This Crime Chronicle is the grisly tale of a former Leavesden Asylum inmate linked to what is probably the most infamous unsolved case in history: the Jack the Ripper murders.
In 1888, the Whitechapel area of London was terrorised by a mysterious figure who violently murdered at least five women and taunted police with letters.
To this day, the identity of the killer, known popularly as Jack the Ripper, remains a mystery, though several people have been put forward by historians as likely suspects. One such suspect is Aaron Kosminski.
Kosminski moved to London from Poland in the 1880s, and at the time of the murders, was running a barbershop in Whitechapel.
In 1891, Kosminski, who suffered from mental illness, threatened his sister with a knife and was institutionalised. He lived in Colney Heath Lunatic Asylum until 1894, when he was transferred to Leavesden Asylum.
He would remain there until he died at the age of 53 in 1919, of causes probably related to his illness and poor diet.
In September 2014, author Russell Edwards claimed he had proved Kosminski was the Ripper, after allegedly finding his DNA on a shawl believed to have been left at the scene of one of the murders.
In 2022, a waxwork of Jack was made by Madame Tussauds, using Kosminski’s likeness. While some still dispute his guilt, this proves a macabre connection to Leavesden and these infamous killings…
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