What if her killer had been caught?

[Harry D]

Let's presume that the police had caught Frances Coles' killer (and it wasn't Sadler). It turns out that he's just this average Joe from Whitechapel, has a bit of rep for roughin' up prostitutes, and he confesses that he robbed Coles or that she tried to cheat him, or whatever. It's been three years and it's difficult to corroborate his alibis during the Autumn of Terror, but conversely there's nothing that directly ties him to the murders. Furthermore, the police aren't able to establish an identification.

Would this hypothetical man be considered our No. 1 suspect? Or would he just be dismissed as another petty killer?

[Wickerman]

Assuming this killer has not confessed to earlier murders, the police will attempt an identity parade, always assuming they can locate the principal witnesses after three years.
There isn't much else they can do.

Some of us might propose he was the Ripper, but not everyone, after all Coles was not a typical Ripper mutilation.

[GUT]

As most leave Coles off their lst of victims I suspect not.

[Mayerling]

The identity parade might have been about all they could have hoped for, unless they found some odd little item among the suspects belongings that resembled something from one of the murder scenes. Chances are the fellow would not have been linked to anyone else but Coles.

Jeff