Jack the Ripper Finally Caught, Maybe
After more than a century, one of world’s most infamous killers is finally caught. Maybe. Perhaps.
A British writer says he has uncovered the true identity of Jack the Ripper. The writer calls himself an armchair detective.
For those who do not know about Jack the Ripper, he is one of history’s most terrible serial killers – a person who kills again and again. “Jack” terrorized a poor part of London in the year 1888.
Few killers in history have become as well-known as Jack the Ripper. His murders were rare in their violence. And for 126 years, police have been unable to put a name to the crimes.
What is the new evidence?
Mr. Edwards says new DNA evidence points the finger of guilt at one man, a Polish immigrant named Aaron Kosminski.
Tests of DNA are often used today for identification purposes. Russell Edwards says experts used bloodstains taken from a never-cleaned shawl, or long scarf, of Jack the Ripper’s fourth victim. The victim is a woman named Catherine Eddowes. Her shawl reportedly was found by her body. These experts compared the DNA from this blood to that of a living descendant, a living relative, of Aaron Kosminski.
Mr. Edwards is not the only one to have suspected Mr. Kosminski. In 1888, London police also suspected him. But no witness stepped forward to give police the evidence they needed. So, he walked free.
Mr. Kosminski worked as a barber, a hair-cutter, in London. He surely knew how to use a sharp-edged blade. He died of gangrene from a leg wound in an insane asylum.
But the killer named “Jack the Ripper” lives on. Stories about his notorious, or infamous, killings have appeared in many books, newspaper articles and movies.
