Families of Jack the Ripper’s Victims Back Call for New Inquest and Naming of Serial Killer

Karen Miller, the great-great-great-granddaughter of victim Catherine Eddowes, called for the naming of the serial killer in court as a "form of justice"

Kirsty Hatcher
·3 min read
Historia/Shutterstock Catherine Eddowes, one of the alleged victims of Jack the Ripper

Historia/Shutterstock

Catherine Eddowes, one of the alleged victims of Jack the Ripper

Relatives of some of the victims murdered by a serial killer known as Jack the Ripper have backed a call for the investigation to be reopened after new evidence emerged.

Jack the Ripper, whose identity has never been confirmed, was linked to 11 murders between 1888 and 1892 in east London. The moniker came from a letter written by someone claiming to be the killer that was sent to the local press at the time, according to U.K. newspaper The Times.

Per the outlet, police linked a single killer to five female victims. All five of the women were prostitutes and they were all mutilated, except for one, according to the BBC.

According to The Times and CBS News, evidence has since emerged suggesting that Catherine Eddowes, one of the five women, was killed by Aaron Kosminski, a Polish barber, who was a suspect in the original investigation but was never arrested.

ADVERTISEMENT

The Times reports that in 2007, researcher Russell Edwards bought a shawl that was believed to have been found on Eddowes’ body at the murder scene in 1888, and Kosminski’s DNA was later found on it.

Hulton Archive/Getty Mitre Square in London where Catherine Eddowes' body was found

Hulton Archive/Getty

Mitre Square in London where Catherine Eddowes' body was found

Per CBS News, Edwards sought the help of Doctor Jari Louhelainen, a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, who isolated small segments of DNA from blood stains on the shawl.

The DNA was matched with the DNA of Karen Miller, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Eddowes, while DNA from semen stains on the shawl were also matched with a descendant of Kosminski, leading Edwards to claim that Kosminski was the killer in 2014.

Related: Who Was Rodney Alcala? Inside the Serial Killer’s Crimes and Cameo on a Popular Show

"On the testing, the first result showed a 99.2% match. Since the DNA has two complementary strands, we went on and tested the other DNA strand, which gave a perfect 100% match," Louhelainen told U.K. newspaper the Liverpool Echo.

ADVERTISEMENT

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.         

Edwards, who is the author of the book Naming Jack the Ripper, has now hired a legal team to push for an inquest into the murders, per The Times.

Related: 'My Ex the Serial Killer': A Woman Left Her Abusive Husband. Then She Learned Disturbing Extent of What He'd Done (Exclusive)

According to the outlet, Edwards’ call has received support from Miller, 53, along with descendants of the four other female victims.

“The name Jack the Ripper has become sensationalized; it has gone down in history as this famous character,” Miller said, per the outlet.

“What about the real name of the person who did this? Having the real person legally named in a court which can consider all the evidence would be a form of justice for the victims, Miller continued, adding, “We have got the proof, now we need this inquest to legally name the killer. It would mean a lot to me, to my family, to a lot of people to finally have this crime solved.”

Read the original article on People

Latest Stories

  • A Teen Waited at a Bus Stop, Then Vanished Forever. 8 Years Later, an Undercover Sting Finally Revealed What Happened to Him

    On Dec. 7, 2003, Daniel Morcombe set off from his family’s home to shop for Christmas gifts, and was never seen again

  • Human smugglers sent 2 families to their deaths as RCMP closed in, court records show

    After the Chaudhari family landed in Montreal on a flight from Winnipeg they walked out the airport doors to a waiting grey minivan allegedly driven by a key player in a human smuggling network that would eventually lead the four Indian nationals to their deaths, according to court records obtained by CBC News.RCMP surveillance units picked up the grey Dodge Caravan carrying the family after it took a westbound Highway 401 exit and stopped at an Esso gas station in South Lancaster, Ont. Police w

  • Father and His Girlfriend Sentenced to 3 Decades in Prison After Tying His Daughter, 15, to a Tree for ‘Over 24 Hours’

    The teen gave a victim impact statement at the couple's sentencing that displayed “maturity and composure beyond her years,” per a district attorney

  • Missing Girl, 11, Found Dead in Wooded Area Near Her School, Police Open Murder Investigation

    Louise Lasalle's body was found 12 hours after the middle schooler was reported missing by her parents on Feb. 7

  • 'Devoted' Mom of 3 Dies in Vehicle Collision After Husband Suspected She Was Having an Affair: Police

    Asia Guercy is being remembered by her sister as a "beautiful soul" who was killed following an alleged history of domestic violence

  • Family thought 14-year-old was dead, feds say. She’s found with Michigan sex offender

    For a month, the Washington family called every morgue, officials said.

