The Top 3 Most Plausible “Jack The Ripper” Suspects

The real identity of one of the most famous serial killer at Whitechapel district of London, Jack The Ripper, has long been debated by many experts up to these days. Series of an investigation was done to identify the man behind the horrible killings done from August to November 1888 at East London.

Here’s the list of the top three most likely suspects of the anonymous killer, Jack The Ripper:

Montague John Druitt is one of the suspects of Jack the Ripper’s chain of killings. It was determined that he died just weeks after the death of Mary Jane Kelly (the last canonical victim of Jack The Ripper). After Druitt’s alleged suicide, the murders at Whitechapel District ended.

Druitt was a barrister and he worked as an assistant schoolmaster in Blackheath, London. Some thought that Druitt was sexually insane though he came from a good family background.

According to a written report in the 1890s by Assistant Chief Constable Sir Melville Macnaghten, there were three likely suspects of Jack the Ripper. However, a confidential version of this report was left by Macnaghten to his daughter. In this version, he pointed out that the man behind Jack Ripper was already dead and his body was found floating in the River Thames. This report affirmed Druitt was Jack The Ripper.

Later in the inquest, Inspector Frederick Abberline claimed to end Druitt as a suspect due to lack of substantial proof beyond the accidental timing of Druitt’s alleged suicide.

Many police officers during the time of Ripper’s murder believed that Aaron Kosminski was Jack The Ripper. He is a Polish Jewish migrant in London and he worked as a barber.

In a report made by Macnaghten, Kosminski had a strong abhorrence on women and had murderous tendencies. He is one of the top three suspects mentioned by Macnaghten in his written reports about Jack The Ripper in 1890s.

In addition, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal profiler Robert Ressler and John Douglas, Kosminski met the general criteria of the serial murderer, as well as the fact that he lived within a mile of the locations of the Ripper’s slaughters.

More than a Century after the investigation, a recent study in 2014 showed a Mitochondrial DNA on the shawl of Catherine Eddowes (one of the five canonical Ripper victims). The DNA test was done by Dr. Jari Louhelainen, an expert in historic DNA analysis. However, no peer review was made to verify this examination. Many critics dismissed the reliability of the DNA analysis without proper evaluation.

In 2015, Dr. Wynne Weston-Davies, a former surgeon claimed that his great-aunt Elizabeth Weston-Davies was actually Mary Jane Kelly (the last canonical victim of Jack The Ripper). In his book, he stated that Elizabeth’s husband, Francis Craig was behind the identity of Jack The Ripper.

Francis Craig was an editor and a newspaper reporter at the time of Ripper’s murder investigation. He lived in Mile End Road, Whitechapel district, a place near the Ripper’s murders. It was reported in the book that the famous Jack Ripper Dear Boss letter was written by none other than Francis Craig. The Dear Boss Letter was believed to be done by someone from America or someone who spent time in America. Moreover, there was an editorial style in the way the letter was written. During his time, Craig spent time in the United States between 1864 and 1866.

According to the book, Craig gone mad after learning his wife was a prostitute. He plotted to murder his wife. Fearing retaliation, Elizabeth went into hiding and used the name Mary Jane Kelly to hide from her livid husband.

The series of canonical murder by Jack The Ripper was made to cover the real motive of the murderer, which was to kill his wife Mary Jane Kelly, the last reported victim.

If there’s a way to get the DNA of Mary Jane Kelly and compare the results with Dr. Wynne Weston-Davies, then Jack Ripper’s identity can finally be identified. However, until now, there have been no recent development of the forensic investigation of Mary Jane Kelly’s DNA analysis.

The mystery and legend of Jack the Ripper continues to baffle us after so many generations. Perhaps one day modern science will discover who this fiend of terror truly was.