How Jack the Ripper slashed throats, ripped out entrails and wielded a knife with surgical precision… as descendants of his victims back inquest after DNA breakthrough

It was a mystery that lasted for more than 130 years until recently.

Researcher Mark Edwards believes he has definitively identified Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski as Jack the Ripper.

This week, descendants of the Ripper’s victims backed Edwards’ legal bid to launch a new investigation into the death of Catherine Eddowes, the Ripper’s fourth victim.

Eddowes was brutally mutilated by the killer, with her intestines torn out and left to dangle from her neck.

But she wasn’t the only defiled victim of history’s most notorious serial killer.

Below, we reveal the gruesome details of each of the Ripper’s five ‘canonical’ victims.

Researcher Mark Edwards believes he has definitively identified Polish immigrant Aaron Kosminski as Jack the Ripper

Mary Ann Nichols

The first murder definitively attributed to the Ripper was that of Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols.

Her mutilated body was discovered on Buck’s Row in Whitechapel at 3:40 am on 31 August 1888.

The 43-year-old prostitute, who had five children with her estranged husband William, was discovered with her throat brutally slit by two deep strokes.

One knife blow had reached her vertebrae.

Nichols had also been stabbed in the genitals and her abdomen was torn open, causing her intestines to protrude.

The body of the destitute sex worker and mother was first noticed by Charles Cross, a Karman. Another man, Carter Robert Paul, joined him moments later.

After feeling her hands and face, Paul believed Nichols was still breathing.

Instead of looking for the police officer known to be on duty in the area, the pair then continued on their way to work.

Mary Ann 'Polly' Nichols was discovered at 3:40 am on August 31, 1888

Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Nichols was discovered at 3:40 am on August 31, 1888

An image of the discovery of Nichols' remains by police officer Jonas Mizen

An image of the discovery of Nichols’ remains by police officer Jonas Mizen

Eventually they came across another officer, to whom they told what they had found.

By this time, another police officer, PC John Neil, had found Nichols’ body.

Her inquest, which was noted in the papers, noted that Nichols was also found with five teeth missing, a laceration to her tongue and a bruise along her jaw and face.

Nichols’ murder prompted police to conduct extensive investigations among local prostitutes.

They gave details about a man who was aggressively trying to get money out of them.

Bucks Row, now Durward Street, East London, where the body of Mary Ann Nichols was found lying in the gutter

Bucks Row, now Durward Street, East London, where the body of Mary Ann Nichols was found lying in the gutter

The September 8, 1888 edition of Illustrated Police News depicting the inquest into Nichols' murder

The September 8, 1888 edition of Illustrated Police News depicting the inquest into Nichols’ murder

Annie Kapman

Just a week after Nichols was murdered, the Ripper turned his attention to 47-year-old Annie Chapman.

Chapman was a widowed mother of three who had occasionally turned to prostitution to survive.

Her body was found in the back garden of 29 Hanbury Street, Spitalfields, just before 6am on September 8.

Chapman was discovered lying on her back, with her dress pulled up to her knees.

Her intestines had been placed over her left shoulder and her uterus and parts of her bladder had been removed.

The doctor who examined her body said the killer appeared to have shown “anatomical knowledge” in the way they cut away parts of her.

His autopsy also reported “pulmonary disease” and said Chapman’s remains showed “great signs of deprivation” and that she appeared to be “poorly nourished.”

Just a week after Nichols was murdered, the Ripper turned his attention to 47-year-old Annie Chapman. Chapman was a widowed mother of three who had occasionally turned to prostitution to survive. Above: A post-mortem photo of Chapman

Kapman in 1869

Just a week after Nichols was murdered, the Ripper turned his attention to 47-year-old Annie Chapman. Chapman was a widowed mother of three who had occasionally turned to prostitution to survive. Above: A post-mortem photo of Chapman (left), pictured right in 1869

Elizabeth Stride

The Ripper’s next two victims were found within an hour of each other in the early hours of September 30.

The first of these was Elizabeth Stride, the only one of the Ripper’s victims who was not mutilated.

That fact has led many to suggest that Stride was in fact killed by her boyfriend rather than the Ripper.

But Stride is accepted as one of the serial killer’s five “canonical” victims. It is said that the Ripper was disturbed before he could defile Stride’s body.

The Ripper's next two victims were found within an hour of each other in the early hours of September 30. The first of these was Elizabeth Stride, the only one of the Ripper's victims who was not mutilated.

The Ripper’s next two victims were found within an hour of each other in the early hours of September 30. The first of these was Elizabeth Stride, the only one of the Ripper’s victims who was not mutilated.

