- An author studying Jack the Ripper claims to have revealed the killer’s face using advanced facial reconstruction technology.
- DNA evidence from the crime scenes links the notorious murderer to Aaron Kosminski, a Polish immigrant and former key suspect.
- This evidence, along with new historical details, could explain why the murders were so gruesome and how the killer eluded capture.
- New research suggests Kosminski’s potential ties to freemasonry may have shielded him from police action, allowing him to evade justice.
After years of speculation, an image of the infamous Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper has been reconstructed through modern facial modeling. Russell Edwards, an author dedicated to studying the case for nearly 30 years, created this image based on DNA evidence from a murder scene, linking the elusive killer to Aaron Kosminski—a Polish Jewish immigrant considered a prime suspect at the time.
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Edwards first connected Kosminski to the Ripper crimes in his initial book, using DNA collected from a shawl belonging to one of the Ripper’s victims, Catherine Eddowes. A new analysis of blood and semen stains on the shawl, preserved for over a century, matched with descendants of both Eddowes and Kosminski. These findings add weight to suspicions that Kosminski committed the Whitechapel murders, which shocked London between August and November 1888.
Between April 1888 and February 1891, London’s Metropolitan Police recorded the brutal murders of 11 women, mainly targeting impoverished women in the Whitechapel area. However, only five—known as the Canonical Five—are widely attributed to the Ripper. These murders, committed with unprecedented brutality, included victims such as Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, and Mary Jane Kelly, all killed within a few short weeks.
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One of the key discoveries leading to Kosminski’s identification was a shawl recovered from Eddowes’ murder scene by police officer Amos Simpson, who later gave it to his wife. The shawl, sold generations later by the Simpson family, contained both blood and bodily fluid stains. DNA analysis revealed that these stains matched with descendants of Kosminski, as well as with Eddowes’ family line. Although requests to exhume Kosminski’s body were declined, the forensic evidence is considered by Edwards as conclusive proof of Kosminski’s involvement.
Kosminski’s life, shrouded in tragedy and marked by mental health struggles, began in Klodawa, Poland, where he was born in 1865. He moved to London with his family in the 1880s to escape the persecution of Jewish communities across Eastern Europe. In London’s East End, Kosminski’s behavior reportedly became increasingly erratic, leading to his confinement in asylums for violent and antisocial behaviors before he died in 1919.
Interestingly, recent findings by Edwards suggest that Kosminski’s familial connections to freemasonry might have shielded him from a more rigorous investigation by police, protecting him from arrest. He believes Kosminski’s brother, Isaac, a member of a London Masonic Lodge, may have helped shield his brother to avoid a public backlash against Jewish immigrants. At one of the crime scenes, a peculiar chalked message referred to “The Juwes” in the same way used in Masonic codes, adding a layer of intrigue and further fueling speculation about Masonic involvement.
Edwards also draws connections between the brutal way the victims’ bodies were mutilated and ancient Masonic rituals. These rites describe symbolic punishments eerily similar to the injuries inflicted on the Ripper’s victims, including throat cuts and the removal of body parts.
With these latest findings, Edwards presents a stark image of Aaron Kosminski as Jack the Ripper, bringing new understanding to a case that has captivated the public imagination for over a century. His research offers a chilling look at one of history’s most notorious criminals, whose grisly crimes continue to intrigue the world.
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