Identity of notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper may have finally been revealed

A new book is claiming to have cracked the case of one of the most notorious serial killers in history.

In the 19th century, Jack the Ripper was the terror that struck in the night on the streets of London, with five confirmed victims that kept the Victorian public both terrified and tantalised.

One of the reasons why his story has persisted for so long is because after all this time we still don't know who he (or she) was, though there have been quite a few candidates over the years.

Plenty of effort has gone into trying to discover the identity of Jack the Ripper but there are several suspects and nobody can seem to agree on a concrete culprit.

College of Policing

One of the prime suspects in the case has been Aaron Kosminski, a Polish immigrant to London who has some DNA evidence pointing towards him while also being the man police at the time thought most likely to be the killer.

However, a new book has claimed to reveal the true identity of Jack the Ripper and points the finger of blame at a man named Hyam Hyams.

He was an epileptic, alcoholic cigar maker who lived in the Whitechapel area and would have been in his 30s in 1888, the year of the confirmed Ripper murders.

According to author Sarah Bax Horton, whose great-great-grandfather worked on the original investigation into Jack the Ripper, she poured over medical records and witness accounts to arrive at her conclusion.

In her book One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper she claims that descriptions of the serial killer line up with some infirmities Hyams suffered from.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph she said: "For the first time in history, Jack the Ripper can be identified as Hyam Hyams using distinctive physical characteristics.

London Metropolitan Archive

"He was particularly violent after his severe epileptic fits, which explains the periodicity of the murders.

"In the files, it said what the eyewitnesses said – that he had a peculiar gait. He was weak at the knees and wasn’t fully extending his legs."

Of course, this is just one theory among many as to the true identity of the serial killer, though if it really was Hyams then what happened next might explain why Jack the Ripper seemingly stopped after a few months.

In December 1888 he was sent to the Whitechapel Workhouse Infirmary and spent much of the rest of his life incarcerated in asylums.

He was described as 'violent and dangerous', while in 1889, just 10 days after being discharged from Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum, he was sent to the City of London Lunatic Asylum after stabbing his wife, before being transferred back to Colney Hatch a few months later.

From 1890 until his death in 1913, he was kept incarcerated in Colney Hatch.