Jack the Ripper Mystery SOLVED? How Prostitute Slayer's Identity Is Finally 'Confirmed' — After Prime Suspect's DNA is Discovered on Victim's 100-Year-Old Shawl

A British researcher has said he is 100 percent certain he has uncovered the long-sought identity of the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.

RadarOnline.com has learned after an arduous investigation, DNA evidence recovered from the scene of one of the grizzly murders has come back with a 100 percent match.

The true identity of Jack the Ripper, whose grisly murders terrorized the murky slums of Whitechapel in east London in 1888, has been a mystery ever since.

He is believed to have killed at least five female prostitutes, and there have been dozens of suspects, from royalty and prime ministers down to bootmakers.

But now, researcher and author Russell Edwards said he finally has the confirmation he's so long sought – the murderer was a Polish immigrant named Aaron Kosminski who worked as a barber in England, and had for years been considered a top suspect.

Edwards said the validation of his long-held theory by DNA scientists brought him pure joy: "It's very difficult to put into words the elation I felt when I saw the 100 percent DNA match. This brings closure, and it's a form of justice for the descendants."

The would-be sleuth told The Sun he is requesting a full inquest and review of his findings.

Edwards said: "(Kosminski) can't be prosecuted because he's dead, but this is the closest thing they can do.

"This man committed atrocities towards their ancestors and we know it's him and we want the courts to say, 'Yes, you're right'."

The breakthrough DNA evidence came from a blood-splattered shawl of the Ripper’s fourth victim, Catherine Eddowes, on September 30, 1888.

At Edwards’ request, Doctor Jari Louhelainen, a senior lecturer at the UK's Liverpool John Moores University, isolated seven small segments of DNA from blood stains on the wrap.

They were matched with the DNA of Karen Miller, a direct descendant of Eddowes, confirming her blood was on the shawl.

DNA from semen stains on the garment was matched with a descendant of Kosminski.

However, there is plenty of speculation about Edwards' claim.

The research has not been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, meaning the claims cannot be independently verified or the methodology scrutinized.

Other experts contend the DNA is also linked to 90% of Europe at the time, meaning there’s no telling whether the shawl was ever linked to Eddowes and Kosminski themselves.

Also casting doubt, there is no official record of a "shawl" being found with the body or as part of Eddowes’ personal effects.

Kosminski was born in Klodawa in central Poland on September 11, 1865. His family fled the imperial Russian anti-Jewish pogroms and emigrated to east London in the early 1880s.

The barber lived close to the murder scenes. Some reports say he was identified by a witness who had seen him with one of the victims, but the witness refused to cooperate with the investigation and withheld incriminating evidence, leaving police at the time no option but to release Kosminski.

He entered a workhouse in 1889, where he was described on admission as "destitute." He was discharged later that year but soon ended up in a mental asylum.

Kosminski died from gangrene in an asylum on March 24, 1919, and was buried three days later at East Ham Cemetery in east London.