Solved? Jack the Ripper was Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski

The infamous killer was identified from blood samples on a shawl found next to one victim’s body, claims an armchair detective.

17:50 08 September 2014

The mystery surrounding the identity of infamous killer Jack the Ripper has apparently been solved as claimed by a self-confessed “armchair detective”.

Russell Edwards puts forward that 23-year-old Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski was “definitely, categorically, and absolutely” the man behind the grisly killing spree in 1888 in London’s East End.

Edwards said that he was able to identify the killer from blood samples on a shawl found next to one victim’s body. 

“I’ve got the only piece of forensic evidence in the whole history of the case,” he said. “I’ve spent 14 years working on it, and we have definitively solved the mystery of who Jack the Ripper was.

“Only non-believers that want to perpetuate the myth will doubt. This is it now – we have unmasked him.”

Jack the Ripper murdered at least five women by slashing their throats. He also removed some of their internal organs and left their mutilated bodies in alleyways in Whitechapel.

Although Edwards is certain that the mystery has been solved, some Ripper experts cast doubts on the claims.

Richard Cobb, who runs Jack the Ripper conventions and tours, said the shawl had been touched by many people over the years, which made any DNA samples less reliable.

“The shawl has been openly handled by loads of people and been touched, breathed on, spat upon.”