The shawl (often called the “Goulston Street shawl”) is a piece of evidence allegedly found next to Jack the Ripper victim Catherine Eddowes in 1888. In 2014/2019, DNA studies claimed to find mitochondrial DNA from both Eddowes and suspect Aaron Kosminski, a Polish immigrant, on the item.
Key Details Regarding the Shawl and Kosminski:
The Findings: Researchers Jari Louhelainen and David Miller claimed to find semen and skin cells matching a descendant of Aaron Kosminski on the shawl.
The Provenance: Businessman Russell Edwards purchased the shawl in 2007, believing it was taken from the scene by a police officer, Acting Sergeant Amos Simpson, for his wife.
Why Kosminski?
The original police focused on Kosminski because his residence on Sion Square and later Greenfield Street placed him within walking distance of every single one of these crime scenes. His “great hatred of women” and mental instability made him the perfect profile for someone capable of such “overkill” mutilations.
Read the book by Russell Edwards: Naming Jack the Ripper
These are the victims generally agreed upon by Scotland Yard as the work of a single serial killer, though some investigators linked him to even more.
The Canonical Five (August–November 1888)
Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols (August 31): Found in Buck’s Row. She was the first to display the characteristic throat-slitting and abdominal mutilation.
Annie Chapman (September 8): Found in the backyard of 29 Hanbury Street. This murder occurred in broad daylight and involved the surgical removal of the uterus.
Elizabeth Stride (September 30): The first victim of the “Double Event.” She was killed in Dutfield’s Yard, but the killer was likely interrupted, as she was not mutilated.
Catherine Eddowes (September 30): The second victim of the “Double Event,” found in Mitre Square. This is the victim associated with the silk shawl used in the 2014 DNA testing.
Mary Jane Kelly (November 9): The final and most brutal murder, occurring indoors at 13 Miller’s Court.
The “Extra” Victims
While the Five are the most famous, the Whitechapel Murders file at Scotland Yard actually contains 11 victims.
Two others are often linked to the Kosminski timeline:
Martha Tabram (August 7, 1888): Killed with 39 stab wounds. Many experts believe she was the Ripper’s “first strike” before he switched to a signature method.
Alice McKenzie (July 17, 1889): Murdered months after the “final” killing. Police Commissioner James Monro believed this was a Ripper killing, while others disagreed. If Kosminski was the killer, this would mean he was active much later than the “Seaside Home” theory suggests.
His last 10 years were marked by severe physical and mental decline:
- Residence: He remained at Leavesden Asylum for the entire decade, having been transferred there from Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum.
- Mental State: Medical records from this period describe him as “demented and incoherent”. He suffered from persistent auditory hallucinations and paranoid delusions, including a deep-seated fear of being poisoned, which led him to refuse food from others.
- Physical Decline: Due to his paranoia, Kosminski often only ate food he found on the ground or discarded litter. This behavior resulted in extreme emaciation; by February 1919, he weighed just 96 pounds (approx. 44 kg).
- Personal Habits: He was noted for being “very dirty,” consistently refusing to wash or bathe.
- Death: Kosminski died on March 24, 1919, at the age of 53. His cause of death is often cited as gangrene of the left leg, a complication likely exacerbated by his poor physical health and long-term institutionalization.
Burial: He was buried in the East Ham Jewish Cemetery in London.
