Did a ‘100%’ DNA match reveal Jack the Ripper’s identity after 137 years and solve the coldest cold case of the century?

Jack the Ripper — few names in history evoke such a potent mix of horror, intrigue, and mystery. He’s the faceless boogeyman of Victorian London, a shadow that stalked the foggy streets of Whitechapel.

In late 1888, a series of brutal murders in the Whitechapel district of London sent shockwaves through Victorian society. The killer targeted impoverished women, many of them sex workers and the crimes were marked by a grotesque level of violence. Throats were slashed, bodies mutilated, and organs removed. The sheer brutality, combined with the killer’s taunting letters to the press (some signed with the infamous moniker “Jack the Ripper”), ensured that the case would never fade into obscurity.

For over a century, this enigma has fascinated historians, criminologists, novelists, and conspiracy theorists alike. We’ve given him nicknames, woven him into our culture, and turned him into the archetype of the “unknown killer.” There’s a morbid thrill to the “whodunit” aspect of the case. Was he a doctor? A butcher? An artist? A member of the royal family? Over the years, countless theories have emerged, each more elaborate than the last. But now, a historian named Russell Edwards claims he’s cracked the case wide open.

The mask Jack the Ripper wore for 137 years may finally be slipping off

Russell Edwards isn’t the first person to claim they’ve solved the Ripper mystery, but his findings have certainly made waves. In 2007, Edwards purchased a 9-foot-long shawl allegedly found at one of the Ripper’s crime scenes — the murder of Catherine Eddowes, the Ripper’s fourth canonical victim. Using modern forensic techniques, Edwards had the fabric tested for DNA.

According to Edwards, the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) recovered from the shawl matched that of a living descendant of Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old Polish immigrant who had long been considered a suspect. Kosminski worked as a barber in Whitechapel and was later institutionalized for schizophrenia, dying in a mental asylum in 1919. Edwards is so confident in his findings that he declared on NewsNation’s Banfield: “Oh, without a doubt, 100% it’s him.”

To bolster his case, Edwards even worked with experts to create a composite image of Kosminski based on family photographs. He’s chronicled his investigation in a book titled “Naming Jack the Ripper: The Definitive Reveal.” Edwards’ argument is simple: He has physical evidence tying Kosminski to one of the Ripper’s crime scenes, and he believes this is the smoking gun historians have been waiting for.

As tantalizing as Edwards’ claim sounds, not everyone is convinced. In fact, forensic experts have raised serious questions about his methods and conclusions. Jarrett Ambeau, a forensic DNA interpretation expert, has been particularly vocal in his skepticism. According to Ambeau, the DNA evidence Edwards relies on is far from definitive.

Here’s the issue: Edwards used mitochondrial DNA in his testing. Unlike nuclear DNA, which is unique to an individual, mtDNA is passed down unchanged through the maternal line. This means that while the DNA on the shawl could match a descendant of Kosminski’s family, it could also match any number of people from the same maternal lineage. In other words, it’s circumstantial at best.

There’s also the problem of contamination. The shawl in question has not been preserved as evidence for over a century — it’s been handled by countless people, stored improperly, and exposed to the elements. As Ambeau points out, “What about all the other people that touched this item in the 137 years between the date of the murder and the date it was tested?” Without a clear chain of custody, it’s impossible to determine when the DNA was deposited or by whom. And then there’s the degradation of the DNA itself. The material on the shawl has been sitting there for over a century, likely breaking down over time. Even with modern forensic tools, working with degraded DNA is a challenge, and the results are far from conclusive. Maybe that’s why Jack The Ripper continues to haunt us. He’s a symbol of the limits of human knowledge.