The real Jack the Ripper revealed by Shropshire based author, after years of research.

Shropshire Star

A Shropshire based author reveals the true Jack the Ripper.

Transcript

00:00So we're here in Bridgnorth and Russell, very nice to meet you sir, how are you?

00:04I'm absolutely fine, thank you for coming to meet me today.

00:07Interesting thing you're holding there, it's a bust, a bust of who?

00:11Well this is a bust that's taken me 24 years to get.

00:16This is Aaron Kosminski, who I named officially as Jack the Ripper.

00:21And this is his age when he was 23 when he committed the murders.

00:25So you've actually got a book out haven't you? Is it out now or coming out?

00:28Absolutely yeah, the first book's called Naming Jack the Ripper,

00:32the next book, which has got all of the more information on this is

00:36Naming Jack the Ripper, the Definitive Reveal.

00:39So it's took how many years of your life into this project then?

00:42This one's been 24 years.

00:44Yeah, so how certain are you that this is the man then?

00:48100 percent, there's just no doubt, I wouldn't put myself in the firing line if it wasn't.

00:53Yeah because yeah when you put yourself into that world you know you're gonna...

00:57You know who the irony is? He was named over 50, 60 years ago by, it was Donald Swanson.

01:06As a suspect, you mean?

01:08He was named as the guy yeah.

01:10Oh yeah, okay.

01:11He was called the Swanson Marginalian.

01:13So what happened, there was never a conviction on him then, how did he get away with it?

01:17So basically after the fifth murder, he tried to kill his own sister with a knife,

01:21his two brothers who looked after him gave him up to the police.

01:25He was shipped down to Brighton to a seaside home in Hove

01:29where he was identified in a way of confrontation by the only one eyewitness that actually saw him

01:35attacking a victim before she was murdered and that was Israel Swartz.

01:39Israel Swartz wouldn't testify, so they had the man but they couldn't prosecute him.

01:43So for fear she wouldn't testify presumably yeah.

01:46But when I did this, another 10 years of work, I'm in touch with the families obviously

01:53and lo and behold it turns out that his older brother Isaac was a Mason.

01:57Wow, yeah.

01:58So the Masonic link.

01:59Yeah.

02:00Which also then unravels the reason for the ritual.

02:03There's a famous piece of chalk writing called the Goulston Street Graffito,

02:07that's now answered by me.

02:11It's been an incredible journey.

02:14Well this is, so we've got the book and a book to come and also there's going to be potentially

02:19be some TV work up with yourself and story on story yeah.

02:22That's still in the pipeline and again all contract negotiations at the moment.

02:27But for now naming Jack the Ripper the definitive reveal

02:30will give you everything you've ever wanted to know about this story.

02:34So what do we know about him?

02:35Where was he from originally?

02:36Was he a Londoner or you know originally or?

02:39Well again in the book I've got his whole family tree going back to 1810.

02:42Yeah.

02:43This guy was born in Klodowa in Poland.

02:46Yeah.

02:47He was the youngest.

02:48His elder brother five years looked after him.

02:51Five years older wolf.

02:53His mum was in the 40s already.

02:56Basically this chap, I say this chap, this murderer suffered with schizophrenia.

03:03At the age of 16 they came over to Mile End Old Town just on the outskirts of Whitechapel.

03:08Basically 10 minutes from the murders.

03:10Yeah.

03:11Where he developed a career, I say career,

03:14a job as a hairdresser or barber surgeon.

03:17Yeah.

03:17Who would have had to have anatomical knowledge.

03:20And where he lived literally was at the back of the Royal London Hospital.

03:23Yeah.

03:25It literally had gone all awry for him.

03:29So by 1888 he committed his five murders.

03:33Where?

03:34And then identified, then locked up into a workhouse.

03:39Yeah.

03:39Then an asylum which was Colney Hatch.

03:42And then from there in 1894, in the April, he was moved to Leavesden Asylum.

03:48Where he spent the rest of his life.

03:50And he died, gangrene, in 1919, age 54, on March the 24th.

03:57So if people want to find out more about your book, what's the link?

04:00Where do they click?

04:01You can go, my Facebook page is Russell Stephen Edwards with a PH.

04:05Or the Jack the Ripper Experience.

04:07Yeah.

04:08You can go online and name it Jack the Ripper.

04:11The definitive reveal.

04:13And of course, and there's the graphic novel that I've written.

04:17Parts one and two are already out.

04:19Part three is out in about four weeks time.

04:21What are they called, chap?

04:22Jack the Ripper.

04:23Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

04:24Jack the Ripper.

04:24Yeah, yeah.

04:25And it's the whole complete story of his life.

04:28Yeah.

04:29And interestingly enough, only this time last week,

04:32I put a reel out of his house, the house he grew up in Poland.

04:35Yeah.

04:36So that's available if you want to sign up.

04:37Wow, okay.

04:39And it's fair to say there's quite a number of different projects you're working on.

04:44We can't really mention about them, but there's some quite interesting things

04:48you've been uncovering in terms of other cold case crimes.

04:51Yeah, so two cold cases.

04:54One's been completed, my lips are sealed on that.

04:56Yeah.

04:57Next is the big one over in America, which I'm really looking forward to.

05:01And of course, there's a film script out for this one.

05:04So yeah, so definitely check out the pages online and find out more, folks.

05:11Well, thank you, sir.

05:12Pleasure.

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