WHO WAS JACK THE RIPPER

The number of Jack the Ripper Suspects now runs to well over a hundred. Some of them are highly possible contenders for the mantle of Jack the Ripper, others are just downright ridiculous.
Each year several books come out claiming that the authors have managed to crack the case and have solved the world's greatest murder mystery. Some of them, admittedly, have managed to unearth fascinating little nuggets of information and, in so doing, have added an extra little piece to the jigsaw.
But the majority tend to twist the facts to fit their particular theory as opposed to looking at the theory and demonstrating how it stands up against the known facts about the case. here are my top 4 people 
AARON KOSMINSKI?   (9/10)
It is now known that the suspect in question was a man named Aaron Kosminski, a feeble minded imbecile, who was admitted to Colney Hatch Asylum in February 1891, but who had begun displaying signs of insanity at some stage in the late 1880's.
He believed that a higher power spoke to him, and controlled his actions, and claimed to know the movements of all mankind. He refused to wash and would not accept food from others, preferring instead to eat from the gutter.
Schizophrenic, delusional, paranoid and incoherent are all characteristics displayed by Aaron Kosminski.
 DR FRANCIS TUMBLETY (5/10)
One of the more talked about recent Jack the Ripper suspects is Dr Francis Tumblety whose name was suggested by Inspector Littlechild.
Prior to and during the Jack the Ripper Murders, Chief Inspector John Littlechild (1847-1923) was head of the Metropolitan Police's Special Irish Branch 
JAMES MAYBRICK -  (7/10)

 Although the author of the diary that come to light  doesn’t actually identify himself by name, it is quite obvious from various personal references, and from other information contained within the journal, that the diarist is meant to be the Liverpool Cotton merchant James Maybrick.

Maybrick died in May 1889 and, shortly after his death, his wife, Florence, was arrested and charged with murdering him by poisoning him with arsenic.

In the diary, the author makes the claim that he had seen his wife - whom calls “the bitch,” or “the whore” in the pages of the diary - with her unnamed lover in the Whitechapel district of Liverpool.

The subsequent rage that he experienced following this sighting sent him on a murderous rampage in the Whitechapel district of London in the course of which he mutilated and killed five prostitutes.

The journal contains a somewhat long-winded description of the murders before ending with the assertion "I give my name that all know of me, so history do tell, what love can do to a gentle man born. Yours truly, Jack the Ripper."

Up until the emergence of the diary there had never been any suggestion that James Maybrick may have been Jack the Ripper and the only real evidence against him as a suspect is his own supposed confession in the pages of his diary. So his viability as a Jack the Ripper suspect comes down to whether or not he wrote the diary and, if he did, does what he writes about his crimes correspond with the known facts.

GEORGE HUTCHINGSON  (10/10)

George Hutchinson's description of the man he saw outside of Kelly's room on the night of her murder was exceptionally detailed - too detailed, some believe. Also, the fact that he withheld his evidence until after Kelly's inquest was completed seems suspicious.  

Police at the time interviewed him but did not seem to consider him a suspect

Hutchinson also said that he thought he saw Kelly's companion again in Middlesex Street (Petticoat Lane) on 11th November, but could not be certain. Also, he had apparently stayed out until 3.00am on 13th November looking for the man.
George Hutchinson has since become a controversial witness and issues have been raised about several aspects of his statement:

Why he waited 3 days before volunteering his information.

Why he waited for so long outside Miller's Court that morning.

His extremely detailed description of the man seen with Kelly.
He has also been suggested by several authors as a suspect for the Whitechapel Murders.
In truth, little is known about George Hutchinson, other than the brief personal details given in 1888. Author Melvyn Fairclough interviewed a Reginald Hutchinson who claimed that his father, George William Topping Hutchinson, was the man who knew Mary Kelly. He claimed he was born on 1st October 1866, employed as a plumber (and apparently rarely, if ever, out of work) and that he knew one of the victims and was interviewed by police at the time. When pressed by his son as to the identity of Jack the Ripper, this George Hutchinson replied that "it was more to do with the Royal Family than ordinary people Although a photograph of him also surfaced, this particular identification of Hutchinson has been greeted with a great deal of scepticism.

DID JACK THE RIPPER LIVE IN THE AREA?

Throughout the hunt for Jack the Ripper the police remained convinced that they were looking for a suspect who lived in the district and, on the whole, their enquiries and investigation focussed on the neighbourhood where the crimes were occurring.
Over 2,000 interviews were carried out by the Victorian police officers, more than 300 people were actually investigated and 80 people were detained in police custody. It is possible that Jack the Ripper was one of these, but none of the interviews, investigations or detentions yielded anything concrete that enabled the police to point the finger at one suspect and say that he was Jack the Ripper.