State-of-the-art investigation reveals face of Jack the Ripper

THE face of Jack the Ripper, the 19th-century killer whose identity remains a mystery, has been revealed for the first time.

Using state-of-the-art profiling, investigators have created a vision of what the killer, who strangled and butchered five London prostitutes, would have looked like — and revealed that police at the time were probably searching for the wrong kind of man.

Head of analysis for Scotland Yard’s Violent Crime Command Laura Richards analysed evidence from the case using modern police techniques and has been able to form the most accurate portrait of the Ripper put together.

She claims that the 118-year-old evidence shows the Ripper was aged between 25 and 35, between 5’5’’ and 5’7’’ and stocky. Modern techniques can even pinpoint his address.

She said: “For the first time, we are able to understand the kind of person Jack the Ripper was. We can name the street where he probably lived, we can see what he looked like and we can explain, finally, why this killer eluded justice.”

Working alongside former Metropolitan Police commander John Grieve, Ms Richards assembled a team of experts — including pathologists, historians and a geographical profiler — to work out why the case was never solved and to see whether it still could be.

Mr Grieve said: “This is further than anyone else has got. It would have been enough for coppers to get out and start knocking on doors, they would have got him.”

The story of Jack the Ripper, who terrorised the streets of Whitechapel, London, in the Autumn of 1888, has grown into one of history’s most enduring mysteries.

His brutal and seemingly motiveless killing spree has led to more than 200 names being put in the frame.

However, despite a large-scale investigation, the Ripper — hailed as the first modern serial killer — was never caught.

Drawing on modern experience, the team unpicked the legend, analysed the Ripper’s crimes and retraced his murderous steps. They examined 13 different witness statements taken at the time of the killings.

The picture they were left with was one of someone who was “perfectly sane, frighteningly normal and yet capable of extraordinary cruelty”, Ms Richards said.