Featured Image Credit: (North News & Pictures / Russell Edwards)
Topics: Crime, History, True Crime, London
Brenna Cooper
Topics: Crime, History, True Crime, London
Descendants of Jack the Ripper's victims have demanded an inquest following the discovery of new DNA evidence which could finally unmask the sadistic killer.
The case of Jack the Ripper is one of the most infamous and enduring cases in British crime history, seeing at least five women - Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly - brutally murdered in East London between 1888 and 1891.
Despite numerous theories cropping up over the years, Jack's true identity has never been uncovered. However, new evidence could finally solve the case once and for all.
Read More: Man who claims to have identified Jack the Ripper explains why he was never caught
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The supposed breakthrough came after author Russell Edwards purchased a shawl found at the scene of Eddowes' murder containing blood and semen stains and put the item through DNA testing, but this process has since been disputed by scientists.
Edwards was then able to find a DNA match to a descendant of Eddowes, as well as claiming he'd used the semen to find a distant match for a relative of barber Aaron Kosminski, one of the most prominent Ripper suspects.
He has since published the findings from his investigation in his book Naming Jack the Ripper: The Definitive Reveal, which outlines his arguments for Kosminski being the killer's true identity.
Kosminski was a Polish barber who emigrated to London in the 1880s and had been named as a suspect at the time but was never arrested due to lack of evidence. He would later die at Leavesden Hospital (then an asylum) in 1919.
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According to MailOnline, the latest update in the case has seen Edwards hire a legal team to press for an inquest into the case, which is backed by the descendant of Kosminski and Karen Miller, the three-times great-granddaughter of Eddowes.
Explaining her reasons for backing the calls for an inquest, Miller said she wanted to see justice for the five women.
"What about the real name of the person who did this? Having the real person legally named in a court which can consider all the evidence would be a form of justice for the victims," she said.
"We have got the proof, now we need this inquest to legally name the killer.
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"It would mean a lot to me, to my family, to a lot of people to finally have this crime solved."
The sentiment is shared by Sue Parlour, whose husband is distantly related to Nichols and Amanda Poulos, the three-times great-niece of Kosminski.
"A second inquest is the only way of confirming what happened," Edwards added.
"As we now have identified the true murderer with a wealth of evidence putting the man we named as the Ripper in the frame, we want justice to be served."