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16
Jack The Ripper’s Real Identity Divides The Internet After Major DNA Breakthrough Resurfaces
Earlier this year, more than 130 years after Jack the Ripper terrorized London’s Whitechapel district, a team of forensic scientists had declared the case solved, naming 23-year-old Polish barber Aaron Kosminski as the infamous slayer.
The claim relies on DNA extracted from a silk shawl allegedly retrieved next to the body of victim Catherine Eddowes. Netizens, however, are not convinced.
Highlights
- A DNA study has claimed that Jack the Ripper was Aaron Kosminski, a Polish barber and one of the original police suspects from 1888.
- Scientists have stated that genetic material from a shawl found beside victim Catherine Eddowes matches living relatives of Kosminski.
- Experts, however, have argued that the theory’s evidence is far from conclusive.
RELATED:
DNA on a shawl found near one of the Ripper’s victims has been linked to Aaron Kosminski, a Polish barber who lived right where the murders happened
Image credits: R. Taylor/The Illustrated London News/Wikimedia
Jack the Ripper is one of the most notorious serial k*llers in history. Between August and November 1888, the slayer targeted five women: Elizabeth Stride, Mary Jane Kelly, Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman and Catherine Eddowes.
Jack the Ripper did not just take the lives of his victims. He also mutilated their bodies, removing their organs and displaying them for the police and the public. All of his victims are believed to be adult workers.
He was never caught. This resulted in Jack the Ripper becoming one of history’s most noteworthy cold cases.
Image credits: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
According to The Mirror, a series of genetic tests claimed that the notorious serial k*ller was Polish-born Jewish immigrant Aaron Kosminski, who lived in London’s East End in the late 1800s.
Since he worked as a barber in Whitechapel, he would have lived right where Jack the Ripper committed his heinous acts.
To reach their conclusion, the researchers analyzed samples from a shawl reportedly retrieved next to the body of Catherine Eddowes.
According to the paper published in 2019, mitochondrial DNA from the shawl matched some of Kosminski’s descendants.
Aaron Kosminski was declared to be the real identity of Jack the Ripper by historian Russell Edwards
Image credits: Russell Stephen Edwards/Facebook
Some social media users pointed out that the claim based on DNA found on the shawl could be incorrect due “contamination of evidence.” A user agreed, saying “DNA evidence is inconclusive.”
Kosminski was actually one of the Metropolitan Police’s prime suspects in 1888. An eyewitness, a senior officer, had actually identified Kosminski, but he refused to testify.
By 1891, Kosminski was locked away in Colney Hatch asylum due to severe mental illness. He remained institutionalized until his passing in 1919.
Image credits: MeisterDrucke/Wikimedia
The claims were outlined in historian Russell Edwards’s book, Naming Jack the Ripper: The Definitive Reveal. It was a sequel to his original book, Naming the Ripper.
“He is no longer just a suspect. We can hold him, finally, to account for his terrible deeds. My search is over: Aaron Kosminski is Jack the Ripper,” Edwards stated.
Image credits: Russell Stephen Edwards/Facebook
In a comment to The Sun, Edwards shared his excitement about the DNA match. “It’s very difficult to put into words the elation I felt when I saw the 100 percent DNA match. This brings closure and a form of justice for the descendants,” he said.
Experts are not convinced that the paper’s DNA tests have solved the Jack the Ripper case
Image credits: Christine Matthews/Wikimedia
Not all forensic scientists and Ripper historians are convinced that Aaron Kosminski is the definitive suspect in the Jack the Ripper case.
Hansi Weissensteiner, an expert in mitochondrial DNA at Innsbruck Medical University in Austria, has taken issue with the researchers’ use of mitochondrial DNA analysis.
The expert stated that the analysis really just shows that two people are not related.
“Based on mitochondrial DNA, one can only exclude a suspect,” he said.
Thus, the mitochondrial DNA from the shawl could indeed be from Kosminski, but it could also have come from thousands who lived in London at the time.
