Jack the Ripper: London’s infamous serial killer remains enduring mystery

Jack the Ripper remains one of the greatest enigmas in the history of crime, a serial killer whose brutal acts shook London, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

The murders in the poor Whitechapel district in 1888 are not just a story of violence, but also social problems, media hysteria, and endless theories that have developed over the centuries.

This story begins with the discovery of the first body and continues through controversies that still fuel the imagination of investigators today.

It was a dark night on August 31, 1888. On Buck’s Row, now known as Durward Street in Whitechapel, a worker named Charles Cross was heading to work around 3:30 a.m. In the darkness, he noticed something that looked like a pile of old clothes leaning against a wall. As he approached, he realized it was the body of a woman.

It was Mary Ann Nichols, also known as Polly, a 43-year-old woman living on the fringes of society, broken by alcoholism and an unstable life. Her body was terribly mutilated but showed no signs of struggle, suggesting the attack had been sudden and quick. The doctor confirmed that death had occurred shortly before the discovery, likely due to blood loss.

This was the beginning of a series of murders that would soon be named after the mysterious killer, and Polly Nichols is considered the first canonical victim of Jack the Ripper. At that time, Whitechapel was full of poverty, prostitution, and crime, allowing the killer to operate unseen in the shadows of the city.

Five victims—Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly—were killed within just a few months, with each murder growing increasingly brutal.

The number of victims is disputed—some believe there were more than five, possibly up to eleven—but the police officially linked only five. Even more controversy surrounds the letters allegedly sent to police and newspapers—such as the famous “Dear Boss” letter in September 1888, in which the killer first signed himself as Jack the Ripper, or the “From Hell” letter, suspected to have contained half of a victim’s kidney.

Many experts now believe most of these letters were forged. The case also reflected the social issues of the time: poverty, exploitation of women, and the inefficiency of the police, which lacked modern forensic methods.

Over the years, more than one hundred people have been suspected as the possible Jack the Ripper, with each theory bringing its own story and evidence, but none proven.

Police suspected Montague John Druitt, a young lawyer who committed suicide shortly after the last murder, linking his death to the end of the killings. Another early suspect was Aaron Kosminski, a Polish barber with mental health issues, identified by witnesses, and recently brought back into focus by DNA tests. Michael Ostrog, a Russian criminal and conman, was also on the list but was later found to be in prison during some of the murders.

In modern times, James Maybrick, a wealthy cotton merchant, became famous after the discovery of a diary supposedly confessing to the murders, and Carl Feigenbaum, a German sailor, was accused of similar crimes in America.

Recently, theories about Francis Craig, the husband of one of the victims, suggest he was jealous.

Although the Jack the Ripper case officially closed more than a century ago, modern technology such as DNA analysis has led to new claims: for example, in 2014, an investigator claimed to have identified Aaron Kosminski based on DNA from a victim’s scarf, and studies in 2025 reaffirmed similar conclusions, though these remain controversial and are not officially accepted.