to a mental asylum at the peak of Ripper hysteria. Is this Jack the Ripper? Revealed? ... DNA evidence reportedly confirms that Aaron Kosminski is Jack the Ripper. Picture: Supplied The breakthrough came when Dr Jari Louhelainen, an expert in historic DNA, was commissioned to...

Vital DNA evidence has finally uncovered the identity of notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper. The man behind the grisly killing spree in London’s East End has been unveiled as Aaron Kosminkski, a 23-year-old Polish immigrant who ended up dying in an asylum. A blood soaked shawl, purchased by author Russell Edwards, led to the breakthrough when a scientist matched DNA evidence left on it to descendants of Kosminski. Mr Edwards, 48, from Barnet, north London, was "captivated" by the murder mystery and had been investigating it in his spare time, but had come to the conclusion it could never...

It is the greatest murder mystery of all time, a puzzle that has perplexed criminologists for more than a century and spawned books, films and myriad theories ranging from the plausible to the utterly bizarre. But now, thanks to modern forensic science, The Mail on Sunday can exclusively reveal the true identity of Jack the Ripper, the serial killer responsible for at least five grisly murders in Whitechapel in East London during the autumn of 1888. DNA evidence has now shown beyond reasonable doubt which one of six key suspects commonly cited in connection with the Ripper’s reign of terror...

THE Jack the Ripper ‘industry’ got a boost on the 120th anniversary of his first acknowledged murder. The great-grandson of the police chief in charge of the 1888 Whitechapel Murders arrived at the Ripper exhibition at the Museum in Docklands in East London—just before the 120th anniversary of the murder Mary Ann Nichols, a prostitute known as ‘Polly,’ believed by many to be his first victim. He arrived with evidence from his Victorian ancestor revealing the Ripper’s true identity. Jack the Ripper was never caught and his identity has remained a mystery for 120 years, feeding a whole ‘industry’ that...