The shawl itself remains the biggest problem. Some critics have argued that there is no evidence that the specific shawl was really at the crime scene. It could also have been contaminated over the years.
Image credits: Simon & Schuster
Despite the doubts around the paper’s conclusions, descendants of Jack the Ripper’s victims have called for the case to be reopened, according to Unilad.
Karen Miller, a direct descendant of Eddowes, has urged the court to legally name Kosminski in court.
Image credits: Mid-Century Film Productions
“The name Jack the Ripper has become sensationalized. It has gone down in history as this famous character. People have forgotten about the victims, who did not have justice at the time. Now we need this inquest to legally name the k*ller.”
“Having the real person legally named in a court which can consider all the evidence would be a form of justice for the victims,” she said.
Netizens shared their thoughts about Aaron Kosminski and the Jack the Ripper case on social media
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What do you think ?
Penny Fan 5 days ago
Wth is an "adult worker"?? Im an adult i work so I'm an adult worker. Just use the words for gods sake! Prostitute, s*x worker, hooker, lady of the night, w***e...
Christopher Walkies 4 days ago
Exactly the comment I wanted to make. Inventing phrases like 'Adult Worker'. It's not helping or protecting anyone. Nonsense.
Load More Replies...
J R 5 days ago
Tired of misleading headlines on this. It would be a huge miscarriage of justice if Kosminski was declared Jack the Ripper based on this evidence. First of all, say the DNA is his. Many of the Ripper's victims engaged in s*x work at least once or slept with others to secure housing or protection. So we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that the DNA was from the attack. Now, if we had his DNA on items from multiple victims, that would be more convincing, but we don't. Then, there's the fact that the shawl hasn't been properly stored. DNA wasn't known back then, so police didn't realize how to preserve it. The shawl has been handled by numerous people over the years, including Kosminski's relatives. I'm sorry for the victims' families. I understand why they want to name a specific person as a form of closure. But you can't just throw out any old name with a slim bit of evidence and call it a day. Even if Kosminski is dead, he deserves to be seen as innocent until proven guilty.
Nikole 4 days ago
Oh it's preposterous. I remember reading about this years ago and nothing has changed.
Load More Replies...
LookASquirrel 3 days ago
I'm old enough that in cosmetology school we learned to shave necks with a straight razor so it's not that far fetched! My husband has never let me do it. I was good in my teens! Might be because I developed a tremor disorder in my 40s 🤷🏻♀️ I have never k****d anyone. I swear on Trump's life!
Load More Replies...
Serena Myers 5 days ago
I don't think that the identity of the Ripper will ever be proved (proven?) beyond doubt. He, whoever he was, is long time deàd. He was not the first serial kìller, but he was the first to become a "media sensation" as in the press slobbering all over him. Some things never change. Alas.
Andy 5 days ago (edited)
This testing was carried out over a decade ago, and has been thoroughly debunked. The shawl itself is very questionable. There is a very detailed list of what items were found at the crime scene, and no shawl is mentioned. No other witnesses make mention of it, so the police officer it is claimed to have come from would have had to be first on the scene, and stealing evidence. The officer they claim it came from was not on duty in the area of the crime, and is not on the detailed lists of officers who were drafted in from other areas once it was discovered. There is also the question of why someone living in extreme poverty would have an expensive silk shawl. Her partner had had to p**n his only shoes to get they money for their lodging house that night, so something like that would have been sold long ago. And despite what they try to say, the testing they did does not match to Kominski, it just shows that he could not be excluded as the source from the test.
Michael Largey 5 days ago
Oh, come on. A street prostitute comes in contact with many, many men's DNA.
Tabitha 5 days ago
Yes, but it is significant that part of the DNA on the shawl belonged to a suspect in the Ripper murders. I wonder if they’ve identified any other DNA on the shawl, and if it belongs to any of the other suspects—-or someone new who may have a record that would relate to they’re potentially being the Ripper also.
Load More Replies...
Little but Fierce 4 days ago
I wish BP which do more “here’s 50 funny animal photos” and less of these stupid fake news hoaxes. Better than the endless fake stories stolen from Mumsnet or Meghan Markle bashing, I guess.
