A blood-stained Victorian shawl which was sold in a Bury St Edmunds auction has led to experts finally uncovering the identity of Jack the Ripper.
That is the sensational claim being made in a new book, which says that one of the greatest of all crime mysteries has now been solved.
According to author Russell Edwards the man responsible for the grisly killing spree was Polish hairdresser Aaron Kosminski.
However the revelation only came to light after a shawl worn by one of the Ripper's victims was sold to Mr Edwards by Lacy Scott & Knight in Bury St Edmunds.
It has been one of the greatest puzzles of all time, but thanks to developments in forensic science the name of the murderer can finally be revealed.
Jack the Ripper was the unidentified serial killer who murdered at least five women working as prostitutes in London's East End in 1888.
A long line of men have been suspects - including royalty and a Jewish shoemaker - but no-one has ever been held accountable.
Mr Edwards, a self-confessed armchair detective, claims Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old Polish immigrant, was 'definitely, categorically and absolutely' the man behind the grisly killing spree.
After purchasing the shawl in 2007, Mr Edwards, 48, from Barnet, north London, enlisted the help of Dr Jari Louhelainen, a senior lecturer in molecular biology at Liverpool John Moores University.
Using cutting-edge scientific techniques, Dr Louhelainen was able to extract DNA samples from the fabric, which was allegedly found by the body of one of Jack the Ripper's victims, Catherine Eddowes.
Dr Louhelainen was then able to compare it to the DNA of her descendants and that of Kosminski's - who was a suspect at the time - and, writing in the Mail on Sunday, said he is satisfied that it has been established - as far as it possibly can be - that Kosminski is Jack the Ripper.
Mr Edwards' book, Naming Jack the Ripper, is being published tomorrow and the story was broken by the Mail over the weekend.
Auctioneer Edward Crichton, from Lacy Scott & Knight, put the shawl under the hammer in March, 2007.
On the latest revelation, he said: 'We are thrilled it seems to have drawn a line under it, which is great.'
Mr Crichton said it was an 'incredibly unusual' auction item and at the time the firm carried out as much research as it could into its origins.
The catalogue from March 2007 advises interested parties to carry out their own research before bidding due to the controversy surrounding the shawl's past.
Cataloguer Helen Robson, who researched the item, said: 'It was just fascinating really. It was something that's been deliberated about virtually since the murders happened so I didn't really feel there would ever really be a definitive answer, it was just another clue thrown into the story.'
She said it was remarkable what Dr Louhelainen had gleaned from the fabric due to the amount of people who had already handled the shawl.
Mr Crichton said Mr Edwards had contacted the auction house a few years ago to say he was making progress and he was 'going to crack it'. 'And he has,' Mr Crichton added.
Mr Edwards said: 'I've got the only piece of forensic evidence in the whole history of the case. I've spent 14 years working on it, and we have definitively solved the mystery of who Jack the Ripper was.
'Only non-believers that want to perpetuate the myth will doubt. This is it now - we have unmasked him.'
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