Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. Police spent five years pursuing the elusive killer - but Peter Sutcliffe was actually caught on a trivial pretext. This included interviews with some of the victims, their family, police and journalists who covered the case. For other people named Peter Sutcliffe, see, Investigations into other possible victims, The neurosurgeon was Dr. A. Hadi Khalili at, George Oldfield and other senior individuals involved in the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper had consulted senior FBI special agents. What is needed is an officer of sound professional competence who will inspire confidence and loyalty". Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. Sutcliffe initially attacked women and girls in residential areas, but appears to have shifted his focus to red-light districts because he was attracted by the vulnerability of prostitutes and the perceived ambivalent attitude, at the time, of police to prostitutes' safety. After a two-hour representation by the Attorney-General Sir Michael Havers, a ninety-minute lunch break, and another forty minutes of legal discussion, the judge rejected the diminished responsibility plea and the expert testimonies of the psychiatrists, insisting that the case should be dealt with by a jury. [72][69] The report said that it was clear Sutcliffe had on at least one occasion attacked a Bradford prostitute with a cosh. 13 women were dead and the police seemed incapable of catching the killer. [119][120] Mr Justice Mitting stated: This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years. This feeling is reinforced by examining the details of a number of assaults on women since 1969 which, in some ways, clearly fall into the established pattern of Sutcliffe's overall modus operandi. Following his conviction, Sutcliffe began using his mother's maiden name of Coonan. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. On 10 January 1983, he followed Sutcliffe into the recess of F2, the hospital wing at Parkhurst, and plunged a broken coffee jar twice into the left side of Sutcliffe's face, creating four wounds requiring thirty stitches. [101][92] For many years Sutcliffe was linked in the press to the murder of 42-year-old Marion Spence in Leeds on 10 June 1979, but a man had in fact been convicted of her murder in January 1980. [34], The Attorney General, Sir Michael Havers QC, at the trial in 1981 said of Sutcliffe's victims in his opening statement: "Some were prostitutes, but perhaps the saddest part of the case is that some were not. [86] Although a hammer was not used, Sutcliffe also often used a knife to stab his victims. The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history, and West Yorkshire Police was criticised for its failure to catch him despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of its five-year investigation. Based on the recorded message, police began searching for a man with a Wearside accent, which linguists narrowed down to the Castletown area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. [126], In December 2015, Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". [114], On 22 December 2007, Sutcliffe was attacked by fellow inmate Patrick Sureda, who lunged at him with a metal cutlery knife while shouting, "You fucking raping, murdering bastard, I'll blind your fucking other one!" [98] Investigators had taken DNA from Sutcliffe at Broadmoor Hospital in December 1997, in order to see if they could find links between him and unsolved crimes. 2,164. Sutcliffe spent thirty years at Broadmoor Hospital before being moved to HMP Frankland in County Durham four years ago 2016. We, as a police force, will continue to arrest prostitutes. Video, 00:01:18 The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. On Jan. 2, 1981, two police officers approached Sutcliffe, who was in a parked car in an area where prostitutes and their customers were commonly spotted. This man as [sic] dealings with prostitutes and always had a thing about them His name and address is Peter Sutcliffe, 5 [sic] Garden Lane, Heaton, Bradford Clarkes [sic] Trans. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. Thankfully, there is no reason to think he committed any further murderous assaults within that period. [79][78] Sutcliffe did not confess to Wilkinson's murder at his Old Bailey trial, although by this time Steel was already serving time for the murder. Attempts to send him to a secure psychiatric unit were blocked. Wilma McCann's son Richard, who was just five-years-old at the time of his mother's murder, said the serial killer's death would bring "some kind of closure" for himself and the other family members of his victims. [93][92] Also believed to be included were the murders of 20-year-old Anna Kenny, 36-year-old Hilda McAuley and 23-year-old Agnes Cooney in separate incidents in Glasgow in 1977, as well as the World's End murders of Helen Scott and Christine Eadie in Edinburgh in 1978. Sutcliffe's wife obtained a separation from him around 1989 and a divorce in July 1994. [3][4] After his arrest in Sheffield by South Yorkshire Police for driving with false number plates in January 1981, he was transferred to the custody of West Yorkshire Police, which questioned him about the killings. On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. [113], Sutcliffe's father