LONDON (AFP) - Jack the Ripper was short, stocky and about 30 years old -- "frighteningly normal" -- according to a profile of the notorious Victorian-era killer published using state-of-the-art technology.
In the profile, the man who strangled and butchered five London prostitutes looks probably very different from the man authorities were searching for at the time, police said Monday.
Laura Richards, head of analysis for the Metropolitan Police's Violent Crime Command, has drawn up
(Advertisement) what is believed to be the most accurate portrait of the murderer after analyzing evidence from the case using modern police techniques.
She claims that the evidence from 118 years ago shows that the ripper was between 25 and 35 years old, had a stocky build, and stood between five feet five inches and five feet seven inches tall.
The evidence can also likely locate where he lived.
"For the first time, we are able to understand the kind of person Jack the Ripper was," said Richards, who in the past has studied serial killer Fred West and Ian Huntley, who murdered two girls.
"We can name the street where he probably lived and we can see what he looked like; and we can explain, finally, why this killer eluded justice," Richards said.
Working alongside former Metropolitan Police commander John Grieve, she assembled experts like pathologists, historians and a geographical profiler to understand why the case was never solved and to see whether it still could be.
"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," Grieve said.
Drawing on modern experience, the experts studied his legend, analyzed the Ripper's crimes and retraced his steps while examining 13 different witness statements taken at the time of the killings.
The details produced a picture of someone who was "perfectly sane, frighteningly normal, and yet capable of extraordinary cruelty," Richards said.
Grieve added: "It's a popular misconception that nobody ever saw the murderer, that he just vanished into the fog of London. Well that's just not right. There were witnesses at the time who were highly thought of by the police.
"If we were doing this investigation today, we could pool together all these descriptions and the kind of face that the police were clearly looking for. You could come up with a composite and you can go beyond just a full face, you can get something that really helps the police to look for suspects."
The results of the study will be broadcast on the Five television channel on Tuesday.
In January this year, Jack the Ripper was voted Britain's most hated individual in a BBC poll, which described him as the forerunner of modern serial killers.
OK.. just saw this image and thought it might be interesting for comments and comedy lookalikes.
