Patricia Cornwell

===Jack the Ripper theorist===
Cornwell has been involved in a continuing, self-financed quest for evidence to support her theory that Victorian painter [[Walter Sickert]] was [[Jack the Ripper]]. In pursuit of this hypothesis, she has written two books: ''[[Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed]]'', published in 2002, and ''Ripper: The Secret Life Of Walter Sickert'', published in 2017. In total, she is said to have spent a reported $6m on Ripper-related research.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Saner |first1=Ermine |title=Interview ‘I lived in a state of terror’: Patricia Cornwell on childhood trauma, her new novel and the search for Bigfoot |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/nov/20/i-lived-in-a-state-of-terror-patricia-cornwell-on-childhood-trauma-her-new-novel-and-the-search-for-bigfoot |access-date=28 February 2024 |publisher=The Guardian |date=20 November 2023}}</ref> 

She wrote ''Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper—Case Closed'' to much controversy, especially within the British art world and among Ripperologists.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2002-11.html |title=November Article: Portrait of the Artist as a Serial Killer |publisher=Artcyclopedia.com |access-date=January 30, 2012}}</ref><ref name="casebook1">{{cite web|url=http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/dst-artofmurder.html |title=Jack the Ripper - The Art of Murder |publisher=Casebook |access-date=January 30, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.casebook.org/dissertations/dst-pamandsickert.html |title=Jack the Ripper - Patricia Cornwell and Walter Sickert: A Primer |publisher=Casebook |access-date=January 30, 2012}}</ref> Cornwell denied being obsessed with Jack the Ripper in full-page ads in two British newspapers and has said the case was "far from closed".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1555958,00.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=The Grand Old Ripper | date=August 25, 2005 | access-date=May 21, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4190572.stm | work=BBC News | title=Author denies 'Ripper' obsession | date=August 27, 2005 | access-date=May 21, 2010}}</ref> In 2001, Cornwell was criticized for allegedly destroying one of Sickert's [[painting]]s in pursuit of the Ripper's identity.<ref name="guardianrip">{{cite news | last = Gibbons  | first = Fiachra | title = Does this painting by Walter Sickert reveal the identity of Jack the Ripper? Author rips up canvas in attempt to prove artist was killer | newspaper = The Guardian| date = December 8, 2001 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2001/dec/08/art.artsfeatures | access-date = October 20, 2009 | location=London}}</ref> She believed the well-known painter to be responsible for the string of murders and had purchased over 30 of his paintings and argued that they closely resembled the Ripper crime scenes.<ref name="guardianrip"/>  Cornwell also claimed a breakthrough: a letter written by someone purporting to be the killer had the same watermark as some of Sickert's writing paper.<ref name="guardianrip" /> Ripper experts noted, however, that there were hundreds of letters from different authors falsely claiming to be the killer, and the watermark in question was on a brand of stationery that was widely available.<ref name="casebook1"/> 

French art expert [[:fr:Johann_Naldi|Johann Naldi]] validates the author's theory, claiming to have found a portrait that he attributes to the French painter [[Jacques-Émile Blanche]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=De Boishue |first=Pierre |date=February 3, 2024 |title=Jack l'Éventreur : l'incroyable portrait qui relance l'enquête |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/histoire/archives/jack-l-eventreur-l-incroyable-portrait-qui-relance-l-enquete-20240203 |work=Le Figaro}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gandillot |first=Thierry |date=February 17, 2024 |title=Jack l’Éventreur. Et si c’était lui ? |url=https://lejournal.info/article/jack-leventreur-et-si-cetait-lui/ |work=Le Journal. info}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Isaac |first=Anne-Emmanuelle |date=February 14, 2024 |title=Jack l’Eventreur : le visage du célèbre tueur enfin révélé ? |url=https://video.lefigaro.fr/figaro/video/jack-leventreur-le-visage-du-celebre-tueur-enfin-revele-le-livre-de-johann-naldi/ |website=Le Figaro TV}}</ref> For Naldi, the discovery of this painting, which depicts a man who appears to share Sickert's features, is "visual confirmation of Patricia Cornwell's theory".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cauet |first=Ella |date=March 8, 2024 |title=L’identité de Jack L’Eventreur dévoilée dans un tableau ? |url=https://www.radioclassique.fr/culture/lidentite-de-jack-leventreur-devoilee-dans-un-tableau-le-galeriste-johann-naldi-raconte-son-enquete/ |work=Radio classique}}</ref>