The Mail Online have today announced the unmasking of the identity of Jack the Ripper...
"WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Jack the Ripper unmasked: How amateur sleuth used DNA breakthrough to identify Britain's most notorious criminal 126 years after string of terrible murders"
I'm sceptical about this bit of news but there's too many connections for me to ignore it. I've studied Jack the Ripper for GCSE History and it was one of my favourite topics to cover - bit grim I know, but I love a good murder mystery. Secondly, the shawl from which the DNA has been extracted was bought at auction in my hometown of Bury St Edmunds and then the DNA extractions were carried out by a senior lecturer from my own uni - LJMU - so I definitely couldn't ignore a story like this.
I don't know whether it can ever be conclusive, the identity of Jack, but the outcome of this investigation is certainly plausible. Aaron Kosminski was named as one of Scotland Yard's top 3 suspects in 1888 but after 126 years, is it possible to be able to rely on DNA? I think more investigations of cases 100+ years old would need to be conducted in order to prove the accuracy of this one.
It's an interesting article to read and obviously an investigation that's quite close to home for me (geography wise in more ways than one) but I'll remain undecided as to whether I believe the outcome or not for the time being.
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