Alan Jay Weiner 5 days ago
"mitochondrial DNA from the shawl matched some of Kosminski’s descendants" This doesn't make sense to me - mitochondrial DNA is primarily passed down from the mother. So it matching Kosminski's descendents sounds odd.
Alex Martin 3 days ago
We all have mitochondrial DNA. Men have an Y and an X chromosome. Women have two X chromosomes. Mitochondrial DNA is on the X chromosome. Mitochondrial DNA is quite useful because it is an unbroken chain connecting all the females in your genetic lineage. Having said that, it is less useful for DNA confirmation in a crime. Assuming the sample taken from the shawl was correct and had not been degraded by time or spoiled by contamination all it would do is confirm that the sample came from the same maternal lineage as descendants of the Kosminski family. It's a clue, not a smoking gun. Unless you can put the sample in context of the m****r it doesn't mean anything.
Load More Replies...
Sea Squirrel 3 days ago
Pl**s* st*p wr*t*ng *b**t m*rd*r *nd s*r**l k*ll*res *f y** w*n't *s* th* r*ght w*rds!!!
Apatheist Account2 5 days ago
Coincidentally these events coincided with when Gandhi was studying in London, and stopped when he left. Just saying...
LizzieBoredom 5 days ago
"You saw a man running from the scene?". "Yes, Officer. I did". "Can you describe him?". "He was a very skinny brown man wearing a gigantic diaper".
Load More Replies...
T'Mar of Vulcan 3 days ago
Oh, please. They don't even know if the "Kosminski" in the asylum was Aaron Kosminski. They matched the names later. (Source: In Search of.)
Miss Ann Thrope 3 days ago
Occam's Razor. DNA matches. He lived in the area. He was a suspect at the time. He was a barber. He knew how to cut up people. Activities stopped when he was institutionalized. People have been convicted with less.
Chuck the Cat 3 days ago
There was literally a post about the same exact thing with Kosminski as a suspect about a year ago on BP.
Tyranamar Seuss 4 days ago
I read about him. It seems highly unlikely. He was a disorganized paranoid schizophrenic who smelled to high heaven, responded to internal stimuli, and did not speak English well. It seems unlikely he would've been able to lure women into dark alleyways. And he definitely would've been memorable. Also, he was not institutionalized until 1891. The murders stopped in 1888.
Penny Fan 5 days ago
Wth is an "adult worker"?? Im an adult i work so I'm an adult worker. Just use the words for gods sake! Prostitute, s*x worker, hooker, lady of the night, w***e...
Christopher Walkies 4 days ago
Exactly the comment I wanted to make. Inventing phrases like 'Adult Worker'. It's not helping or protecting anyone. Nonsense.
Load More Replies... J R 5 days ago
Tired of misleading headlines on this. It would be a huge miscarriage of justice if Kosminski was declared Jack the Ripper based on this evidence. First of all, say the DNA is his. Many of the Ripper's victims engaged in s*x work at least once or slept with others to secure housing or protection. So we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that the DNA was from the attack. Now, if we had his DNA on items from multiple victims, that would be more convincing, but we don't. Then, there's the fact that the shawl hasn't been properly stored. DNA wasn't known back then, so police didn't realize how to preserve it. The shawl has been handled by numerous people over the years, including Kosminski's relatives. I'm sorry for the victims' families. I understand why they want to name a specific person as a form of closure. But you can't just throw out any old name with a slim bit of evidence and call it a day. Even if Kosminski is dead, he deserves to be seen as innocent until proven guilty.
Nikole 4 days ago
Oh it's preposterous. I remember reading about this years ago and nothing has changed.
Load More Replies... LookASquirrel 3 days ago
I'm old enough that in cosmetology school we learned to shave necks with a straight razor so it's not that far fetched! My husband has never let me do it. I was good in my teens! Might be because I developed a tremor disorder in my 40s 🤷🏻♀️ I have never k****d anyone. I swear on Trump's life!
