After 137 years, new DNA-based claims pointing to Victorian-era suspect Aaron Kosminski have reignited the Jack the Ripper case, offering a chillingly plausible identity while simultaneously deepening controversy and reminding the world that even modern science may never fully close this dark chapter of history.

More than a century after a series of brutal murders terrorized London’s East End, the identity of Jack the Ripper has once again been thrust into the spotlight, following renewed forensic claims that link the infamous killings to a specific suspect—an announcement that has stirred fierce debate among historians, scientists, and the public alike.

The crimes occurred in the autumn of 1888, when at least five women—Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly—were murdered in the Whitechapel district.

The killer’s extreme violence, apparent anatomical knowledge, and taunting letters sent to police and newspapers transformed the case into a global sensation and one of history’s most enduring mysteries.

Despite intense investigation by Victorian-era authorities, no one was ever charged.

In recent years, however, advances in forensic science have encouraged researchers to revisit old evidence with modern tools.

In late 2024, a group of independent investigators announced that DNA analysis conducted on a shawl allegedly recovered from the crime scene of Catherine Eddowes had again pointed to Aaron Kosminski, a Polish-born barber who lived in Whitechapel at the time of the murders and was previously named as a suspect by contemporary police officials.

Kosminski, who emigrated to England in the early 1880s, was known to suffer from severe mental illness and was committed to an asylum in 1891, three years after the killings ended.

Internal police memoranda from the period described him as a person of interest, though the lack of admissible evidence prevented prosecution.

According to the researchers behind the latest announcement, mitochondrial DNA recovered from stains on the shawl was compared to genetic material from living descendants of both Kosminski and Eddowes.

They claim the results show a match consistent with Kosminski’s maternal line.

“This is as close as we can reasonably come to identifying the killer using modern science,” one member of the research team said during a public presentation in London.

“The data strongly supports what some investigators suspected more than a hundred years ago.”

Not everyone is convinced.

Critics quickly pointed out that the shawl’s provenance remains disputed, with no definitive documentation proving it was collected at the Eddowes crime scene.

Others emphasized that mitochondrial DNA cannot uniquely identify an individual, as it is shared among maternal relatives.

“This does not close the case,” said one Victorian crime historian.

“It reopens it—loudly.”

The Metropolitan Police, which officially closed the investigation decades ago, declined to comment on the claims, reiterating that the case remains historically unresolved.

Academic journals have also urged caution, noting that contamination over more than a century could compromise any biological evidence.

Despite the controversy, the renewed focus has reignited public fascination with the Whitechapel murders.

Walking tours, museums, and online forums have seen a surge in interest, as people grapple with the idea that a real person—not a mythic monster—may finally be stepping out from the fog of history.

For the families of the victims, the discussion is bittersweet.

“Names matter,” said a spokesperson for a local historical remembrance group.

“But what matters more is remembering the women whose lives were cut short, not just the man who killed them.”

Jack the Ripper has long symbolized the anxieties of a rapidly changing Victorian society—urban poverty, gendered violence, and mistrust of authority.

Whether or not Aaron Kosminski is ultimately accepted as the killer, the latest claims underscore how modern technology continues to challenge old narratives, even when certainty remains elusive.

After 137 years, the Ripper’s shadow still stretches across London’s streets.

And while a name may now stand where silence once lived, the debate surrounding it proves that some mysteries resist final closure—no matter how much time, science, or curiosity is brought to bear.