It was only a couple of weeks ago we were told it was case closed. Jack the Ripper had been solved. Done.
Walter Sickert was named by author Patricia Cornwell after her £5.7m investigation seemed to point the finger at him.
His paintings seemed to match those of the horrific killings and his whereabouts match up too.
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So now we can pack up and go home.
Or can we?
"Walter Sickert, is certainly not a new suspect," Simon Whitehouse told LADbible. He's been leading Jack the Ripper tours for London Walks for several years.
"He was a suspect way before she picked up the story," he continues. "I did read her book a long time ago but really, she's taken a suspect and created circumstantial evidence around him.
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"The case is far from closed. One is so wary of any book that says it, it's not."
Maybe there's another suspect who fits the bill perhaps better than anyone else? And his name isn't floated around all too often either.
Meet Joseph Barnett. A 30-year-old man who lived on the streets of Whitechapel in 1888.
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This is the only image of Barnett. Credit: Casebook
We all know, by now, the scene. London 1888. Five brutal killings of prostitutes in the space of three autumn months.
The name 'Jack the Ripper' itself was given to the unknown killer by a letter sent to the head of the Central News Agency and perhaps the twisted romance of the story though, is perhaps that we will never know who the killer is.
It's certainly the reason why Simon Whitehouse continues to be fascinated with the case.
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"It's the mystery," he says. "These are unsolved crimes, it's what compels people to research the case, and come on the walks."
"There's the atmospheric idea of the fog-bound streets, and gas lamps, and the image of the man in the top hat with the bloodied knife dripping.
"It's the greatest unsolved murder case."
Credit: Murder Casebook/Youtube
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So, why Barnett? What makes him stand out?
"For my money, it's the best argued case to date," explains Whitehouse.
Barnett first came to light in the 1970s. He was the ex of the final victim - Mary Jane Kelly.
There's the common theory that the man was local. The interlocking streets of Whitechapel, the maze of roads, means, especially with such fast-paced horrific murders, the killer had to know his escape route.
"I believe the killer was a local man," says Whitehouse.
"He must have known the streets inside and out and backwards, and Joseph Barnett certainly fits that description."
FACT: Barnett has never moved more than one mile from the Whitechapel area all his life.
The maze of streets that was 1888 Whitechapel. Credit: Casebook
Whitehouse continues: "Put together all witness descriptions of the killer and they are looking for a white male, in his 20s or 30s."
FACT: Barnett is exactly 30-years-old.
Next, according to Whitehouse, "it's believed the killer had a job where he can manifest or carry out his psychopathic tendencies."
FACT: Joseph Barnett worked at the local fish market in Billingsgate, skilled in boning and filleting fish.
And, of course, there must be a motivation behind it all too.
FACT: Joseph Barnett has just that.
"Barnett was the lover of the final victim [Mary Jane Kelly}," explains Whitehouse. "He'd lived with her until about 10 days before her murder. They'd had a tempestuous relationship and they'd had a big row because she had gone back to prostitution.
"He was very anti-prostitution, and the theory goes that he took an extreme dislike to all who worked in the area in the profession.
"He committed the other murders to try and ward her off," so the theory goes.
Mary Jane Kelly was the final, and most brutally murdered, victim. Credit: Casebook
It is all these mixtures of motivations, whereabouts and psychological tendencies that point a very strong finger towards Joseph Barnett as the ripper.
It is not uncommon for serial killers to have psychical defect either.
FACT: "Barnett is the only suspect who was recorded to have a speech impediment," says Whitehouse.
The speech impediment could also add up with other eye witness accounts who noted the words or speech of the supposed killer.
Some noted that they detected a foreign accent, or just short and sharp sentences. One eye-witness believed she heard the Ripper as one of the five victims 'will you?' and nothing more.
Was this Barnett's speech defect getting in the way? Did his impediment make him sound non-British? Did he keep his sentences short to avoid embarrassment?
So, there's all the theory. What about a clue? The Ripper case is full of them. The only probably being, at the time, the police considered them irrelevant and disposed of them.
Credit: Jack the Ripper experience
Without introducing too many new theories, the disposed evidence can also be seen as part of a cover-up. It depends on which side of the conspiracy fence you sit.
"The door was locked to Mary Jane Kelly's property," explains Whitehouse, talking of the moment that the police arrived at the scene.
"One must assume that, when Barnett left [for the first time] he took the key with him and made a plan to return at a later date.
"The police had to break the door down when they arrived, the patched up window meant they couldn't get in, the door had been locked."
Perhaps the most chilling part of the final murder is, apart from the complete 'going to town' act the Ripper did on Kelly, is her head, with her eyes open, was turned towards the window, meaning she was 'staring' at the police until they could get in.
Does this, therefore, complete the puzzle?
"Yes, this is the option," says Whitehouse. "In ripperology you go through phases, but more and more I think this is mostly likely.
"With Barnett you have much stronger links."
It's almost 130 years since the Ripper walked the streets, and although Barnett is a big step in piecing together the jigsaw, it's likely we'll complete it...
"No, it can never be solved," concludes Whitehouse. "That is unless you go with the great conspiracy theories and believe somewhere there are great truths and that it will be released at some point."
A modern day Jack the Ripper would have his work cut out. Given the modern day CCTV, DNA analysis and forensics.
But the dark and damp streets of London, 129 years ago, present one of the best conspiracy files ever. Just who was he?
Barnett is a very good shout; a lot of the evidence certainly mounts in favour of him. But you can't help but wonder if, somewhere, someone knows something we don't.
Featured Image Credit: CasebookTopics: Conspiracy Theory