Load More Replies... Serena Myers 5 days ago
I don't think that the identity of the Ripper will ever be proved (proven?) beyond doubt. He, whoever he was, is long time deàd. He was not the first serial kìller, but he was the first to become a "media sensation" as in the press slobbering all over him. Some things never change. Alas.
Andy 5 days ago (edited)
This testing was carried out over a decade ago, and has been thoroughly debunked. The shawl itself is very questionable. There is a very detailed list of what items were found at the crime scene, and no shawl is mentioned. No other witnesses make mention of it, so the police officer it is claimed to have come from would have had to be first on the scene, and stealing evidence. The officer they claim it came from was not on duty in the area of the crime, and is not on the detailed lists of officers who were drafted in from other areas once it was discovered. There is also the question of why someone living in extreme poverty would have an expensive silk shawl. Her partner had had to p**n his only shoes to get they money for their lodging house that night, so something like that would have been sold long ago. And despite what they try to say, the testing they did does not match to Kominski, it just shows that he could not be excluded as the source from the test.
Michael Largey 5 days ago
Oh, come on. A street prostitute comes in contact with many, many men's DNA.
Tabitha 5 days ago
Yes, but it is significant that part of the DNA on the shawl belonged to a suspect in the Ripper murders. I wonder if they’ve identified any other DNA on the shawl, and if it belongs to any of the other suspects—-or someone new who may have a record that would relate to they’re potentially being the Ripper also.
Load More Replies... Little but Fierce 4 days ago
I wish BP which do more “here’s 50 funny animal photos” and less of these stupid fake news hoaxes. Better than the endless fake stories stolen from Mumsnet or Meghan Markle bashing, I guess.
Alan Jay Weiner 5 days ago
"mitochondrial DNA from the shawl matched some of Kosminski’s descendants" This doesn't make sense to me - mitochondrial DNA is primarily passed down from the mother. So it matching Kosminski's descendents sounds odd.
Alex Martin 3 days ago
We all have mitochondrial DNA. Men have an Y and an X chromosome. Women have two X chromosomes. Mitochondrial DNA is on the X chromosome. Mitochondrial DNA is quite useful because it is an unbroken chain connecting all the females in your genetic lineage. Having said that, it is less useful for DNA confirmation in a crime. Assuming the sample taken from the shawl was correct and had not been degraded by time or spoiled by contamination all it would do is confirm that the sample came from the same maternal lineage as descendants of the Kosminski family. It's a clue, not a smoking gun. Unless you can put the sample in context of the m****r it doesn't mean anything.
Load More Replies... Sea Squirrel 3 days ago
Pl**s* st*p wr*t*ng *b**t m*rd*r *nd s*r**l k*ll*res *f y** w*n't *s* th* r*ght w*rds!!!
Apatheist Account2 5 days ago
Coincidentally these events coincided with when Gandhi was studying in London, and stopped when he left. Just saying...
LizzieBoredom 5 days ago
"You saw a man running from the scene?". "Yes, Officer. I did". "Can you describe him?". "He was a very skinny brown man wearing a gigantic diaper".
Load More Replies... T'Mar of Vulcan 3 days ago
Oh, please. They don't even know if the "Kosminski" in the asylum was Aaron Kosminski. They matched the names later. (Source: In Search of.)
Miss Ann Thrope 3 days ago
Occam's Razor. DNA matches. He lived in the area. He was a suspect at the time. He was a barber. He knew how to cut up people. Activities stopped when he was institutionalized. People have been convicted with less.
Chuck the Cat 3 days ago
There was literally a post about the same exact thing with Kosminski as a suspect about a year ago on BP.
Tyranamar Seuss 4 days ago
I read about him. It seems highly unlikely. He was a disorganized paranoid schizophrenic who smelled to high heaven, responded to internal stimuli, and did not speak English well. It seems unlikely he would've been able to lure women into dark alleyways. And he definitely would've been memorable. Also, he was not institutionalized until 1891. The murders stopped in 1888.
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