A creepy piece of Jack the Ripper evidence is on sale for $4.75 million

This shawl was worn by one of Jack the Ripper&#039;s victims.

(Image credit: Twitter.com/rippertourldn)

last updated 10 July 2015

For collectors of the grisly, gruesome, and ghastly, a piece of evidence lifted off the body of a Jack the Ripper victim is now on sale for $4.75 million.

In 2007, Russell Edwards, a businessman and self-described "armchair detective," purchased a shawl worn by Catherine Eddowes, one of Jack the Ripper's victims, the New York Post reports. Edwards wanted to once and for all determine the identity of Jack the Ripper, and brought the bloodied shawl to a molecular biologist for examination. The results of that test led Edwards to believe that he finally cracked the case, and in a book called Naming Jack the Ripper, he said the serial killer was a Polish immigrant with schizophrenia named Aaron Kosminski.

Now that he's certain he's solved the nearly 130-year-old mystery, Edwards is parting with the piece. Anyone who wants the shawl can send their millions to Moments in Time, the company selling it. Just keep in mind that the company's disclaimer states, "There is some controversy surrounding the authenticity" of how the shawl was discovered, and "interested parties are advised to do their own research."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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