The diary was discovered in 1992. The book was published in 1993. This documentary was shot the same year and presents the immediate controversy on whether the diary was a very clever hoax, or that it might possibly be genuine.
Only years later, what was described as a "major breakthrough" brought forth a new prime suspect, an American doctor named Francis Tumblety. Dr. Tumblety was frequently labeled a "quack" and had numerous run-ins with the law. He reportedly would show his guests preserved specimens of female organs. He fled to France and then sailed back to New York where he was reportedly under surveillance. He escaped to the Caribbean where a similar series of killings occurred in Kingston. He then fled to Central America at a time when another series of killings occurred in Managua. Dr. Tumblety died, a free man, in Rochester New York. He remains the prime suspect as research into Dr. Tumblety and the Whitechaple murders remains ongoing. The diary of Jack the Ripper is now generally regarded as an elaborate hoax.