Aaaandd, we still don’t know who Jack the Ripper was.
Looks like I posted a little to quickly. Now now, I am not saying that Aaron Kosminski wasn’t the ripper I am saying the DNA is far from conclusive.
MtDNA is passed down from a mother to her children, and many people can share the same mtDNA signature. The signature linked to Kosminski, T1a1, is a relatively common subtype. Thus, the determination doesn’t mean much unless the signature can be narrowed down to a rarer subtype, or unless additional evidence can be brought to bear (as was the case for identifying the remains of Russia’s Czar Nicholas II and his family).
A larger question has to do with the scarf’s history: It’s been open to contamination for decades, and it’s not even clear that it was really left behind by Eddowes (or her killer) after the 1888 murder. “In the community of so-called experts, it’s not really considered evidence,” Ryder said.
Casebook Jack The Ripper is also not convinced and since that is THE place for Ripperplogists I give them weight.
The History Channel has a good article on this. The chain of evidence for the shawl tested is a little sketchy to say the least.
The Victorian-era shawl reportedly taken by Simpson passed from generation to generation of the policeman’s descendants until it was put up for auction in 2007 and purchased by Russell Edwards, an English businessman and self-confessed “armchair detective” who was fascinated by the coldest of cold cases. Although the silk fabric was frayed and aging, it still contained valuable DNA evidence since it was never washed. Now, after more than three years of scientific analysis, Russell says that Jack the Ripper’s true identity has been found interwoven in the ragged, 126-year-old shawl, and he fingers Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski as the serial killer in his new book “Naming Jack the Ripper.”
I haven’t read the book yet but if any of you have please let me know what you think,
As of now even though I would have loved to have a name I also kind of like the mystery in this one case. Usually I really want the killer named this one though…. ?
Real Life Monsters 