USA: CRIME NOVELIST PATRICIA CORNWALL CLAIMS DNA DISCOVERIES REVEAL SERIAL KILLER " JACK THE RIPPER " WAS BRITISH ARTIST WALTER SICKERT

Record ID: 640725

  • Title: USA: CRIME NOVELIST PATRICIA CORNWALL CLAIMS DNA DISCOVERIES REVEAL SERIAL KILLER " JACK THE RIPPER " WAS BRITISH ARTIST WALTER SICKERT
  • Date: 11th November 2002
  • Summary: SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) CORNWELL SAYING : "This man was also a genius, he was creative, he was was also very mathematical and scientific, he spoke more than five languages, he hung out with the aristocracy and with celebrities of the day, he was physically beautiful when he was young, he was blonde blue eyed with physical features, charming, started out as an actor and this sort of person you would have enjoyed talking to at a party and may have even let him walk you home and you would have had no idea."
  • Embargoed: 26th November 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES / UNIDENTIFIED FILM LOCATIONS
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment,General
  • Reuters ID: LVAU8Z7RFXNQRKCVC656OS5Y2GS
  • Story Text: A best-selling American crime novelist claims she has
    uncovered Jack the Ripper's identity using DNA. Patricia
    Cornwell says she has proof that famous artist Walter Sickert
    was also the violent Victorian rapist who brutally killed at
    least seven women.



    The world's most notorious and mysterious serial
    killer, immortalized most recently in the Hollywood
    blockbuster "From Hell", may have been pulled from the shadows
    by a best-selling American novelist. Patricia Cornwell's
    research might have solved one of the greatest
    murder-mysteries of all time - by revealing the identity of
    notorious Victorian London murderer, Jack the Ripper.

    Cornwell spent the last 16 months researching the serial
    killer's identity, hiring some of the world's best forensic
    scientists.

    Examining DNA, collected from the Ripper's letters sent to
    police, Cornwell claims it matches that of artist Walter
    Sickert - a respected painter in his day whose works are still
    collected by some of the world's most famous museums.

    Cornwell details her case in her new book "Portrait of a
    Killer, Jack the Ripper, Case Closed" out on the shelves today
    (November 11).

    The author says the scientific evidence has convinced her
    that Sickert is indeed the Ripper.

    "To me you know, layer after layer, after layer after layer
    of this, you know, Sickert water marks, Ripper water marks,
    paper matches, to call it coincidence becomes ridiculous," she
    said.

    Cornwell examined DNA found on stamps from letters sent by
    the Ripper to London's Metropolitan Police, and matched them
    with DNA found on stamps from Sickert's correspondence. She
    also matched watermarks on the writing paper.

    Total proof though may never be available, because Sickert
    was cremated in 1942, when he died aged 81.

    Cornwell also studied Sickert's paintings, coming to the
    conclusion he was a tortured soul, who possessed a violent
    hatred of women.

    In 1988, at least seven women were murdered by Jack The
    Ripper, they were all prostitutes, whose bodies were
    dismembered and slashed to pieces. The identity of the
    Victorian killer who terrorised London has fascinated the
    world ever since.

    Cornwell says though, that uncovering his identity does
    little to demystify the man.

    "Here is the irony, I think that now that you know who Jack
    the Ripper is, and when you see in my book the real nature of
    his crimes, he is far far more frightening that anybody has
    ever imagined. He in my opinion is the worst serial killer
    that I have ever heard anything about," she said.

    But, after many months studying Sickert, Cornwell says he
    had a charming side to him also, and was the darling of the
    aristocracy.

    "This man was also a genius, he was creative, he was was
    also very mathematical and scientific, he spoke more than
    five languages, he hung out with the aristocracy and with
    celebrities of the day, he was physically beautiful when he
    was young, he was blonde blue eyed with physical features,
    charming, started out as an actor and this sort of person you
    would have enjoyed talking to at a party and may have even let
    him walk you home and you would have had no idea," she said.

    The mystery of Jack The Ripper is now a lucrative industry,
    with numerous daily tours around the East End of London,
    showing tourists the areas of London where the grisly murders
    took place.

    Last year there was even a blockbuster Hollywood movie
    based on Jack The Ripper, "From Hell" starring Johnny Depp as
    a detective trying to track down the killer.

    Cornwell acknowledges that her claims will undoubtedly
    cause a stir amongst those people who do not want the mystery
    to be solved, or people who themselves have been chasing the
    Ripper's identity.

    "I know that I am going to walk into a firestorm and there
    are several factors going on here, one, a lot of people don't
    want it solved, it is a great industry you know all those
    'trick or treat' Ripper walks, five dollars a person and then
    come drink beer at the Ten Bells pub, they have hundreds of
    people who do that virtually every night in London, it is a
    tourist attraction, you have everything else that goes along
    with Jack the Ripper and it is a large industry and it has
    been a major pre-occupation for a lot of people, you know they
    wanted to solve this crime, and so this you know little blonde
    American woman comes flitting in there and does it, is not
    something that sits well."
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