The identity of Jack the Ripper which has eluded detectives and historians for more than a century could finally be solved.
LONDON: The identity of Jack the Ripper which has eluded detectives and historians for more than a century could finally be solved, with a high-security hospital in Britain set to open its archives to public view for the first time.
New files released from Broadmoor psychiatric hospital in Berkshire will provide tantalising evidence about Thomas Hayne Cutbush, who is thought to be the "number one suspect".
"Cutbush really is the number one suspect. He was a known psychopath and his family actually suspected him of having something to do with the killings because of his strange behaviour," said David Bullock, who is writing a book about the Ripper killings called 'The Man Who Would Be Jack'.
"He was nocturnal, would spend the day studying medical books and would often spend the night walking the streets of London and would come home covered in mud and blood. There is all sorts of evidence that point to him as the killer but I have never seen any evidence that rules him out," Bullock was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The documents are understood to describe him as having "brilliant blue eyes" and a limp, fitting a description provided by a witness who had seen Jack the Ripper.
According to the British daily, Cutbush, who was sent to Lambeth Infirmary in 1891 suffering delusions thought to have been caused by syphilis, was identified at the time as a leading suspect in the killing and mutilation of at least 11 women in the East End of London between 1888 and 1891. He remained in the hospital until his death in 1903. From the day he was detained, the Ripper murders ceased.
Richard Jones, author of Jack the Ripper: The Casebook, said Cutbush was "hugely important" to the way the police investigation unfolded.
The unique collection of historical records opens to the public on November 18.
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