The cover of the September 21, 1889 edition of Puck magazine depicting the mysterious Jack the Ripper

The cover of the September 21, 1889 edition of Puck magazine depicting the mysterious Jack the Ripper

The 45-year-old, originally from Gothenburg, Sweden, was discovered in Dutfield’s Yard in Whitechapel.

The Ripper had killed her with a single incision in her neck that severed her left carotid artery and trachea.

Dr. George Bagster Phillips, the same doctor who had examined Chapman and Kelly’s remains, performed Stride’s post-mortem and was present at the scene.

Stride’s murder prompted a crowd to protest the continued killings and the inability of police to catch him.

The Ripper became public enemy number one.

Catherine Eddowes

Catherine Eddowes’ body was discovered on the corner of Miter Square in London’s East End at 1:44 a.m. on September 30, less than an hour after Stride’s.

PC Edward Watkins, who came across Eddowes’ body, told reporters of ‘a more horrible sight I have never seen’.

Eddowes, a 46-year-old mother of three, had been arrested that evening for drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

She was released from prison less than an hour before she was killed.

PC Watkins described how it was ‘difficult to distinguish the injuries to the face from the amount of blood covering it’.

Catherine Eddowes' body was discovered on the corner of Miter Square in London's East End at 1:44 a.m. on September 30, less than an hour after Stride's. Her intestines had been torn out and were dangling around her neck, and her head was nearly severed from her body.

Catherine Eddowes’ body was discovered on the corner of Miter Square in London’s East End at 1:44 a.m. on September 30, less than an hour after Stride’s. Her intestines had been torn out and were dangling around her neck, and her head was nearly severed from her body.

Eddowes’ top had been pulled over her chest, exposing a cut from the top of her groin to her chest.

Her intestines had been torn out and were dangling around her neck, and her head was nearly severed from her body.

It was the murder of Eddowes that would lead historian Russell Edwards to claim that he had finally definitively identified who the Ripper was.

At an auction in 2007, he came across a scarf said to have been found with Eddowes on the night of her murder.

It was smeared with blood and semen. Further investigation by Mr Edwards revealed how the scarf was picked from Eddowes’ corpse Acting Police Sergeant Amos Simpson as it was being transported to the morgue.

The scarf remained in the police officer’s family and was subsequently sold at auction by his great-grandnephew.

DNA tests carried out at Mr Edwards’ request matched the DNA in the bloodstains to a descendant of Eddowes, proving the scarf was genuine.

Tests on the semen showed it was that of Aaron Kosminski, a longtime Ripper suspect, a Jewish immigrant from Poland.

The researchers linked it to DNA from one of his sister’s descendants.

Mr Edwards detailed his findings in his book Naming Jack the Ripper: The Definitive Reveal.

Contemporaneous police sketch of Catherine Eddowes' body

Contemporaneous police sketch of Catherine Eddowes’ body

The police discover the body of one of Jack the Ripper's victims, probably Catherine Eddowes

The police discover the body of one of Jack the Ripper’s victims, probably Catherine Eddowes

Another edition of Illustrated Police News after 'two more horrors in Whitechapel'

Another edition of Illustrated Police News after ‘two more horrors in Whitechapel’

Mary Jane Kelly

The Ripper’s most terrible murder was his last.

Mary Jane Kelly was horrifically mutilated, with her body parts – including her genitals – scattered across her room.

Dennis Halsted, a doctor at the London Hospital, examined her remains and reported that she had been dismembered with “great surgical skill.”

The 25-year-old prostitute was discovered on November 9, 1888 in the room she rented at 13 Miller’s Court in Spitalfields.

The Ripper's most terrible murder was his last. Mary Jane Kelly was horrifically mutilated, with her body parts – including her genitals – scattered across her room

The Ripper’s most terrible murder was his last. Mary Jane Kelly was horrifically mutilated, with her body parts – including her genitals – scattered across her room

The 25-year-old prostitute was discovered on November 9, 1888 in the room she rented at 13 Miller's Court in Spitalfields

The 25-year-old prostitute was discovered on November 9, 1888 in the room she rented at 13 Miller’s Court in Spitalfields

The fact that her murder took place away from prying eyes allowed the Ripper to do exactly what he wanted with her body.

Police who came across her remains suffered nightmares that haunted them for the rest of their lives.

At Kelly’s inquest the full horror of how Kelly was mutilated was described by Dr Thomas Bond.

He told how her face had been carved beyond recognition, her breasts had been removed and her liver had been deposited between her feet.

Kelly’s heart had also been removed.

There was a lot of press coverage of her funeral, but no relatives attended.

It was a tragic farewell for the Ripper’s last definitive victim.