Serial killer Jack the Ripper identified after 130 years—how a shawl ...

Jack the Ripper identified: The identity of the infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper, a mystery for over 130 years, has finally been uncovered.

Jack the Ripper’s brutal murders terrorised the murky slums of Whitechapel in east London during the autumn of 1888. His primary targets were women, and the case baffled investigators with hundreds of suspects.

Jack the Ripper’s victims

Jack the Ripper’s five canonical victims were Mary Ann Nichols – whose body was found on August 31; Annie Chapman – whose body was found on September 8; Elizabeth Stride – whose body was found on September 30; Catherine Eddowes – whose body was found 45 minutes after Stride’s; and Mary Jane Kelly – her body was found on November 9.

All were horrifically mutilated with medical precision, and their internal organs were removed as trophies.

Jack the Ripper identified: What led to the breakthrough

In a major breakthrough, DNA samples extracted from a shawl recovered from one of the crime scenes led to the identification of the killer. Forensic scientist Russell Edwards found a 100 per cent match with a suspect, finally solving the Jack the Ripper case.

In 2014, Edwards had claimed that the murderer was Aaron Kosminski, an immigrant from Poland. He used to work as a barber.

The shawl was recovered from the murder scene of the Ripper's fifth victim, Catherine Eddowes, on September 30, 1888.

AFP reported that at Edwards' request, Doctor Jari Louhelainen, a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, isolated seven small segments of DNA from blood stains on the shawl.

The DNA samples were then matched with the DNA of Karen Miller, a direct descendant of Eddowes, confirming her blood was on the shawl, the AFP report said.

Also, DNA from semen stains on the garment were matched with a Kosminski’s descendant.

Who Was Aaron Kosminski?

Aaron Kosminski was born in Klodawa in central Poland, on September 11, 1865. His family fled the imperial Russian anti-Jewish pogroms and emigrated to east London in the early 1880s. He lived close to the murder scenes.

According to some reports, Kosminski was taken in by the police to be identified by a witness who had seen him with one of the victims.

Although a positive identification was made, the witness refused to give incriminating evidence, which led the police to release him.

He entered a workhouse in 1889, where he was described on admission as “destitute”. He was discharged later that year but soon ended up in a mental asylum.

He died from gangrene in an asylum on March 24, 1919.