Since the gruesome events of 1888 unfolded, hundreds of names have been mentioned in connection with the Ripper murders.

According to contemporary police opinion, the following suspects were considered: Montague John Druitt Druitt committed suicide in 1888, and his disappearance and death shortly after the fifth and last canonical murder led to him being named as a suspect. While he could have used his city legal chambers as a base from which to commit the murders, most experts believe that the killer was local to Whitechapel, whereas Druitt lived miles away in Kent.
Seweryn Antonowicz Kłosowski Also known as George Chapman, he poisoned three of his wives and was hanged for this in 1903. At the time of the Ripper murders he lived in Whitechapel, and so was Frederick Abberline's favoured suspect. However, others think him unlikely as he murdered his wives with poison, and it is uncommon for a serial killer to make such a drastic change in modus operandi.
Aaron Kosminski A Polish Jewish barber born in Kłodawa, certified insane and admitted to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum in February 1891, Kosminski does meet some of the criteria of serial killers as outlined by FBI criminal profilers. He may have lived close to the sites of the murders. Each victim was murdered within a mile of Goulston Street, where a bloodstained piece of one of the victim's clothing had been found, and a family with the surname Kosminski supposedly lived near Goulston Street. Reputedly, he once threatened his sister with a knife.
Michael Ostrog A Russian-born, professional con man, he used numerous aliases and disguises. He was mentioned as a suspect after the "canonical five" victims were killed. Researchers have failed to find evidence that he committed crimes any more serious than fraud and theft. Plus, prison records have shown that Ostrog was jailed for petty offences in France during the Ripper murders.
John Pizer Pizer was a Polish Jew who worked as a bootmaker in Whitechapel. After the murders of Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman, Police Sergeant William Thicke arrested him. Pizer was known as "Leather Apron", and Thicke believed that he had committed a string of assaults on prostitutes. Many locals suspected that "Leather Apron" was the killer. He was cleared when it turned out that he had alibis, and successfully sued for wrongful arrest.
Francis Tumblety He earned a small fortune posing as an "Indian Herb" doctor throughout the United States and Canada, and occasionally travelling across Europe. He was connected to the deaths of some of his patients and was charged by authorities in Canada, but skipped the country. Tumblety was in England in 1888 and was arrested on charges of "gross indecency", apparently for engaging in homosexuality, which was illegal at the time. It has been suggested that he was released on police bail before the final canonical murder of Mary Jane Kelly.



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