I love these mysteries every couple of years some one announces they have proof who the ripper is this time is does seem fairly conclusive as long as the DNA tests hold up.

Patricia Cornwall has previously claimed to identify the ripper using DNA it was supposed to be an English artist. Her critics pointed out:

1. The DNA test used was not the one police use today so rather than a 1 in millions standard her test would have applied to tens of thousands of men in London at the time. (False positive).

2. The DNA sample was from a letter sent by JTR but many critics claim the letter is a fake.

To summarise:

The letter may have be written by JTR and she has identified him or

The letter was written by the artist or someone else as a hoax so the DNA is irrelevant.

Is that the same Bruce Robinson who directed Withnail and I?

There are also some interesting books about the unsolved Hammersmith murders in 1964/5. There were eight, possibly 10 victims, but the case is largely forgotten.
Robin Jarossi’s book is probably the most accessible, Dick Kirby’s is functional. David Seabrook’s Jack of Jumps is probably the best but is rather unsympathetic toward the victims.

I love the Jack the Ripper mystery but it bugs me that we'll never know who he/she was.
I used to be convinced that it was an artist living in Camden as there were similar murders around there at that time and when he died they all stopped. Also, there is a picture he painted entitled something like "view from Jack's room".
I recently have heard good arguments about it being a woman (able to go about undetected and part of lady's clothing found near one of the bodies).
But also saw an excellent programme by the great grandson of the 'Castle of horrors' US mass serial killer H H Holmes. They had evidence that he was in the area at the time and was more than capable of killing in a similar way.

Edited by eritheagle (20 Mar 2019 2.24pm)

I saw that series a crazy theory that the American serial killer HH Holmes who is believed to have killed around 200 people was in fact JTR.

I don't believe it is correct as JTR was an opportunistic sexual sadist. HH Holmes killed people for money and to avoid being caught. Holmes killed people mainly by poison so the way the victims were killed is rather different.

That said they uncovered so many similarities and coincidences between the two men it did make me wonder for a while.

It was on the History channel well worth a watch.

Edited by Badger11 (20 Mar 2019 2.49pm)