died in 2004 and was cremated. The Yorkshire Ripper has died at the age of 74 - nearly 40 years after he was convicted of murdering 13 women across the north of England. He was the subject of one of the most expensive manhunts in British history, making fools of the West Yorkshire Police. The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. [86] Another case was the April 1977 murder of 18-year-old Debbie Schlesinger, who was killed as she walked home one evening in Leeds after a night out. It was on . Aside from difficulties in storing and accessing the paperwork (the floor of the incident room was reinforced with concrete pillars to cope with the weight of the paper), it was difficult for officers to overcome the information overload of such a large manual system. The hoaxer, dubbed "Wearside Jack", sent two letters to police and the Daily Mirror in March 1978 boasting of his crimes. A police check by probationary constable Robert Hydes revealed Sutcliffe's car had false number plates and he was arrested and transferred to Dewsbury Police Station in West Yorkshire. [94][92] In 2007 a man was tried for the murder of Elizabeth McCabe after a 1 in 40 million DNA match was found between his DNA and samples found on the victim's clothing, but he was found not guilty by a majority verdict at the conclusion of the trial. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. By the mid-1970s Wilma, 28, was bringing up four kids on her own in a house with no carpets or heating. View this post on Instagram. [38] Sutcliffe displayed regret only when talking of his youngest murder victim, Jayne MacDonald, and when questioned about the killing of Joan Harrison, he vehemently denied responsibility. Sonia had several miscarriages, and they were informed that she would not be able to have children. On 17 June 1979, Humble sent a cassette to Assistant Chief Constable Oldfield, where he introduced himself only under the name "Jack" and claimed responsibility for the Ripper murders to that point. Owing to the sensational nature of the case, the police handled an exceptional amount of information, some of it misleading (including hoax correspondence purporting to be from the "Ripper"). [121], Psychological reports describing Sutcliffe's mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. . [6] Since his conviction in 1981 Sutcliffe has been linked to a number of other unsolved murders and attacks. On 17 January 2005, Sutcliffe was allowed to visit Arnside where the ashes had been scattered. [78], One murder that was linked to Sutcliffe in the book, that of Alison Morris in Ramsey, Essex, on 1 September 1979, took place only six and a half hours before his known killing of Barbara Leach in Bradford, over 200mi (320km) away. Police identified a number of attacks which matched Sutcliffe's modus operandi and tried to question the killer, but he was never charged with other crimes. [13] She required multiple, extensive brain operations and had intermittent blackouts and chronic depression. This serious fault in the central index system allowed Peter Sutcliffe to continually slip through the net". He was unemployed until October 1976, when he found a job as an HGV driver for T. & W.H. [48][49], Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to seven charges of attempted murder. Birth Country: England. She resumed a teacher training course, during which time she had an affair with an ice-cream van driver. Sutcliffe said he had heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger, which he claimed originated from the headstone of a Polish man, Bronisaw Zapolski,[47] and that the voices were that of God. [91][93] The murder of teenager Mary Gallagher in Glasgow in 1978 was also believed to be included on Hellawell's list of possible victims, and he was said to be taking this case "very seriously". [86], Another suspected victim of Sutcliffe was Yvonne Mysliwiec, a 21-year-old student attacked by a man with a ball-peen hammer at Ilkley train station in October 1979. [34]:190[35] Sutcliffe seriously assaulted Maureen Long in Bradford in July. He was caught by chance while . His 200-strong ripper squad eventually carried out more than 130,000 interviews, visited more than 23,000 homes and checked 150,000 cars. [32] Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, dragged her body into a rubbish-strewn yard, then used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen. [91][93] However, some of the links between Sutcliffe and these cases would later be definitively disproven. Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard to which he had driven her. [53] After his trial, Sutcliffe admitted two other attacks. For some time the 1970 murder of hitch-hiker Barbara Mayo was listed as a possible Sutcliffe attack by investigators, but this was conclusively disproved by DNA in 1997. [103], In 2015, authors Chris Clark and Tim Tate published a book claiming links between Sutcliffe and unsolved murders, titled Yorkshire Ripper: The Secret Murders. In total, Sutcliffe had been questioned by the police on nine separate occasions in connection with the Ripper enquiry before his eventual arrest and conviction. During his imprisonment, Sutcliffe was noted to show "particular anxiety" at mentions of Wilkinson due to the possible unsoundness of Steel's conviction. The Yorkshire Ripper's ashes were scattered at a seaside