WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Jack the Ripper unmasked: How amateur sleuth used DNA breakthrough to identify Britain's most notorious criminal 126 years after string of terrible murders
DNA evidence on a shawl found at Ripper murder scene nails killer
By testing descendants of victim and suspect, identifications were made
Jack the Ripper has been identified as Polish-born Aaron Kosminski
Kosminski was a suspect when the Ripper murders took place in 1888
Hairdresser Kosminski lived in Whitechapel and was later put in an asylum
Wouldn't you know it, Edwards has a new book to promote. Naming Jack The Ripper comes out Tuesday, and is the latest in a long line of books that speculate on the identity of the infamous killer.
Edwards and Louhelainen saw fit to announce their discovery to the world – a discovery based on a "DNA breakthrough" that Edwards describes as "innovative," "amazing," and "incredible" – not in the pages of a reputable, peer-reviewed scientific publication, but the Daily Mail.
The discovery hinges on a 126-year-old, unwashed, blood-and-semen-soiled shawl said to have been recovered from the scene of one of Jack the Ripper's murders, though the shawl's actual provenance remains far from certain.