preview

Forensic Evidence In The Article 'Jack The Ripper'

Decent Essays

The newspaper article, “Jack the Ripper was a Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski”, published by the Guardian on September 8th, 2014 suggests a self-confessed “armchair detective” has solved the mystery of Jack the Ripper utilizing a blood stained shall to obtain DNA evidence which led him to discover the notorious killer. This article professes that the blood stained shawl Russell Edwards bought in 2007 at an auction in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk was the key to uncovering the identity of Jack the Ripper; Edwards stated, “I’ve got the only piece of forensic evidence in the whole history of the case…I’ve spent 14 years working on it, and we have definitively solved the mystery of who Jack the Ripper was.” However, Edwards claim is arguably unreliable and although the conclusions are written in a persuasive manner they lack guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. …show more content…

In addition, Jari Louhelainen, an expert in molecular biology is susceptible to potential inaccuracies and there was no mention of subsequent trails. Also, the auction may have planted the evidence in an effort to gain fame and recognition. Furthermore, Richard Cobb, who runs Jack the Ripper conventions and tours, told the Times that “the shawl had been openly handled by loads of people and been touched, breathed on, spat upon.” Therefore Cobb is acknowledging the risk of using contaminated evidence as fact. However, Edwards does disclose that Aaron Kosminski was one of the six main suspects for the Ripper identified by the police but lacked evidence to bring him to trial. Therefore, I believe that this article utilizes a persuasive tone by encompassing forensic evidence and historical references. However, this article lacks accountability and is somewhat fragmentary when revealing evidence and therefore is not one hundred percent

Get Access