Exposing the Ripper

And nu, during my recent flying to and from New Mexico and then to and from New Hampshire, I read "Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed" by Patricia Cornwell, who's not only a bestselling author, but also the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine chairman of the board.

In the book, Cornwell accumulates a spectacular amount of circumstantial evidence to prove that British painter Walter Sickert was the infamous Whitechapel serial killer, including some interesting analysis of Sickert's paintings.

Although Ms. Cornwell's detractors and Sickert's defenders are many, the tantalizing evidence of DNA is too hard to dismiss, and I for one do not believe in coincidences. Apparently, Sickert has been a suspect for many years, and Cornwell has just tied the case into a tight, if not so neat, package.

This book is a terrific read, and Cornwell has convinced me that the case is closed!