(NewsNation) — Historians say a theory about infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper‘s job could finally identify him.
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, historians and hosts of podcast “The Rest Is History,” said they believe Jack the Ripper’s job had him working odd hours and could explain why one of his victims’ bodies was found where it was found.
Holland told British publication The Times that finding out his job could also build a psychological profile for him.
Who is Jack the Ripper?
Jack the Ripper was a serial killer who committed a series of murders in London’s Whitechapel district between August and November of 1888. Police never found him.
He was infamous for slitting the throats of his victims before removing the internal organs of at least three people. Some of his victims were believed to be prostitutes, but Penguin Books said there is little evidence to support that theory.
What new evidence has come out?
Holland and Sandbrook believe Jack the Ripper could have been a “knackerman, slaughterman or butcher” because of where the body of his first victim was found. A knackerman is a person who disposes of dead or injured farm animals.
Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim, was found near a knacker’s yard.
“If you’re a knackerman, a slaughterman or a butcher, you’ve got knives, anatomical expertise and a reason to have blood all over you,” Holland said.
Was Jack the Ripper’s identity ever discovered?
In February, author and historian Russell Edwards told NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield he had identified Jack the Ripper as Aaron Kosminski, a Polish immigrant who came to Whitechapel, London, in 1881 and worked as a barber.
Edwards said he made the identification through a DNA match of a shawl found at the scene of one of his murders. The shawl belonged to victim Catherine Eddowes.
However, critics said a lack of technical details still couldn’t prove that Kominski was Jack the Ripper.