# So who, besides Lewis Carroll, was Jack the Ripper? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 23, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822 "2014-07-23T05:18:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/21 "2014-07-29T00:15:17Z")
Jack the Ripper? It was Professor Plum in the Drawing Room with the Candlestick. Hey, it’s a good as guess as anything else written on the subject. Of course, [Wikipedia](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper_suspects) has a whole page on possible candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/22 "2014-07-29T02:50:25Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > That movie any good? It’s been years since I’ve seen it but I remember really enjoying it when if was released. It got positive reviews and did pretty well at the box office. I think it would be worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/23 "2014-07-29T02:56:36Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > It’s been years since I’ve seen it but I remember really enjoying it when if was released. It got positive reviews and did pretty well at the box office. I think it would be worth checking out. It has been a while, but I recall liking the novel better than the book. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/24 "2014-07-29T03:08:46Z")
I also enjoyed _Time After Time._ I remember it as a good, sometimes even scary time-travel thriller with a charming romantic subplot, and some funny fish-out-of-water gags with H.G. Wells in late-Seventies San Francisco. > **[Time After Time (1979) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080025/?ref_=nv_sr_1)** > > Time After Time: Directed by Nicholas Meyer. With Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen, Charles Cioffi. H.G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to the 20th Century when the serial murderer uses the future writer's time machine to escape his... > **[Time After Time](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/time_after_time)** > > H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) has built a time machine, and he plans on using it to travel to a Utopian paradise in the future. But before he can, Jack the Ripper (David Warner), on the run from the police, uses it to escape and travel to 1979. Wells... ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/25 "2014-07-29T06:41:52Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It has been a while, but I recall liking the novel better than the book. Weird. I recall liking the film better than the movie. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/26 "2014-07-29T08:25:18Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I also enjoyed _Time After Time._… and some funny fish-out-of-water gags with H.G. Wells in late-Seventies San Francisco. And, conversely, the Ripper character finding his home away from home in post-60s, pre-AIDS Baghdad by the Bay. (Played deliciously by David Warner.) ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/27 "2014-07-29T09:39:56Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > In a very real sense, is not each and every one of us truly Jack the Ripper? Bravo! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/28 "2014-07-30T02:00:57Z")
Another suspect: [Redjac | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Redjac) ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/29 "2014-07-31T13:31:38Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Dr. John Leslie Stevenson, I’d say: [Time After Time (1979 film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_After_Time_(1979_film)) One of my favorite movies! I need to watch it again! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/30 "2014-07-31T15:05:56Z")
Yup. I must’ve seen it three or four times when it was in heavy rotation in HBO’s early days. ---
**Author:** ![Fred99999](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Fred99999](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred99999)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/31 "2014-08-08T03:13:35Z")
No one really knows who Jack the Ripper was. There have been scores of accusations, most completely ridiculous. Lewis Carroll is, so far, the most ridiculous one I’ve heard. For some reason, the people who make these idiotic accusations always seem to be sure they’re correct, despite the complete lack of any credible evidence for their case. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/32 "2014-08-08T03:23:31Z")
That’s what makes it so much fun! Some guy comes along with a pet theory and we get to rip it to shreds. Lately here it’s been .999… = 1, and sometimes 9/11 (JREF’s best for them), but we haven’t had a good Albanian Genocide Denial thread in years. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/33 "2014-08-08T04:16:30Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > That movie any good? Yes. I saw it when it first came out and it’s only gotten better with time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/34 "2014-08-08T17:21:04Z")
My pick is [Aaron Kosminski](http://www.casebook.org/suspects/kosminski.html#vote). ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/35 "2014-08-11T23:59:48Z")
We frequently refer to McDonald’s as “that Scottish restaurant.” And the woman who plays Mrs. Wells, or the character who becomes Mrs. Wells, is/was EXTREMELY good-looking. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/36 "2014-09-07T13:33:56Z")
> **[Jack the Ripper was Polish 23-year-old barber Aaron Kosminski, new](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jack-the-ripper-was-polish-immigrant-called-aaron-kosminski-new-book-claims-9716805.html)** > > DNA evidence from victim Catherine Eddowes' shawl was used for the research > [@](#): > > Jack the Ripper was a 23-year-old Polish immigrant called Aaron Kosminski, according to an author claiming to have exposed the serial killer’s true identity using DNA evidence. > > Russell Edwards, who describes himself as an “armchair detective”, believes he has identified the Victorian murderer for the first time after more than 120 years of mystery. > > He said Kosminski, who died in an asylum, was “definitely, categorically and absolutely” the man behind the grisly killing spree in 1888 in Whitechapel. > > Police had identified Kosminski as a suspect, Mr Edwards said, but never had enough evidence to bring him to trial. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/37 "2014-09-08T01:54:59Z")
The shawl’s provenance is, shall we say, suspect. The mtDNA is not definitive; it just limits the pool. I this case to roughly 400,000 people. You may say, “but how many of those were in Whitechapel in 1888?” Probably quite a lot. The Jewish population of Whitechapel in 1888 was between 45,000 and 50,000, many fairly closely related. Aaron Kosminski might not even be the Kosminski who was suspected. More about Kosminski: [http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/kosfinal.html](http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/kosfinal.html) The thread about the latest findings: [Kosminski and Victim DNA Match on Shawl - Casebook: Jack the Ripper Forums](http://forum.casebook.org/showthread.php?t=8296) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/38 "2014-09-08T02:20:47Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The shawl’s provenance is, shall we say, suspect. The mtDNA is not definitive; it just limits the pool. I this case to roughly 400,000 people. How so? Did the guy’s relatives let their DNA be sampled? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/39 "2014-09-08T02:56:15Z")
Apparently yes. The precise details might be in the book. Otherwise, all I know is what’s in some newspaper articles. ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822/40 "2014-09-08T14:09:21Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > How so? Did the guy’s relatives let their DNA be sampled? I imagine a phone call request would work out like this: > [@](#): > > Hi! I’m doing some research about Jack the Ripper and I have firm reasons to believe that you might be related to that notorious serial killer. Would you mind donating your DNA to prove your family’s connection to my pet theory? Hello?.. Hello?.. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-who-besides-lewis-carroll-was-jack-the-ripper/693822.md?page=3)