However, this enduring focus on serial killers comes at a cost. The victims of such crimes are frequently overshadowed, their names forgotten, while the killers become cultural icons. Despite his historical significance, Jack the Ripper was ultimately a brutal murderer. Yet the way we remember him today reflects a wider cultural obsession with serial killers that is both compelling and problematic.
There is also a significant amount of pseudoscience surrounding the Whitechapel Murders. There are hoaxed diaries, fake letters, and conspiracy theories involving the Freemasons or the British Royal family. Some deny Jack the Ripper existed at all, and argue that the murders attributed to him were totally unrelated. Many of these conspiracies and hoaxes persist because, after 140 years, we still have no idea who Jack the Ripper was.
But could that be about to change? In recent weeks, multiple news outlets have reported on a DNA analysis claiming to identify the killer as Aaron Kosminski, a Polish barber who lived in Whitechapel at the time.