beauty spot, his niece has said as she revealed the terrible impact he had on her life. On 9 October, Jordan's body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones,[36] who had an allotment on land adjoining the site where the body was found and was searching for house bricks when he made the discovery. [92] Upon Sutcliffe's death in 2020, Clark submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Home Office, asking if Sutcliffe's DNA was on the national DNA database. He often used the services of sex workers in Leeds and Bradford and targeted them. [86][88][87] Twelve of these occurred within West Yorkshire, while the others took place in other parts of the country. The Yorkshire Ripper Is Finally Caught. [115], On 17 February 2009, it was reported[116] that Sutcliffe was "fit to leave Broadmoor". [22] Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying. [84] It alleged that, between 1966 and 1980, Peter Sutcliffe was responsible for at least 22 more murders than he was convicted of. [2]:63, After leaving Baird Television, Sutcliffe worked nightshifts at the Britannia Works of Anderton International from April 1973. How They Were Caught: The Yorkshire Ripper - YouTube How They Were Caught: The Yorkshire Ripper BuzzFeed Unsolved Network 5.37M subscribers 187K views 1 year ago The story behind the capture. Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 - 13 November 2020), also known as Peter Coonan and dubbed in press reports as the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) was an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. She survived and provided police with a description of her attacker. He was arrested when they discovered the car had false plates, and brought. [124] The appeal was rejected on 14 January 2011. [141], A play written by Olivia Hirst and David Byrne, The Incident Room, premiered at Pleasance as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [33] The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. [92] Sutcliffe was also linked to the 1975 murder of Lesley Molseed after a man was found to have been wrongly imprisoned for the crime in 1992, but Ronald Castree was convicted of his murder after a DNA match in 2007. One of his brothers admitted that their father was an abusive alcoholic, stating that he once smashed a beer glass over Sutcliffe's head for sitting in his chair at the Christmas table, after arguing, when the brother was four or five years old. When the tape arrived it was a personal message to. Many people do. That month, Sutcliffe killed again. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. MacDonald was not a prostitute and, in the public perception, her murder showed that all women were potential victims. [127] In August 2016, a medical tribunal ruled that he no longer required clinical treatment for his mental condition, and could be returned to prison. While at Parkhurst he was seriously assaulted by James Costello, a 35-year-old career criminal with several convictions for violence. An index card was created on the basis of the letter and a policewoman found Sutcliffe already had three existing index cards in the records. [70], The Byford Report's major findings were contained in a summary published by the Home Secretary, William Whitelaw, the first time precise details of the bungled police investigation had been disclosed. She was suffering from hypothermia when found and was in hospital for nine weeks. Paul Wilson, a convicted robber, asked to borrow a videotape before attempting to strangle Sutcliffe with the cable from a pair of stereo headphones. [13] Because of this occupation, he developed a macabre sense of humour. His victim was Yvonne Pearson, a 21-year-old prostitute from Bradford. John Humble, who was dubbed Wearside Jack, sent police on a wild goose chase when he sent. [86][90] There were also two men on Hellawell's list of possible victims. This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. Book Description "Ripper Notes: The Legend Continues" looks at the enduring mystery of the Jack the Ripper murders with essays covering the myths from the past that still survive today as well as the way modern enthusiasts keep the case alive. On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark. He recommended a minimum term of thirty years to be served before parole could be considered, meaning Sutcliffe would have been unlikely to be freed until at least 2011. [43] On 25 November 1980, Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe and the unwitting getaway driver as Sutcliffe fled his first documented assault in 1969, reported him to the police as a suspect. [27] A witness misidentified the make of Sutcliffe's car, resulting in more than 300 police officers checking thousands of cars without success. It was his sixteenth attack. Can women ever trust the Met Police again? [90], Hellewell had also listed the attacks on Tracey Browne in 1975 and Ann Rooney in 1979 as possible Sutcliffe attacks, and it was to him he confessed to these crimes to in 1992, confirming police suspicions that Sutcliffe was responsible for more attacks than those he confessed to at trial. The fronts of the elbows were padded to protect his knees as, presumably, he knelt over his victims' corpses. History of notorious killer who brutally murdered 13women", "How police caught Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe