The manhunt for Jack the Ripper is one of the most famous unsolved mysteries in the world.  Between August and November 1888 5 prostitutes were murdered and left mutilated in the Whitechapel area of East London in 1888.  The police never caught the man responsible, and although they had their suspicions the Ripper was never named.  That is of course until this month when the family of Chief Inspector Donald Swanson handed in some notes into Scotland Yard’s Black Museum.

Written inside Swanson’s boss’ biography was the name of Aaron Kosminski, a Polish Jew, who he believed to be the world’s most famous serial killer.  In a line up at the time Kosminski was positively identified as the Ripper by an eye witness but she refused to give her testimony in court.  Swanson never gathered enough evidence to convict Kosminski who later died in a lunatic asylum.

The name, Jack the Ripper, comes from a published letter written by someone who claimed to be the killer at the time of the murders.  He struck fear into the Capital and there was daily coverage of his actions and the hunt to find him in the popular press of the time.  This served to romanticise the tale of who was the Ripper that has remained un-named until now.

If you are interested in Jack the Ripper, read more on the Casebook Website