Aaron Kosminski
Aaron Kosminski was a Jewish Polish immigrant working some of the time as a hairdresser or barber in the Whitechapel area at the time of the Ripper killings. Kosminski and his family moved to London around 1881. By 1890, Kosminski was admitted first to a London workhouse, and later to an insane asylum, apparently for threatening a woman with a knife.
Police officials considered a “Kosminski” among their suspects, but it is unknown whether or not this was the same individual. It certainly seems likely. Police records show that their suspect had both a hatred of women and homicidal tendencies. Kosminski suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, experiencing hallucinations and a variety of unusual behaviors.
While Kosminski was certainly mentally unwell, and was present in Whitechapel during the time of the Ripper killings, once institutionalized, he was described as peaceful. He chose to speak exclusively Yiddish in the asylum, suggesting poor English skills. In addition, the final canonical Ripper killing took place in 1888; Kosminski was free for three additional years. Finally, the police notes suggest that Kosminski died soon after being committed; however, Aaron Kosminski lived until 1919.
British author and Ripperologist Russell Edwards has purchased part of a shawl worn by Ripper victim Catherine Eddowes. Edwards claims to have matched mitochondrial DNA on the shawl to descendants of Catherine Eddowes and Aaron Kosminski. Many experts have questioned this DNA match, both in terms of accuracy, and contamination. No shawl is listed among the possessions of Eddowes in police records, and the descendants were present with the shawl and could have caused modern contamination.