  • Driver’s Dashcam Captures the Terrifying Moment When Another Car Shoots Fireworks at Her in Alleged Road Rage Incident

    The woman's dashcam "captured the Roman candle-style fireworks from several angles," police said

  • A 15-year-old went to a Brooklyn parade. The NYPD wrongly accused him of a mass shooting

    NEW YORK (AP) — Camden Lee was leaving high school football practice in September when he saw the photograph, splashed across the New York Police Department’s social media accounts, that would soon upend his life.

  • A drug-producing 'superlab' is cleaned up after being busted by RCMP in Falkland, B.C., which is an unincorporated community about 50 kilometres east of Kamloops. The RCMP say there's evidence that organized crime groups are moving from smuggling fentanyl across the border to producing it in Canada.

    The federal government is looking to list Mexican cartels as terrorists under Canadian law, but experts say there are a number of other groups heavily involved in the illicit drug market.U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose hefty tariffs on Canada and Mexico, in part over his apparent concerns that fentanyl and other drugs are pouring into the U.S. from those two countries.While the amount of fentanyl that has been seized at the Canada-U.S. border is minor compared to the southern U.S. border, Ottawa struck a deal with Trump earlier this week to hold off on tariffs after making some last-minute additions to its border security offer.Part of that deal included listing Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations under the Criminal Code.Minister of Public Safety David McGuinty hasn't yet named the cartels that would be designated terrorists. (David Lipnowski/The Canadian Press)Public Safety Minister David McGuinty suggested to reporters on Friday that "all criminal cartels" are being looked at, but didn't name any.Experts point to two likely suspects: the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG)."Those are the ones that appear to converge at the most senior levels of transnational organized crime in Canada," said Calvin Chrustie, a former RCMP superintendent in Vancouver who has investigated transnational crime networks on cross-border cases.President Donald Trump signed an executive order enacting steep tariffs on Canada last week. But after Canada made additional border promises, including listing cartels as terrorists, he put off the tariffs for a month. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)Trump signed an order in January directing the U.S. government to list cartels as terrorist organizations under American law. Vanda Felbab-Brown — an expert on organized crime and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution — said it makes sense Canada would make a similar move."Once the Trump administration has done that, there is no territorial limitation on the implications of the designation. So it's kind of natural that Canada would move in the same way," she said.Jessica Davis, a former senior intelligence analyst with CSIS who now heads the consulting firm Insight Threat Intelligence, said it's fairly "straightforward" that cartels meet the definition of a terrorist group under Canadian law."That definition includes things like committing serious violence for a political purpose and most cartels do that," she said.WATCH | Mexican drug cartels 'thriving' in Canada, police and analysts say: Felbab-Brown said Sinaloa and the CJNG have largely been focused on smuggling illicit drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine into Canada.But RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme told CBC's Rosemary Barton Live that there are signs cartels are getting involved in production on Canadian soil."We do know from the intelligence picture that Mexican organized crime or cartels are involved with the fabrication. What you're seeing in Canada is you're seeing more of the precursors [chemicals used to make illicit drugs] coming into Canada," Duheme told host Rosemary Barton in an interview airing Sunday.WATCH | Inside the 'most sophisticated' drug lab in Canadian history: The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada's (CISC) most recent public report on organized crime said that cartels are getting increasingly involved in money laundering.Canadian involvement in financial crimes was pushed into the spotlight in October when Toronto-Dominion Bank was fined more than $3.09 billion US in a historic U.S. money-laundering case. At least one of those schemes involved TD Bank employees laundering up to $670 million from selling fentanyl.Felbab-Brown said Canada has become a bit of a hub for money laundering. But she noted that more groups than just cartels are involved.Other criminal networks in illicit drug marketFelbab-Brown said the "big question" is whether the government will consider adding these other groups to the list.Chrustie said when it comes to money laundering and the fentanyl trade in Canada, the "the upper echelon" of criminal organizations include cartels, Chinese triads and Iranian crime groups — and he said they are, in ways, all interconnected."They converge and collaborate and co-operate at the strategic and operational level of transnational organized crime in Canada. But, like any major enterprise, they have subcontractors and other components and operational cells," he said."I think there's probably increasing awareness that Canada provides all these networks … a high-gain, low-risk environment to operate."Chrustie said the Chinese and Iranian groups are the ones generally responsible for smuggling precursor into Canada.Felbab-Brown said biker gangs are the primary distributors of drugs in Canada and "some of the most violent actors." But she questioned whether Ottawa would consider adding them to the list.The CISC report indicates that motorcycle gangs are heavily involved in the distribution of fentanyl and other drugs but says little about their involvement in smuggling and production.What does adding crime groups to the terrorist list do?The process of designating a terrorist group is meant to be apolitical, starting with a cross-government consultation that identifies potential groups for addition to the list.But Davis says the process has become politicized in recent years, pointing to the addition of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after years of pressure."That politicization has already happened. This is just an externally imposed politicization," Davis said of the move to add cartels to the list.McGuinty said Tuesday that listing cartels as terrorist organizations would give law enforcement agencies more powers to investigate those groups."It's going to be giving our law enforcement authorities more powers to track the money, follow the assets and disrupt the activities of cartels," he told reporters while visiting the Manitoba border town of Emerson.WATCH | What will Canada's 'fentanyl czar' do?: Last month, Canada's financial intelligence agency released an operation alert saying that online betting platforms are being used to launder proceeds from fentanyl dealing and production. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac), said there is reason to believe people are depositing and withdrawing funds at online casinos to disguise proceeds from the traffic of fentanyl and other deadly opioids as wagers and winnings.Davis and Chrustie said that as it currently stands, cartels are solely in the wheelhouse of law enforcement agencies from local police to the RCMP. But listing cartels as terrorist organizations would bring intelligence agencies such as CSIS into the conversation."The prosecutions go up, the tools increase and then it also gets the political support, priority and possibly additional funding. So it enhances the all Team Canada type of approach," he said.But Davis said who takes the lead on cartel investigations would still be in question."Traditionally in Canada, this has not been the purview of the security intelligence service. That could change. That's a policy decision," she said.Davis said it's also unclear if anything would change operationally given that Canada is adding cartels to the list to appease the U.S."It does unlock all of the counterterrorism powers if the government decides that they want to use those against cartels. But I'm not entirely confident that's 100 per cent going to happen, mostly because of the way this listing has come out," she said."This is an externally imposed listing and so it's not immediately clear that would happen."

