One of history's oldest mysteries, the true identity of the infamous serial killer "Jack the Ripper," who terrorised Victorian London's East End in the late 1800s—may have finally been solved after 137 years, as the murderer who brutally raped and eviscerated five women, most of them sex workers, has reportedly been identified.
English historian and author Russell Edwards claims that DNA evidence from a shawl recovered at a crime scene identifies Jack the Ripper as Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old Polish immigrant, who died in a mental institution in 1919, according to the New York Post.
"When we matched the DNA from the blood on the shawl with a direct female descendant of the victim, it was the singular most amazing moment of my life at the time," Edwards told "Today" in Australia.
"We tested the semen left on the shawl. When we matched that, I was dumbfounded that we actually had discovered who Jack the Ripper truly was," he added.
Between 1888 and 1891, Jack the Ripper terrorised London’s impoverished Whitechapel district, brutally assaulting and killing at least five women. However, historians believe the true number of victims may be even higher.
The confirmed victims were Mary Nichols, 43, Annie Chapman, 47, Elizabeth Stride, 44, Catherine Eddowes, 46, and Mary Jane Kelly, 25. The killer removed internal organs from three victims, the New York post reported.
Edwards acquired the shawl in 2007 after discovering it was found at the location of Eddowes' murder.
"It was a voyage of discovery, with many twists and turns," Edwards said, adding that "The adventure was thrilling from beginning to end and I was lucky to experience it."
"We have got the proof, now we need this inquest to legally name the killer," Edwards continued.
The families of the five known victims are urging Scotland Yard to reinvestigate the 137-year-old unsolved case. "It would mean a lot to me, to my family, to a lot of people to finally have this crime solved."
According to Edwards, Kosminski, who moved to England as a child, worked as a barber in Whitechapel. He began exhibiting symptoms of mental illness in 1885 and was later confined to multiple insane asylums.
Before his death at 53, Kosminski reportedly experienced auditory hallucinations, exhibited an intense fear of people, refused to eat, and avoided bathing, Edwards noted.
However, Edwards' claims have faced skepticism online, with critics questioning his credibility. Some have pointed to past allegations that he faked discovering the top of a child’s skull in 2022,, which prompted a renewed police search for the remains of Keith Bennett.
Bennett was one of the victims of the notorious Moors Murders, five child killings committed between 1963 and 1965 by the infamous duo Ian Brady and Myra Hindley in Manchester, England.