Following his conviction, Sutcliffe began using his mother's maiden name of Coonan. By the mid-1970s Wilma, 28, was bringing up four kids on her own in a house with no carpets or heating. It was on . He went on to describe all the attacks in a detailed confession that lasted 24 hours. The murderer continued, going untraced over the next five years despite murdering 12 more women and attempting to kill seven others. 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. After allowing Sutcliffe to go to the toilet behind a nearby building, the police sent him to Dewsbury to be interviewed. [13] She required multiple, extensive brain operations and had intermittent blackouts and chronic depression. All except two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in West Yorkshire; the others were in Manchester.. Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings. Secret prison tapes & letters expose Yorkshire Ripper's monstrous path [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. Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered 13 women and attacked seven others between 1975 and 1980 across West Yorkshire, plus two in Greater Manchester. Sutcliffe was accompanied by four members of the hospital staff. [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. [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!" [126], In December 2015, Sutcliffe was assessed as being "no longer mentally ill". This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. Yorkshire Ripper's niece reveals his remains were scattered at the "[27], On the night of 15 August, Sutcliffe attacked Olive Smelt in Halifax. [104], A number of murders Clark and Tate claimed could be linked to Sutcliffe already have DNA evidence, such as the murders of Barbara Mayo, Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon, and investigators are known to already have a copy of Sutcliffe's DNA and have been able to rule him out of unsolved cases as a result. The police have always had a poor understanding of what drives violence against women. Peter Sutcliffe, the 'Yorkshire Ripper': How the serial killer was caught [11] In his late adolescence, Sutcliffe developed a growing obsession with voyeurism, and spent much time spying on prostitutes and the men seeking their services. When two policemen in Sheffield walked past a brown Rover in January 1981, and noticed the car's registration plate did not match the number on the tax disc, they stopped the man at the wheel. 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. [91][93] However, some of the links between Sutcliffe and these cases would later be definitively disproven. [2]:144 He was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. An application by Sutcliffe for a minimum term to be set, offering the possibility of parole after that date if it were thought safe to release him, was heard by the High Court on 16 July 2010. [22] Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying. On 25 November 1980, Birdsall sent an anonymous letter to police, the text of which ran as follows: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, I have good reason to now [sic] the man you are looking for in the Ripper case. Birth date: June 2, 1946. Peter Sutcliffe, later dubbed the Yorkshire. [2]:107, Ten days later, he killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old prostitute from Huddersfield. On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark. [102][92], Following his conviction and incarceration, Sutcliffe chose to use the name Coonan, his mother's maiden name. [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. During his imprisonment, Sutcliffe was noted to show "particular anxiety" at mentions of Wilkinson due to the possible unsoundness of Steel's conviction. Sonia had several miscarriages, and they were informed that she would not be able to have children. [92] South Yorkshire Police also interviewed Sutcliffe on the murder of Ann Marie Harold in Mexborough in 1980, but links to him were later disproved in December 1982 when another man was convicted of her murder. Referring to the period between 1969, when Sutcliffe first came to the attention of police, and 1975, the year of his first documented murder, the report states: "There is a curious and unexplained lull in Sutcliffe's criminal activities" and "it is my firm conclusion that between 1969 and 1980 Sutcliffe was probably responsible for many attacks on unaccompanied women, which he has not yet admitted, not only in the West Yorkshire and Manchester areas, but also in other parts of the country". Harrison's murder had been linked to the Ripper killings by the "Wearside Jack" claim, but in 2011, DNA evidence revealed the crime had actually been committed by convicted sex offender Christopher Smith, who had died in 2008. [34]:188, The trial judge said Sutcliffe was beyond redemption, and hoped he would never leave prison. "Bastard prostitutes who were littering the streets. [105] The Mayo, Stratford and Weedon cases did not feature in the 2022 documentary version of Clark's book. 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. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire. 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. Yorkshire Ripper True Story - What Happened to 'The Ripper' Serial Yorkshire Ripper's 'warped obsession' with seaside town of Morecambe The so-called Yorkshire Ripper is finally caught by British police, ending one of the largest manhunts in history. Sutcliffe murdered 13 women and attempted to . [92] Detectives had been able to compare Sutcliffe's DNA with the killer's in order to eliminate him from the inquiry. Thankfully, there is no reason to think he committed any further murderous assaults within that period. He reportedly refused treatment. Peter Sutcliffe Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements Despite the false lead, Sutcliffe was interviewed on at least two other occasions in 1979. 