  • Calgary man found guilty of raping 90-year-old woman

    WARNING: This article contains details of abuse.A Calgary man was found guilty of raping a 90-year-old woman in her seniors' residence apartment in 2021.Duran Ross Buffalo, 40, was on trial this week, on charges of aggravated sexual assault and break and enter to commit sexual assault stemming from a Jan. 1, 2021, attack.After about an hour of deliberation, jurors delivered guilty verdicts on both charges late Friday afternoon.His conviction comes after a jarring 911 call was played in a Calgary

  • Human Remains Found in Crocodile amid Search for Man, 60, Who Went Missing Near River 1 Week Ago

    Police located the crocodile while searching for the missing man in Queensland, Australia, on Friday, Feb. 7

  • Parts of Russia’s Sakhalin Region on high alert after Chinese cargo ship runs aground off coast

    According to local authorities, the vessel is a Chinese cargo ship "An Yang 2" with 20 crew members and 700 tons of fuel oil, 100 tons of diesel fuel and a thousand tons of coal on board. Authorities have said rescue operations are complicated by weather conditions and the storm, and that while the crew had contacted Russian authorities, no constructive proposals had been made regarding "divers, rescue ships, tugboats."

  • Family of Broward woman who went missing in Spain files wrongful death lawsuit: lawyer

    “I will track anyone who had a hand in this.”

  • 2 people charged in fatal stabbing of Fort Campbell soldier in Tennessee, police say

    CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two people have been charged in the death of a Fort Campbell soldier who was stabbed nearly 70 times last year, police said Saturday.

  • Debris Matching Missing Plane with 10 Onboard Is Found in Alaska with 3 Bodies, Coast Guard Says

    Authorities said the Bering Air Caravan flight carrying 10 was reported overdue at around 4 p.m. local time on Thursday, Feb. 6 while heading from Unalakleet to Nome

  • Freed Israeli hostages did not know their loved ones had died

    For the Israeli hostages freed Saturday, the suffering did not end when Hamas militants paraded their frail and gaunt figures on a stage in Gaza ahead of their release to the Red Cross.

  • Man ransacks altar at St. Peter’s Basilica, knocking over candelabra worth thousands of dollars

    A man has caused minor damage at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican after jumping onto the main altar and knocking over 19th-century candelabra, worth several thousand dollars.

  • He lost his father and now he’s fighting for his life. He’s one of the young victims of the Philadelphia plane crash

    A Philadelphia father picked up his three children from school and took them to Dunkin’ Donuts for an evening snack. This weekly family ritual would soon be upended when a medevac jet crashed nearby, killing everyone on board, one person on the ground and injuring more than a dozen people.

  • 6-Year-Old Girl Pronounced Dead After Being Found at Home in a Bathtub Filled with Water: Reports

    The girl was found unresponsive in the bathtub at a Brooklyn home on Friday, Feb. 7, according to reports

  • 31 Extremely Shocking True Crime Connection Stories I Guarantee Will Give You The Chills

    "John Wayne Gacy was my Aunt's neighbor and was the clown at my cousins' birthday parties several times."