Aaron Kosminski – A Jack the Ripper Suspect

Aaron Kosminski is one of the most well-known suspects involved in the infamous Jack the Ripper killings that occurred around the district of Whitechapel in London during the late 1800s.

Suspicion grew on Aaron Kosminski due to evidence that was brought to light from a recent DNA analysis and investigation of a shawl that allegedly belonged to Catherine Eddowes, the Ripper’s fourth victim. However, with the reliability of our modern scientific evidence being questioned and case files from the actual police investigation being inconclusive, can we reliably claim that Aaron Kosminski was the notorious Jack the Ripper?

Who Was Aaron Kosminski?

Born in K?odawa, Russia (now Poland), Aaron Kosminski (then known as Aron Mordke Kozminski) was a Polish Jew who briefly emigrated to Germany only to later reside in London with his sisters when he was 15. Kosminski sporadically worked as a barber throughout his life but was believed to have been heavily reliant on support from his family.

Where did Aaron Kosminski live?

Kosminski was living in the slums of Whitechapel when he found himself being admitted to Mile End Old Town Workhouse in July 1890 before being released just three days later. His freedom was short-lived; however, he was admitted again in February following claims that he had been exhibiting threatening behaviour towards women.

Known to experience hallucinations of hearing voices and have fears of eating or drinking anything given to him by other people, Kosminski was paranoid and emaciated during his second stint in the Mile End Old Town Workhouse. His delirium led to his incarceration at Colney Heath Lunatic Asylum, followed by Leavesden Asylum in April 1894.

Why Was Aaron Kosminski a Suspect?

At the time of the Jack the Ripper killings, Kosminski was 23 years old, believed to have a poor grasp of the English language, and had a slight build thanks to his peculiar eating habits. This is a stretch from the stocky male in his late thirties to early forties that many described as the Ripper. So, how did he find himself named as one of the suspects in the biggest murder investigation of all time?

Although not officially named as a suspect by the police investigating the Jack the Ripper killings at the time, the name Kosminski has cropped up multiple times over the years. The person who particularly believed that Aaron Kosminski was a suspect was none other than Chief Inspector Swanson, who described Kosminski in his memos as a “Polish Jew of low class with a hatred of women and homicidal tendencies”.

In addition, the name Kosminski also appeared in the memoirs of Assistant Commissioner Sir Robert Anderson in 1910, based on Kosminski’s violent outburst with a knife that led to his arrest and detainment in the workhouse (and subsequently, Colney Heath Asylum). However, this evidence comes under scrutiny because Anderson went on to say that Kosminski died shortly after this arrest, despite it being believed that he passed many years later in 1919.

Assistant Commissioner Anderson also made claims that Kosminski was identified as Jack the Ripper by a witness who couldn’t help the prosecution due to being unable to testify against a fellow Jew. This was never verified, however.

Aaron Kosminski DNA Evidence

The biggest piece of evidence that links Aaron Kosminski to being amongst the Jack the Ripper suspects has to be the discovery of a stained and bloody shawl that was found at the murder scene of the Ripper’s fourth victim, Catherine Eddowes. After allegedly being removed from official police evidence and handed down through the family, the shawl was bought at auction by author Russell Edwards in 2014, who immediately commissioned a DNA test to be undertaken at the hands of Dr Jari Louhelainen. However, the initial results were met with scepticism as they lacked peer reviews. Further tests were re-run again in early 2019 by Liverpool John Moore’s University and the University of Leeds, which corroborated that the DNA present matched the modern descendants of Catherine Eddowes and Aaron Kosminski. Despite this, other experts have claimed that this DNA is also linked to 90% of Europe, meaning there’s no telling whether the shawl was ever linked to Eddowes and Kosminski themselves.

What’s more, the legitimacy of the shawl was brought into question in 2019, as no such item was ever recorded as being found with the body or as part of Eddowes’ personal effects.

What Do You Think?

Despite the questions surrounding the evidence, many still believe that Aaron Kosminski was, in fact, a true Jack the Ripper suspect.

While there are positives and negatives to the suspicions that Aaron Kosminski was Jack the Ripper, we may never know for certain. Many police documents from the official investigation were never found, and the doubts over the shawl remain, but Kosminski was indeed around and living in Whitechapel at the time of all the Ripper murders – with no alibis and violent outbursts likely.

Make your own mind up; join us on our exciting Jack the Ripper tour as we explore the streets of Whitechapel, tracing the steps of the most notorious killer in history as he stalked his victims. Led by expert Ripperologists, our tour, complete with Ripper Vision technology, presents you with cold, hard facts and allows you to decide who has done it once and for all.

Do you want to find out if Aaron Kosminski really was the killer? Book your tickets today and find out for yourself.