in Sheffield 37years ago this week", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe victims", "Looking back: The Yorkshire Ripper investigation", "Restoring reputations of Yorkshire Ripper's victims after decades of victim-blaming", "Yorkshire Ripper serial killer Peter Sutcliffe dies", "Women who survived Sutcliffe's attacks also had to survive institutional sexism", "The Yorkshire Ripper was not a 'prostitute killer' now his forgotten victims need justice", "Daughter of Ripper victim kills herself", "Yorkshire Ripper: Who were serial killer Peter Sutcliffe's victims? But the Ripper is now killing innocent girls. He was interviewed by police nine times, his car was spotted 60 times in red light districts where the Ripper prowled for victims. He was caught in a car in Melbourne Avenue, an area known for being the Sheffield's red light district, with a 24-year-old prostitute called Olivia Reivers. The police then decided to do a . Walking home from a party, she accepted an offer of a lift from Sutcliffe. The last six attacks were on totally respectable women". Sutcliffe hid a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station when he was permitted to use the toilet. [69], Amongst other things, Byford's report asserted that there was a high likelihood of Sutcliffe having claimed more victims both during and before his known killing spree. Was the Yorkshire Ripper Caught? In December 2007, McCann's eldest daughter Sonia Newlands died by suicide, reportedly after years of anguish and depression over the circumstances of her mother's death, and consequences to her and her siblings. He also attacked three other women, who survived: Uphadya Bandara in Leeds on 24 September 1980; Maureen Lea (known as Mo),[42] an art student attacked in the grounds of Leeds University on 25 October 1980; and 16-year-old Theresa Sykes, attacked in Huddersfield on the night of 5 November 1980. The hoaxer case was re-opened in 2005, and DNA taken from envelopes was entered into the national database, in which it matched that of John Samuel Humble, an unemployed alcoholic and long-time resident of the Ford Estate in Sunderland a few miles from Castletown whose DNA had been taken following a drunk and disorderly offence in 2001. Peter William Sutcliffe (2June 1946 13November 2020), also known as Peter Coonan and dubbed in press reports as the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) was an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attempting to murder seven others between 1975 and 1980. [89], One of the cases investigated was an attack on student teacher Gloria Wood in November 1974, in which Wood was attacked as she walked home one evening in Bradford by a man who had asked if she needed help carrying her bags. Listening About Jack The Ripper Thank you very much for reading Listening About Jack The Ripper . After allowing Sutcliffe to go to the toilet behind a nearby building, the police sent him to Dewsbury to be interviewed. [75] Pearson's murder was re-classified as a Ripper killing in 1979, while Wilkinson's murder was not reviewed. [30], Sutcliffe committed his next murder in Leeds on 20 January 1976, when he stabbed 42-year-old Emily Jackson fifty-two times. This inquiry also looked at the killings of two prostitutes in southern Sweden in 1980. [91][92] These included the murders of prostitute Carol Lannen and trainee nursery nurse Elizabeth McCabe in Dundee in 1979 and 1980 respectively, which together became known as the "Templeton Woods murders" due to their bodies being found only 150 yards apart in Templeton Woods in the city. Police were able to trace the note back to the bank, which consequently narrowed their search down to around 8,000 people. Peter Sutcliffe, during his time as a serial killer, managed to kill at least 13 women and attempted to kill seven more, making a name for himself as the Yorkshire Ripper. Their father would also whip them with a belt. [75], Yallop highlighted that Steel had always protested his innocence and been convicted on weak evidence. [90] Witnesses saw a man running from the scene wearing a Donovan hat, and Sutcliffe was known to have owned one, but police never interviewed him at the time. Birth date: June 2, 1946. [2]:92 In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new 5 note he had given her was traceable. Initially, Peter Sutcliffe was only stopped by police in Sheffield because they suspected his car had false number plates. 13 November 2020 . Police analysis of bank operations allowed them to narrow their field of inquiry to 8,000 employees who could have received it in their wage packet. [23][133][19][134] A private funeral ceremony was held, and Sutcliffe's body was cremated. [2]:30, Sutcliffe attacked 20-year-old Marcella Claxton in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 9 May. Leeds in the late 1970s and early 1980s was a place of fear and suspicion as the hunt for one of Britain's most prolific killers dominated the city. The "Wearside Jack" hoaxer was given unusual credibility when analysis of saliva on the envelopes he sent showed he had the same blood group as that which Sutcliffe had left at crime scenes, a type shared by only 6% of the population. [86] However, by 2002 West Yorkshire Police publicly announced they were ready to bring charges against Sutcliffe for her murder (although no further action was