Jack the Ripper Suspect – David Cohen

David Cohen, possible real name Nathan Kaminsky, possibly also nicknamed Leather Apron.

He was a poor Polish Jew who was confined to Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum around the time of the end of the murders. In December 1888 a young and confused Polish Jew, found rambling on the streets and speaking little but Yiddish, was brought in by the police to the Leman Street Police Station. Since he was uncommunicative, it was decided that he was unable to care for himself and that he should be taken to the parish workhouse. Then he suddenly became violent and had to be brought in under restraint.

Cohen was described as violently antisocial, and had to be restrained for the safety of other patients and himself. Considered too dangerous for the infirmary he was then transferred to Colney Hatch.

Cohen was suggested as a suspect by author and Ripperologist Martin Fido in his book The Crimes, Detection and Death of Jack the Ripper (1987). Fido claimed that the name “David Cohen” was used at the time to refer to a Jewish immigrant who either could not be positively identified or whose name was too difficult for police to spell, in the same manner that “John Doe” is used in the United States today.

Nathan Kaminsky, was a bootmaker living in Whitechapel, who had been treated at one time for syphilis. He could not be traced after mid 1888, around the same time that Cohen appeared. Cohen died at the asylum in October 1889.

Conclusion: It is highly unlikely that David Cohen, or Nathan Kaminsky, was Jack the Ripper.