Since the series of gruesome murders were committed in London, England, 118 years ago, the identity of the murderer, world famous as "Jack the Ripper", has baffled police.

During that time, more than 170 people came under suspicion. These even included the author of "Alice In Wonderland", Lewis Caroll and the Duke Of Clarence, a close relative of the then monarch, Queen Victoria. But a recent review of the original police material may finally put the mystery to bed.

Only the Ripper knows exactly how many women he killed, but five murders, committed between August 31 and November 9 1888, are officially attributed to him. However, many other unsolved murders have been loosely and unofficially linked to the Ripper. Some of the wilder estimates put the number as high as 13, whilst some of the police officers at the time put the unofficial figure at nine.

Common threads linking the five official murders are the facts they were all women (probably prostitutes) and appeared to have been murdered when drunk.

When the murders were announced the question on everyone's lips was: "How did Jack the Ripper murder his victims?".

The savagery of the killings was extreme: the victims were probably strangled first (to remove the risk of screaming), their throats cut, their stomachs cut open and their entrails removed. Due to the surgical skill shown, suspicion fell on butchers and even surgeons.

The most celebrated suspect was Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence. He was the son of the future King Edward VII and grandson of Queen Victoria. Prince Albert had a reputation as a bit of a "ladies man", with a history of scandals, and he had forfeited a great deal of public sympathy. Because of this his wife, Princess Alexander, was regarded -- for similar reasons -- with the same affection as Princess Diana, 110 years later.

This, coupled with the rumours he was suffering from syphilis (reputed to turn the sufferer mad) put him squarely "in the frame", at least as far as the public and press were concerned. However, this theory conveniently ignores the undisputed fact that, at the time of the first murder, Prince Albert was some 200 miles to the north of London, in Yorkshire. In addition, he was absent from London at the times of other murders. This, plus his obvious lack of surgical skill, should have been sufficient to rule him out from the very start.

Probably the reason such a wild theory was given so much weight was due to the nature and location of this crime.

Although there had been serial killings in the past, there had been nothing like this in the very metropolitan heart of the world's first superpower -- as Britain was at the time. Consequently, these events caused a unprecedented furore in the national press, with the police coming under daily criticism. At the same time, other special interest groups used the personal circumstances of the victims -- having to work as prostitutes, because of lack of respectable employment -- to highlight the deprivation and squalor in that part of east London, where the murders were all committed.

Others jumped on the bandwagon of notoriety and the police received hundreds of letters from people, claiming to be the Ripper. They even took the unusual step of publishing photographs of some of the more promising ones in the vain hope the handwriting would be recognized.

Among all the hysteria, the handwritten notes of the detective leading the hunt for the killer were largely ignored. But recently, they have been re-examined and cast fresh light on this enduring mystery.

The notes of Chief Inspector Donald Swanson, the man in charge of the investigation 118 years ago, show he, at least, was convinced he knew the true identity of Jack The Ripper.

Swanson named the killer as Aaron Kosminski, a Polish immigrant barber, living close to the murder scenes. Due to the nature of the killing, the police attributed some surgical skill to the murderer and it's interesting to note barbers used to also conduct surgical operations, although this part of their job was growing into the separate, more prestigious, profession of surgeon.

Kosminski first came to police attention because of his violent behaviour in threatening his sister with a knife. His occupation lent further weight to the suspicion, but he could not be questioned, as he was deemed to be insane. So he was taken to a seaside nursing home, where he was subjected to an unofficial identity parade, being viewed secretly by the only witness to one of the murders.

Although the witness positively identified Kosminski as the person they saw committing the murder, they refused to testify in court, because it would almost certainly mean death by hanging for the suspect. Without that crucial piece of evidence, the police did not have a strong enough case against the suspect and he was allowed to return to his brother's house, close to the scene of the murders.

Needless to say, his every movement was monitored by the police, but nothing further was seen and Kosminski died soon after in Colney Hatch, to the north of London.

For such a spectacularly brutal series of infamous murders, with such illustrious suspects, the probable truth is disappointingly prosaic.

Copyright 2006 Jon Michael and London Vacation Secrets