In brief, many aspects of Aaron Kosminski's background and psychoses seem to fit the profile of a sexual murderer, and of Jack the Ripper specifically. In 1988, the hundredth anniversary of the crimes, John Douglas and Roy Hazelwood presented the first criminal profile of Jack the Ripper on the television documentary "The Secret Identity of Jack the Ripper". They said that the Ripper was probably: a mentally disturbed white male from a lower social class; in his mid to late 20s; raised by a dominant female figure who consorted with different men (Golda was married at least twice); employed in a menial job and had poor personal hygiene and appeared disheveled; had no surgical expertise; lived in the locale of the murders; and did not commit suicide after the murders stopped. This all fits Aaron closely. Other aspects of the FBI profile of Jack the Ripper cannot be confirmed based on the facts known about Aaron Kosminski - for example that the Ripper was a a quiet loner who hated and feared women, who was abused as a child, possibly sexually, who drank in pubs prior to the murders, and who set fires and abused animals as a child. But there is nothing in the FBI profile of Jack the Ripper that contradicts Aaron's known profile, or that rules him out as a suspect.
Finally, we must not forget that "Kosminski" was identified by a witness. According to Sir Robert Anderson, the suspect was "unhesitantly" identified by "the only person who ever had a good view of the murderer." Interestingly, he also notes that the suspect "knew he was identified". The identity of this witness is still a subject of much heated debate amongst Ripperologists. It is clear that the witness was a "fellow Jew", as this is the reason, according to both Anderson and Swanson, that he refused to give evidence in court. In my opinion, the witness was probably Joseph Lawende, the Jewish commercial traveler who witnessed a man and a women talking at the entrance to Church Passage in Duke Street just prior to the murder of Catherine Eddowes. The other most likely candidate is Israel Schwartz, who witnessed a man attacking Liz Stride in Berner Street, just before she was murdered some 10 feet away in Dutfield's Yard. The only other possible Jewish witness is Joseph Levy, who was with Lawende and also witnessed the same couple standing at Church Passage; but Levy claimed to have not got a good look at the man, and said "I passed on, taking no further notice of them". In the final analysis, the identity of the witness is perhaps not relevant for the purpose of this article. The simple fact is that the suspect “Kosminski” was identified by someone described as "the only person who ever had a good view of the murderer."
At this point, it is impossible to come to conclusions about many of the theories I have put forward in this article. It is possible that further research will uncover facts about Aaron Kosminski's past that support his candidacy as a suspect in the case. Probably the most profitable line of research at this point would be trying to locate specific documentation related to Aaron's childhood: what happened to his father, information about his mother and other members of the family, and where specifically the Kosminskis were living in Russia. For example, if it was discovered that Aaron's father was killed during the pogroms, or that members of the Kosminski family were attacked... any concrete information like this would be a major breakthrough, and would go a long way to supporting the theory that Aaron Kosminski is indeed the suspect most likely to have been Jack the Ripper.
