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Hardrock69
07-15-2006, 01:11 PM
Jack the Ripper identified by investigating detective

Thursday, 13th July 2006, 16:07

The true identity of the man the investing detective at the time believed was Jack the Ripper was unveiled today - almost 120 years after the gruesome killer terrorised London.

New documents discovered by a relative of Chief Inspector Donald Sutherland Swanson, the police officer in charge of solving the mystery murders, has named his prime suspect.

The case is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries of all time but police now believe the name of the culprit could be that of Aaron Kosminski - a Polish born Jew who spent the last 28 years of his life in a lunatic asylum.

The Ripper murdered at least five women prostitutes between August and November 1888 but it's not known exactly how many he killed during his reign of terror in the dark streets of Whitechapel in East London.

The great grandson of CI Swanson, the chief investigating officer at the time, today handed over original documents belonging to his great grandfather to the Met, to coincide with the relaunch of the New Scotland Yard Crime Museum.

The documents consisted of a book written upon retirement by the assistant commissioner CID at the time of the Ripper - Dr Robert Anderson - called 'The Lighter Side of my Official.'

In the book he writes: "For I must say at once 'undiscovered murders' are rare in London, and the 'Jack-the-ripper' are [sic] not within that category."

A copy of the book was sent to Swanson and he added personal notes in the margin and named his suspect for the killings as Aaron Kosminski.

Swanson also wrote that the reason Kosminski might never have been arrested was that a witness was scared to inform on a fellow Jew. He wrote: "Because the suspect was also a Jew, and also because his evidence would convict the suspect, and witness would be the means of murderer being hanged which he did not wish to be left on his mind."

He added: "And after this identification which suspects knew, no other murder of this kind took place in London."

At the back of the book Swanson added: "Continuing from page 138, after the suspect had been identified at the Sea Side Home where he had been sent by us with difficulty in order to subject him to identification, and he knew he was identified. On suspect's return to his brother's house in Whitechapel he was watched by police (City CID) by day and night. In a very short time the suspect with his hands tied behind his back, he was sent to Stepney Workhouse and then to Colney Hatch and died shortly afterwards - Kosminski was the suspect - DSS."

Speaking at a press conference at New Scotland Yard today, Nevill Swanson, the great grandson of Donald Swanson, said: "My great grandfather was convinced he had got his man.

"Although Kosminski was never arrested I am sure he would have thought he had done his detective work very well. The book is a family heirloom that has been with us for many generations."

Nevertheless the identification of the ripper is still not confirmed

DCS Steve Lovelock said: "The Ripper Murders were far from solved and remained open. This case has not been solved conclusively - but perhaps people don't want it to be solved.

"What I find most interesting is that we have the officer in charge at the time putting forward the name of the person he believed was the main suspect after he had retired."

Keith Skinner, a historical researcher who has worked on the Ripper case for 20 years, said: "Swanson was in a position to claim to know who the Ripper was.

"But unfortunately the evidence against Kosminski is non-existent. In the Swanson marginalia he is not referred to as Aaron specifically, just as Kosminski.

"I am not even sure Aaron Kosminski is the right person. There is no evidence against any of the 100 plus suspects in the Whitechapel murders.

"And there are contradictions and conflicts about the Swanson notes. They are not as clear as one would like them to be. There doesn't seem to be any clear evidence pointing to any suspect we don't even know why many of the names came into the frame."

Alan McCormick, the Crime Museum curator added that despite new DNA technology it was unlikely the police would ever find conclusive proof as to the identity of Jack the Ripper.

He said: "The only example of an exhibit that could give DNA samples was a knife that was found that may have belonged to Jack the Ripper there is absolutely nothing else. There is no possibility of any forensic evidence being found at all."

The emergence of Aaron Kosminski as a suspect is not new it has been in the public domain since 1981 but the Swanson book will now be displayed at the Crime Museum.



http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=FD1327080X&news_headline=jack_the_ripper_identified_by_invest igating_detective

bueno bob
07-16-2006, 04:44 AM
Well, that's an interesting take on it...

Nobody will ever know for sure...

Northern Girl
07-24-2006, 09:19 PM
I just recently read Patricia Cornwell's Jack The Ripper book 'Portrait of a Killer.' She thought it was Walter Sickert. She really details the murders pretty graphically. He was definitely a sick fuck whoever he was.

binnie
07-25-2006, 10:25 AM
No we will never no for sure.

What interests me more is why, whoever the real Jack was, did they stop the killings?

Suggests that there was a purpose to them?

Seshmeister
07-25-2006, 12:58 PM
Or the guy died or moved away.

These theories appear every couple of years, it's all about selling books these days.

Green Manalishi
09-14-2010, 10:18 PM
Some stories have stated that he was a doctor and the investigating detectives actually followed this guy all the way back to the United States were he eventually died in St. Louis .

High Life Man
09-16-2010, 09:10 PM
I did a London Jack the Ripper walk a few years ago. Missed a bunch of it as I was hammered and had to piss. Good times.