13 women were dead and the police seemed incapable of catching the killer. The BBC reports he refused treatment for COVID-19, and died in hospital in November 2020 as a result. Sutcliffe said he had followed a prostitute into a garage and hit her over the head with a stone in a sock. [78] Even though his confession failed to include any details of the murder, and Ripper detective Jim Hobson testified at trial that he did not find the confession credible, Steel was narrowly convicted. In August 2016, it was ruled that he was mentally fit to be returned to prison, and he was transferred that month to HM Prison Frankland in County Durham. [2]:92 In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new 5 note he had given her was traceable. 38 Ripper's first victim, attacked with a hammer and knife after a night out. [86][90] There were also two men on Hellawell's list of possible victims. But when he was finally caught in 1981 it was for driving with false number plates. Claxton survived and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial. Like Rogulskyj, Smelt subsequently suffered severe emotional and mental trauma. He was unemployed until October 1976, when he found a job as an HGV driver for T. & W.H. A detailed history, The ending of Sex/Life season 2 explained, 'Hollywood Ripper' murdered Ashton Kutcher's date. 1981: How was the Yorkshire Ripper caught? . In February 1975, he took redundancy and used half of the 400 pay-off to train as a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) driver. [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. [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. [31] In dire financial straits, Jackson had been persuaded by her husband to engage in prostitution, using the van of their family roofing business. [100] Ripper detective Jim Hobson duly visited the site of the murder in Bristol, but there were a number of differences in the murder to Sutcliffe's known killings. [77] Steel had confessed to the murder under intense questioning, having been told that he would be allowed to see a solicitor if he did so. How police caught Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe 37 years ago Sonia Sutcliffe, The Unknowing Wife Of Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe [28], On 27 August, Sutcliffe attacked 14-year-old Tracy Browne in Silsden, attacking her from behind and hitting her on the head five times while she was walking along a country lane. The man who hoaxed detectives by claiming to be the Yorkshire Ripper has died, police have confirmed. [33] The police described her as the first "innocent" victim. 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. Hill's body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre. But "for some inexplicable reason", said the Byford Report, the papers remained in a filing tray in the incident room until the murderer's arrest on 2 January [1981], the following year.[69]. [40] The hoaxer appeared to know details of the murders which had not been released to the press, but which in fact he had acquired from pub gossip and his local newspaper. [83], In 2003, Steel's conviction was quashed after it was found that his low IQ and mental capabilities made him a vulnerable interviewee, discrediting his supposed "confession" and confirming Yallop's long-standing suspicions that he had been wrongly convicted. [101][92] However, several aspects of the attack did not fit Sutcliffe's MO, particularly as she hit been hit from the front and had been the victim of a robbery. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. [107] He began his sentence at HM Prison Parkhurst on 22 May 1981. The police obtained a search warrant for his home in Heaton and brought his wife in for questioning. [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. [100] After his conviction in 1981, South Yorkshire Police interviewed Sutcliffe on the murder of 29-year-old Doncaster prostitute Barbara Young, who had been hit over the head by a "tall, dark haired man" in an alleyway on the evening of 22 March 1977. [112] In 2003, it was reported that Sutcliffe had developed diabetes. At Dewsbury, he was questioned in relation to the Yorkshire Ripper case as he matched many of the known physical characteristics. [125] On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. Only days after Sutcliffe's conviction in 1981, crime writer David Yallop asserted that he may have been responsible for the murder of Carol Wilkinson, who was randomly bludgeoned over the head with a stone in Bradford on 10 October 1977, nine days after Sutcliffe's killing of Jean Jordan. How was the Yorkshire Ripper caught? What happened to Peter Sutcliffe [b] The investigation used it as a point of elimination rather than a line of enquiry and allowed Sutcliffe to avoid scrutiny, as he did not fit the profile of the sender of the tape or letters. [75], Yallop highlighted that Steel had always protested his innocence and been convicted on weak evidence. [58] He found wanting Oldfield's focus on the hoax confessional tape[59]:8687 that seemed to indicate a perpetrator with a Wearside background,[60] and his ignoring advice from survivors of Sutcliffe's attacks and several eminent specialists, including from the FBI in the United States, along with dialect analysts[61] such as Stanley Ellis and Jack Windsor Lewis,[59]:88 whom he had also consulted throughout the manhunt, that "Wearside Jack" was a hoaxer. The attacks took place across Leeds, Bradford, Manchester, Huddersfield and Halifax, which meant officers were thrown off the scent of a serial killer being to blame. [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. