It’s a bit earlier than usual this year, but all the news services are carrying stories about the identity of Jack t’Ripper finally being solved. One would think, what with international terrorism, knife crime and various other little problems going on, that the Scotland Yard announcement might not have been such a great idea.
The Swanson Marginalia at the heart of this have been known about for years. They’re in Begg (who broadly favours the Swanson suspect, Kosminski), they’re in Sugden, they’re well known on the most authoritative online source, the Casebook.
So why the hoopla? Something nasty coming out of the woodpile again? Or just that the Met are so incapable of solving modern crime, they’re desperate to trumpet the fact they can solve something from 1888?
(not that they have of course, they want to look at William Bury)