by Wes Detweiler, Junior

Jack the Ripper’s unsolved murders have been intertwined in London’s history for more than 130 years now. With these unsolved murders come many theories and speculations over the years as to who the killer might have been. The descendants of his victims are trying to finally uncover his true identity. London might be able to breathe a breath of fresh air as the actual identity of this gruesome killer might just have been uncovered through DNA.

Previously, the most popular suspect was HH Holmes because of his status as a serial killer but new DNA information shows that it was actually someone else. From August to November of 1888, the Whitechapel area of London experienced 5 very gruesome murders. The name Jack the Ripper came from a letter he sent to the police where he had signed it as Jack the Ripper. All of his targets were prostitutes. However, violence to prostitutes wasn’t uncommon at the time. It is believed that the person behind the Jack the Ripper murders was an experienced doctor or an animal butcher due to his choice of weapon being a ‘liston’ knife, which specializes in surgical amputation to help make swift incisions and clean cuts.

Throughout the years, forensic science has evolved into “has evolved into a vital tool for catching criminals”. Our understanding of DNA and genes has greatly helped throughout the years in solving mysteries. To get a better understanding, when Jack the Ripper was terrifying London in 1888, ‘DNA’ hadn’t been discovered yet (or so they thought) and they still believed in the “Blending Inheritance” theory, which thought that the parents’ genetic material mixed into their offspring. An example of this theory is if a red flower and a white flower crossed, it would make a pink flower. English researchers, including Russell Edwards, who had written a book about Jack the Ripper, are now saying that a person by the name of Aaron Kosminski is responsible for the violence and hopes that he can be ‘legally’ responsible for the crimes of Jack the Ripper.

The forensic scientists extracted a bloodstain from a shawl (fabric) that was found at the crime scene of one of his victims, named Catherine Eddowes, which Russell Edwards purchased for further testing and analysis for mitochondrial DNA, allowing a comparison between that and living relatives of Kosminski. A sample provided by one of his living relatives in 2019 was found to be a 100% match. Edwards later said that “It’s very difficult to put into words the elation I felt when I saw the 100 percent DNA match” (The Sun). He also said that he is happy that it brings a form of closure and justice for the victims, living descendants, and past descendants.

Aaron Kosminski was born in the city of Klodawa, Poland. His family migrated to England in 1881, with the hope of starting a better life, which he didn’t have in Poland. His overall dream was to become a hairdresser. Kosminski, however, went to Whitechapel; however, at the time, Whitechapel was a slum and many poor people and the unemployed lived there. Aaron Kosminski isn’t a new prime suspect for Jack the Ripper, he actually was originally named in a police report in 1894! He was thought to be near the crime scenes on more than one occasion. He was also mentally unstable. A witness also connected him to one of the murders, but the witness’s story wasn’t 100% accurate, so they didn’t look into the story more. Aaron Kosminski passed away in 1919 from a mental illness.

Edwards has passed the finding onto the high court, hoping that they will name Aaron Kosminski for his crimes and that this case can finally be put to rest after more than 130 years.

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