Unsolved Murders

Forensic scientists say they have finally fingered the identity of Jack the Ripper, the notorious serial killer who terrorized the streets of London more than a century ago. Genetic tests published this week point to Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old Polish barber and a prime police suspect at the time.

Did he know Sweeny Todd?

 

Jack the Ripper was a serial killer who murdered at least five women, mainly prostitutes, in Whitechapel, London, in 1888. Despite an extensive police investigation his identity has never been revealed - until now. New DNA evidence from a shawl belonging to one of his victims has sensationally proved a match for Polish suspect Aaron Kosminski.


UPDATED 09:15, 26 Aug 2022

 

“We describe for the first time systematic, molecular level analysis of the only surviving physical evidence linked to the Jack the Ripper murders.

“Finding both matching profiles in the same piece of evidence enhances the statistical probability of its overall identification and reinforces the claim that the shawl is authentic."

However, despite the revelation, critics have questioned whether the shawl is viable evidence, claiming there is no proof it was alongside Ms Eddowes’ body, and that it might have been contaminated over time.

Kosminski, a Polish immigrant, ended up dying in an asylum and was previously said to be "definitely, categorically and absolutely" the man behind the killing spree in 1888 in London's East End.

The Ripper murdered at least five women, slashing their throats, removing some of their internal organs and leaving their mutilated bodies in Whitechapel's darkened alleyways.

Kosminski was a Polish Jewish immigrant who, fleeing persecution in his Russia-controlled homeland, came with his family to England in 1881 and lived in Mile End Old Town.

He was admitted to a string of lunatic asylums, where he died in 1899 of gangrene in the leg.

The shawl was bought at auction by businessman Russell Edwards in 2007.

He enlisted Dr Louhelainen to examine the shawl, who said that dark blood stains were “consistent with arterial blood spatter caused by slashing”.

And it's not the first time DNA evidence has pointed to Kosminski as the killer.

Ancestry.co.uk reveals details on the life and times of the man himself

• Jack the Ripper’s killing spree took place just a year after the death of Kosminski’s father back in Poland
• Less than two years after the 4 murders, the barber had fallen on hard times and was in the workhouse
• And in 1891 his mental state had deteriorated to the extent that he was in an asylum – where he stayed for 3 years
• He was resident again in East London, living in Bethnal Green in the 1911 census
• He never recovered mentally, being in and out of asylums across London for the next 28 years – dying in one a hundred years ago in 1919
• He was buried in East Ham Jewish Cemetery which exists to this day

 

Leather Apron.

 

You Google lol

 

I am serious (about the first part), she worked at the local estate agents and sold several local houses. Shorrolds Road is just around the corner.
The truth about what happened is nothing like what is shown on the documentaries. None of her fellow workers were too surprised and some of them still believed that she was still alive for several months after she disappeared.
No one has ever explained why on the day she parked her car a few miles in the opposite direction from her route from the office and transferred into another car.
Their are still some people who believe that it was intended as a life insurance fraud, possibly one that went very wrong.

 

I do remember this actually. Most likely in Australia?

 

I thought Leather Apron was the Polish one.​

 

See we are still debating. I have to say, the story passed down to me, was saying it was a cover-up by the Royal Family.

 

Did you watch the latest documentary a few weeks ago, it definitely ended up with more questions than answers. It was the first time that the true events of that day were revealed.

 

Missed that.

 

But the Royals are angels.

 

Oh yeah????

 

Sorry I thought that you meant something else.

 

Oiy

 

Her Shorrolds Road appointment was not on the work board, but later found in her personal diary. Nothing else was mentioned about the contents of that diary, possibly for legal reasons
It is strange how none of this was even mentioned until after the death of her mother, but no one seemed to have questioned that point.
I did however know one of her fellow workers who described Dianna as the local bike, but he was rather drunk at the time and denied it the following day.
It is all still very mysterious.

 

Yes, and we must respect the dead or missing I suppose.

 

That one is true.
I was one of the two people who opened up the theater one morning and was unfortunate enough to find a well known business person hanging from a light fitting in one of the dressing rooms wearing only womens underwear.
The coroner gave the cause of death as misadventure, one that is used almost daily in such circumstances and the whole incident was blocked from the media.
Even today, after 40 years, I could go to prison if I named names or revealed the date and location.
We have little idea what goes on behind closed doors, but I do not see that as a bad thing.
One thing that I do remember was the special branch police who cut him down saying, "Not another one".

 

Oh, you poor thing.

 

Nothing like the things our daughter comes across, almost every week.