Forensic scientists claim they have DNA evidence to show who the killer was
Edward Easton and Jane Lavender Associate Editor
08:00, 29 Nov 2025
Has Jack the Ripper finally been identified?(Image: Getty images)
Over 130 years since Jack the Ripper haunted the dark, foggy streets of Victorian London, forensic scientists reckon they might have finally unmasked the killer’s identity, and it’s a name that has long been linked with the horrific murders.
A series of genetic tests published this week suggest the notorious murderer was indeed Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old Polish barber and one of the Metropolitan Police’s main suspects at the time.
Kosminski was a Polish-born Jewish immigrant who settled in London’s East End after escaping persecution in the late 1800s.
Working as a barber in Whitechapel, he would have resided right in the heart of the Ripper’s killing zone and exhibited early signs of severe mental illness.
In 1891, just a few years after the murders, he was committed to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum after being diagnosed with paranoia, hallucinations and an aversion to washing or eating food prepared by others.
Although clearly troubled, staff didn’t perceive Kosminski as violent, and he spent the remainder of his life in institutions until his death in 1919.
Police officials later identified him as a significant suspect, with one high-ranking officer asserting an eyewitness had even recognised him but declined to testify.
Aaron Kosminski is said to be the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
The findings connecting Kosminski to the murders have ignited headlines worldwide, yet experts caution that the evidence still falls short of conclusively solving what is Britain’s most infamous cold case, reports the Mirror.
The latest development revolves around a silk shawl reportedly found next to the mutilated body of Catherine Eddowes, who was the Ripper’s fourth victim and died in 1888.
Forensic teams analysed DNA from blood and semen found on the cloth and compared it with samples from living relatives of both Eddowes and Kosminski.
According to the new study, the DNA shows what’s known as a genetic match with some of Kosminski’s descendants.
If true, it would be the most compelling scientific link yet between Kosminski and the gruesome murders that left five women dead.
Several experts have highlighted that the study doesn’t actually publish the genetic sequences found, instead presenting them as coloured blocks on a chart, which makes them difficult to verify.
The authors claim that UK privacy laws prevented them from revealing more detail. However, forensic experts have dismissed this explanation, pointing out that mitochondrial DNA poses no privacy risk and could certainly have been included.
And that’s not the only issue. Some historians argue there’s no evidence the shawl was ever at the crime scene, while others believe it may have been contaminated multiple times over the past century.