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A university lecturer claims to have solved one of the greatest murder mysteries of all time – the identity of Jack the Ripper.

Forensics expert Dr Jari Louhelainen, a senior lecturer in molecular biology at Liverpool John Moores, was able to extract 126-year-old DNA from a shawl found by the body of Catherine Eddowes, one of the Ripper’s victims.

The shawl, bought at auction by Birkenhead-born businessman Russell Edwards in 2007, was found to contain DNA from her blood as well as DNA from the killer.

Using cutting-edge techniques, Dr Louhelainen was able to prove a 100% match that the DNA belonged to Polish migrant Aaron Kosminski.

Kosminski lived in Whitechapel at the times of the savage 1888 murders of five women and was committed to an asylum in 1891 until his death in 1919. At the time police suspected him of the crimes and at one point put him under surveillance.

Speaking to the ECHO, Dr Louhelainen, who is originally from Finland, said: “On the testing, the first result showed a 99.2% match. Since the DNA has two complementary strands, we went on and tested the other DNA strand, which gave a perfect 100% match.

“To be honest, I was mostly interested in the science. I wanted to know if something like this possible to do from such a limited amount of genetic material.

“Beforehand I knew about the name Jack The Ripper but really nothing about the details. That is the way I wanted to treat it – being detached from the case makes you consider all the options and allows the out-of-the-box thinking which was required in the end.

“Only now have I realised how much interest and following this mystery still has and that has really blown me away. I really did not expect the news to go viral like it has – I guess it has to sink in.”

Mr Edwards, 48, has written a book, Naming Jack the Ripper, detailing what he says “proves without doubt” that Kosminski was Jack the Ripper.

He enlisted Dr Louhelainen to examine the shawl, who said that dark blood stains were “consistent with arterial blood spatter caused by slashing”.

So began the three year scientific analysis of the shawl and the search for the descendants of Catherine Eddowes and Kosminski. In the end, it was DNA coding that confirmed the authenticity of the shawl and the identity of the killer.

Mr Edwards said: “The circle is now complete. One of the greatest unsolved crime mysteries of all time has been solved through cutting edge science, historical research and a great deal of determination and good fortune.”