taken as his whole-life tariff was confirmed). [31] In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. Episode 1", "Yorkshire Ripper 'has admitted more attacks', "Sutcliffe's 'secret murders': When Yorkshire Ripper was quizzed on unsolved Dundee killings", "Tayside murders 'bore hallmark of the Ripper', "Angus Sinclair: A lifetime of abuse, rape and murder", "The Bristol prostitute murdered as the Yorkshire Ripper hunted red light districts", "Wendy Sewell murder: Pathology report 'contradicts conviction', "Yorkshire Ripper moved back to prison after 32 years in Broadmoor", "Crime case closed: Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper", "Deranged killer admits Yorkshire Ripper blinding", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe 'fit to be freed from Broadmoor', "Summer date for hearing that could lead to parole for Ripper", "Yorkshire Ripper will never be released", "Yorkshire Ripper to remain locked up for life", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe challenges "whole life" ruling", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe challenges full-life jail sentence", "Yorkshire Ripper loses bid to appeal "whole life" term", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe loses life tariff case", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe 'facing Broadmoor exit', "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe moved from Broadmoor to prison", "Yorkshire Ripper moved back to prison from psychiatric hospital", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe dies aged 74", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe cremated at secret funeral", "This is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper Awards", "Crimes That Shook Britain Series 4 | Crime and Investigation", "The Yorkshire Ripper Investigation, The Reunion BBC Radio 4", "The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story", "The Incident Room review Yorkshire Ripper retelling puts police in the spotlight", "Long Shadow Yorkshire Ripper drama cast includes some big names", "WELCOME TO CHAPELTOWN: COREY TAYLOR AND CLOWN DELVE INTO SLIPKNOT'S NEW 'BARNBURNER', https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Sutcliffe&oldid=1142141115, British people convicted of attempted murder, Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England, English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, People convicted of murder by England and Wales, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales, Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention, Serial killers who died in prison custody, Articles with self-published sources from January 2021, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from January 2021, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Articles with incomplete citations from June 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from September 2022, Articles lacking page references from January 2021, Articles with dead external links from October 2022, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 22+ (13confirmed murdered, 7confirmed injured, 2suspected to be injured, at least 1 other officially suspected murder), This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 18:59. He repeatedly bludgeoned her about the head with a ball-peen hammer, then jumped on her chest before stuffing horsehair into her mouth from a discarded sofa, under which he hid her body near Lumb Lane. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. [66][34][67] Jim Hobson, a senior West Yorkshire detective, told a press conference in October 1979 the perpetrator: "has made it clear that he hates prostitutes. [57], The choice of Oldfield to lead the inquiry was criticised by Byford: "The temptation to appoint a 'senior man' on age or service grounds should be resisted. [9], Sutcliffe was known to be acquaintances with Wilkinson, and was known to have argued violently with Wilkinson's stepfather over his advances towards her. Cosmopolitan, Part of the Hearst UK Fashion & Beauty Network. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. He soon admitted he was the Yorkshire Ripper and spent 15 hours. [88] At this time police also announced they were ready to bring charges against Sutcliffe for another attack on a woman who was listed as a possible victim of Sutcliffe by Hellawell, Mo Lea, who had been attacked with a hammer in Leeds in October 1980 by a man matching Sutcliffe's description. In December 2020, Netflix released a four-part documentary entitled The Ripper, which recounts the police investigation into the murders with interviews from living victims, family members of victims and police officers involved in the investigation. [37], On 14 December, Sutcliffe attacked Marilyn Moore, another prostitute from Leeds. Two months later, on 23 April, Sutcliffe killed Patricia "Tina" Atkinson, a prostitute from Bradford, in her flat, where police found a bootprint on the bedclothes. [106] One supposedly "unsolved" murder linked to Sutcliffe in The Secret Murders, that of Marion Spence in Leeds, in 1979, had in fact already been solved in January 1980 when a man was convicted of her murder. After an attack with a pen by fellow inmate Ian Kay on 10 March 1997, Sutcliffe lost the vision in his left eye, and his right eye was severely damaged.
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