Jack the Ripper finally revealed through DNA

Between August and November of 1888, Jack the Ripper is believed to have killed at least 5 women in the Whitechapel district of London.

Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, North London. Jack the Ripper, aka Aron Kosminski was an inmate from 1891 to 1894.

In 1894 Sir Melville Macnaghten who was the Assistant Chief Constable of the London Metropolitan Police at the time, wrote this memorandum naming Kosminski as one of the 3 main suspects of the Ripper case.

The shawl alleged to be from ripper victim Catherine Eddowes is what broke this dna case wide open but many still are uncertain of its provenance.

She was wearing at the time of the murder:

Black straw bonnet trimmed in green and black velvet with black beads. Black strings, worn tied to the head.
Black cloth jacket trimmed around the collar and cuffs with imitation fur and around the pockets in black silk braid and fur. Large metal buttons.
Dark green chintz skirt, 3 flounces, brown button on waistband. The skirt is patterned with Michaelmas daisies and golden lilies.
Man's white vest, matching buttons down front.
Brown linsey bodice, black velvet collar with brown buttons down front
Grey stuff petticoat with white waistband
Very old green alpaca skirt (worn as undergarment)
Very old ragged blue skirt with red flounces, light twill lining (worn as undergarment)
White calico chemise
No drawers or stays
Pair of men's lace up boots, mohair laces. Right boot repaired with red thread
1 piece of red gauze silk worn as a neckerchief
1 large white pocket handkerchief
1 large white cotton handkerchief with red and white bird's eye border
2 unbleached calico pockets, tape strings
1 blue stripe bed ticking pocket
Brown ribbed knee stockings, darned at the feet with white cotton

Amos Simpson the first police constable to find the body of Catherine Eddowes in Mitre square had decided to keep the shawl found with the victim because it might be important one day He kept it hidden in an old sea chest with waxed rope handles. Amos died in 1917. In March 2007, Amos's descendant, David Melville Hayes, sold the shawl, which had been in his family for over 100 years and donated the proceeds to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution which saves lives around the coasts of the UK. Hayes had no descendants.

When the shawl was originally tested many still had questions because of the questionable provenance of the shawl in 2019 we still have questions but people are more sure than ever that the DNA both linking Catherine Eddowes as well as semen DNA from Aron Kosminski are solid proof. The semen stain contained mitochondrial DNA matching Kosminski's descendents. Some people state that because 1 in 100 people have a similar mitochondrial type in modern England today they can't be 100 percent sure that the case has been solved.

Jack the Ripper is Aron Mordke Kozmiński
Born: Sept 11th 1865 in Klodawa, Poland
Died: March 24th 1919 at 53 years old