Jack the Ripper ID'd

[Jazzy]

A British author and amateur sleuth says he has unmasked Jack the Ripper, the pseudonymous serial killer who allegedly murdered at least five prostitutes in London more than 125 years ago.

No one was ever charged in the murders that plagued London's East End in 1888, but Russell Edwards claims a blood-stained shawl he bought at a 2007 auction helped identify the killer as Aaron Kosminski, a Polish immigrant who was 23-years-old at the time of the killings and who died in an asylum in 1899.

The 48-year-old Edwards, of London, reportedly became "captivated" with the murders and spent his spare time investigating them.

The shawl he bought in 2007 was reportedly found by the body of Catherine Eddowes, one of the victims. After buying it, he enlisted the help of Jari Louhelainen, an expert in molecular biology who reportedly was able to extract DNA from the shawl. Louhelainen and Edwards say that DNA led them to identify the killer as Kosminski - who had been named for years as one of six key suspects in the killings, reports the Guardian.

"On the testing, the first result showed a 99.2% match. Since the DNA has two complementary strands, we went on and tested the other DNA strand, which gave a perfect 100% match," Louhelainen told the Liverpool Echo newspaper.

"The circle is now complete. One of the greatest unsolved crime mysteries of all time has been solved through cutting edge science, historical research and a great deal of determination and good fortune," he added.

Edwards' book on the subject, "Naming Jack the Ripper," is expected to be released in the United Kingdom on Tuesday.

Source

Do you think this is just a ploy to sell his book?

 

[Nebulous]

Nope, I don't buy this story at all.

Me either.

 

[Dee]

Most definitely a scheme to make sales. There are too many complications and too many complexities in determining exactly who this murderer was, and at such a long time ago in the past that this "with 100% certainty" is really just a load of crap.

 

[DrLeftover]

"How soon they forget."


Every few years somebody puts out a book about how they've solved the mystery.

They get on some TV talk shows, and hype their book, and then a month or so later, somebody else comes along and shoots the new theory full of holes.

Then, in a couple of years, somebody else has a new theory and "finally cracks the case", and the cycle repeats itself.