Jack the Ripper Identity Revealed? Murderer Allegedly Discovered by Australian Teacher

It looks as if the question of who is Jack the Ripper might finally be answered, folks. Or, well, it's just another theory. It's being reported that Australian teacher Richard Patterson believes he has uncovered the identity of perhaps the most infamous serial killer in all of England's history.

The New York Daily News reports that through his 20-year study, Patterson believes that he has discovered that Jack the Ripper was famed poet Francis Thompson.

Much like the Ripper we've all grown to know, Thompson was reportedly skilled with surgery and even may have hinted at leading a double life in some of his writings. The writer's skills as a surgeon come with a lesson of a "rare surgical procedure" that was the same one unearthed in a number of the Ripper's victims.

Patterson noted that Thompson "kept a dissecting knife under his coat" and "helped with surgery and is known to have cut up heaps and heaps of cadavers while a student."

Jack the Ripper, whose identity is still unknown to this day, was responsible for the ghastly murders of five prostitutes back in London in 1888. He reportedly went on a 10-week killing spree, per the publication. Patterson believes that Thompson had a strong opium addiction and "close links" with a prostitute in London. When their relationship floundered, Patterson believes Thompson just lost it.

In fact, one of his poems, "Finis Coronat Opus," reportedly discusses the killing of a female prostitute.

"I swear I struck not the first blow," the poem reads. "Some violence seized my hand, and drop the poniard down. Whereat she cried; and I, frenzied, dreading detection, dreading, above all, her wakening, I struck again, and again she cried..."

The poem was written in 1889, a year after the famous Jack the Ripper murders.

Was it merely an inspiration from the killing spree, or did Thompson's poem reflect real life?

Jack the Ripper's story has been one told time and time again. Back in 2001, the tale was told in the Johnny Depp-starring film From Hell.