The identity of the infamous British 19th century serial killer Jack the Ripper might be revealed now with analysis of DNA found on a cloth at a crime scene holding one of the suspects was the murderer of several prostitutes in London, a British daily reported Sunday.
The analysis of a shawl found near the body of Catherine Eddowes, one of the five victims of Ripper, was found to contain the victim's blood and semen, the Daily Mail reported citing Jari Louhelainen, a noted forensic scientist specialising in historical crimes.
Louhelainen said the 126-year-old DNA extracted from the shawl matched with the DNA of descendents of the victim and Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski, one of the suspects in the murderous rampage on the streets of London in 1888.
The shawl was bought by British businessman Russell Edwards at an auction, who enlisted the help of Louhelainen.
Kosminski, a Jew, had fled from Poland to London with his family, to escape pogroms in Russia in the early 1880s.
The gruesome murders of five women took place in the Whitechapel district of London.
Considered as one of the greatest murder mysteries of Britain, the killings inspired the 1959 film "Jack the Ripper" produced and directed by Monty Berman and Robert S. Baker. It was based on a theory that the Ripper was an avenging doctor.
"Kosminski has always been one of the three most credible suspects. He is often described as having been a hairdresser in Whitechapel, the occupation written on his admission papers to the workhouse in 1890," Edwards was quoted as saying by the English daily.
He added that Kosminski was mentally ill and the police did not have enough evidence to convict him despite identification by a witness at the time.
He was later sent to a mental asylum where he spent the rest of his life.
"Now that it's over, I'm excited and proud of what we've achieved, and satisfied that we have established, as far as we possibly can, that Aaron Kosminski is the culprit," Louhelain said.