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. When did he get caught? In January 1981, Peter was jailed after police caught him with a 24-year-old prostitute called Olivia Reivers. Coronation Street: Bruce Jones unrecognisable after Hollywood makeover When the tape arrived it was a personal message to. [12], Reportedly a loner, Sutcliffe left school at age 15 and had a series of menial jobs, including two stints as a gravedigger in the 1960s. 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. Eleven marches in various towns across the United Kingdom took place on the night of 12 November 1977. [65], The Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford's 1981 report of an official inquiry into the Ripper case[69] was not released by the Home Office until 1 June 2006. When he was caught in 1981, after years of police missteps, lost . Peter Sutcliffe was sitting inside the vehicle with a sex worker, and instantly came to the officers' attention because he fit the description of the Yorkshire Ripper. The Yorkshire Post reports a second knife had been hidden in a police station toilet before he was searched. [72] Later that year, in September 1969,[73] he was arrested in Bradford's red light district for being in possession of a hammer, an offensive weapon, but he was charged with "going equipped for stealing" as it was assumed he was a potential burglar. The murder of a woman who was not a prostitute again alarmed the public and prompted an expensive publicity campaign emphasising the Wearside connection. Unlike Jack the Ripper, however, the Yorkshire Ripper was eventually caught by police, unmasked so the whole world would know his name. 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. Despite forensic evidence, police efforts were diverted for several months following receipt of the taped message purporting to be from the murderer taunting Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire Police, who was leading the investigation. Two local police officers on the night shift chanced upon the couple parked in this . [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. [40] Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.[41]. Video, 00:01:18 The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. The force of the impact tore the toe off the sock and whatever was in it came out. The identification and subsequent capture of the man labelled 'The Yorkshire Ripper' by the media was actually quite fortuitous. Again he was interrupted and left his victim badly injured but alive. The prosecution intended to accept Sutcliffe's plea after four psychiatrists diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but the trial judge, Justice Sir Leslie Boreham, demanded an unusually detailed explanation of the prosecution reasoning. Given that Sutcliffe was a lorry driver, it was theorised that he had been in Denmark and Sweden, making use of the ferry across the Oresund Strait. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975. [2]:36. Yorkshire Ripper killings created 'culture of fear' - BBC News He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. Give yourself up before another innocent woman dies". The series also starred Richard Ridings and James Laurenson as DSI Dick Holland and Chief Constable Ronald Gregory, respectively. On 1 September, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student. The Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe has died at the age of 74. [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. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. [23][133][19][134] A private funeral ceremony was held, and Sutcliffe's body was cremated. Sutcliffe. He struck Rytka on the head five times as she exited his vehicle, before stripping most of the clothes from her body (although her bra and polo-neck jumper were positioned above her breasts) and repeatedly stabbing her in the chest. The police then decided to do a . 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. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. View this post on Instagram. 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. The basis of his defence was that he claimed to be the tool of God's will. According to his statement, Sutcliffe said, "I got out of the car, went across the road and hit her. [86] The killing took place only two days before Sutcliffe's known killing of Patricia Atkinson in Bradford. [139], A three-part series of one-hour episodes, The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story, by filmmaker Liza Williams aired on BBC Four in March 2019. [13] Because of this occupation, he developed a macabre sense of humour. He was caught by chance while . I hasten to add that I feel sure that the senior police officers in the areas concerned are also mindful of this possibility but, in order to ensure full account is taken of all the information available, I have arranged for an effective liaison to take place.[69]. On 1 October 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a prostitute from Manchester. Warning: This article contains details of violence some readers may find distressing. Over five years, as more women were mutilated and killed, the clues that pointed to Peter Sutcliffe grew within that vast pile of evidence.
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