[92][102] Links were also made between Sutcliffe and the murder of 38-year-old Mary Gregson in Shipley in August 1977, but Sutcliffe was able to be ruled out with DNA after a profile of the killer was extracted in 1999, and in 2000 another man was convicted of the killing. Yorkshire Ripper: Peter Sutcliffe's timeline of terror across the In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle. 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. [50][51], The trial lasted two weeks, and despite the efforts of his counsel James Chadwin QC, Sutcliffe was found guilty of murder on all counts and was sentenced to twenty concurrent sentences of life imprisonment. His first. Detective George Oldfield's unshaken belief the 'Ripper' was a man from the North East possessing a 'Geordie' accent wasted valuable police time and resources searching for a man who fitted a profile matching the hoax recordings and letters that had been sent to Oldfield at the investigation headquarters in Leeds. [38], The police discontinued the search for the person who received the 5 note in January 1978. Peter Sutcliffe is an infamous English serial killer, who was also known as the 'Yorkshire Ripper.' He was convicted for the murder of 13 prostitutes and attempt to kill seven more women. 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. [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. The play focuses on the police force hunting Sutcliffe. [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. [140] On 31 July 2020, the series won the BAFTA prize for Specialist Factual TV programming. He left his friend Trevor Birdsall's minivan and walked up St. Paul's Road in Bradford until he was out of sight. [19], Sutcliffe is also known to have attacked eleven other women:[20] a woman of unknown name (Bradford 1969), Anna Rogulskyj (Keighley 1975), Olive Smelt (Halifax 1975), Tracy Browne (Silsden 1975), Marcella Claxton (Leeds 1976), Maureen Long (Bradford 1977) Marilyn Moore (Leeds 1977), Ann Rooney (Leeds 1979)[21] Upadhya Bandara (Leeds 1980), Mo Lea (Leeds 1980) and Theresa Sykes (Huddersfield 1980). 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. [108] In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.[109]. Yorkshire Ripper hoaxer Wearside Jack dies - BBC News 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. Yorkshire Ripper's 'warped obsession' with seaside town of Morecambe A 1980 BBC segment on the Yorkshire Ripper case, including interviews with relatives of the victims of Peter Sutcliffe. On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark. [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. It wasn't until January 1981, three months after his final attack on 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill in Leeds, that police caught up with Sutcliffe. Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom (1970s), World's End murders of Helen Scott and Christine Eadie, This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, List of serial killers by number of victims, "The Yorkshire Ripper files: Why Chapeltown in Leeds was the 'hunting ground' of Peter Sutcliffe", "The Yorkshire Ripper files review a stunningly mishandled manhunt", "Sir Lawrence Byford: Yorkshire Ripper report author dies", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe 'was never mentally ill' claims detective who hunted him", "Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe's brother describes disturbing childhood growing up with notorious serial killer", "Who is the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe? Sutcliffe. [104] The Home Office responded by stating that it would send any new evidence to the police. "Everybody wanted him caught . He was the subject of one of the most expensive manhunts in British history, making fools of the West Yorkshire Police. Birth Country: England. 1". [2]:107, Ten days later, he killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old prostitute from Huddersfield. The courts in Yorkshire have been very busy with killers, sex predators and fraudsters all jailed in February . The 5 note, hidden in a secret compartment in Jordan's handbag, was traced to branches of the Midland Bank in Shipley and Bingley. Like Rogulskyj, Smelt subsequently suffered severe emotional and mental trauma. [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. I have the greatest respect for you, George, but Lord, you're no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started."[39]. [6] Since his conviction in 1981 Sutcliffe has been linked to a number of other unsolved murders and attacks. The findings were made fully public in 2006, and confirmed the validity of the criticism of the force. 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. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of tea in the afternoon, instead Shipley. The police told him he was "very lucky", as the woman did not want anything more to do with the incident. 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. [69] Byford said: The failure to take advantage of Birdsall's anonymous letter and his visit to the police station was yet again a stark illustration of the progressive decline in the overall efficiency of the major incident room. Hill's body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre. For five years, investigators had pursued every lead in an effort to stop. [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. No one felt safe - and every man was a suspect. [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. [84] Due to the popularity of the book it was in 2022 turned into a two-part prime-time ITV documentary series of the same name, which featured both Clark and Tate. 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. Peter Sutcliffe refused to be shielded from Covid, inquest hears Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox. The next day police returned to the scene of the arrest and discovered a knife, hammer, and rope he had discarded when he briefly slipped away from the police after telling them he was "bursting for a pee". He went on to describe all the attacks in a detailed confession that lasted 24 hours. The Yorkshire Ripper case is one of those stories that you eventually just absorb if you're a true crime follower like me. The whole thing is making my life a misery. How a serial killer inspired a feminist movement [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. Unlike Jack the Ripper, however, the Yorkshire Ripper was eventually caught by police, unmasked so the whole world would know his name. [135], The song "Night Shift" by English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 1981 album Juju is about Sutcliffe.[136]. When she got out of the car to urinate, he hit her from behind with a hammer. While he was awaiting trial, he murdered two more women (Marguerite Walls and Jacqueline. [80] Sutcliffe was familiar with the estate where she was murdered and was known to have regularly frequented the area; in February 1977, only months before the murder, he was reported to police for acting suspiciously on the street Wilkinson lived. Claxton survived and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial. [76][75] Police eventually admitted in 1979 that the Yorkshire Ripper did not only attack prostitutes, but by this time a local man, Anthony Steel, had already been convicted of Wilkinson's murder. [2]:112 Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. [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. He attacked Anna Rogulskyj, who was walking alone, striking her unconscious with a hammer and slashing her stomach with a knife. Following Sutcliffe's conviction, the government ordered a review of the investigation, conducted by the Inspector of Constabulary Lawrence Byford, known as the "Byford Report". 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. [123] The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. The attitude in the West Yorkshire Police at the time reflected Sutcliffe's own misogyny and sexist attitudes, according to multiple sources. The Yorkshire Ripper Is Finally Caught. 13 women were dead and the police seemed incapable of catching the killer. 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. [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. Sutcliffe was interviewed nine times,[56] but all information the police had about the case was stored in paper form, making cross-referencing difficult, compounded by television appeals for information which generated thousands more documents. [26] She later said, "I've been afraid to go out much because I feel people are staring and pointing at me. [71] In 1969, Sutcliffe, described in the Byford Report as an "otherwise unremarkable young man", came to the notice of police on two occasions over incidents with prostitutes. Thankfully, there is no reason to think he committed any further murderous assaults within that period. 2,164. 40 years on: Catching the Yorkshire Ripper - Investigation UK On 4 August 2010, a spokeswoman for the Judicial Communications Office confirmed that Sutcliffe had initiated an appeal against the decision. [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. Sutcliffe murdered 47-year-old Marguerite Walls on the night of 20 August 1980, and 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill, a student at Leeds University, on the night of 17 November 1980. I sometimes wish I had died in the attack. That indicates your mental state and that you are in urgent need of medical attention. 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. His 200-strong ripper squad eventually carried out more than 130,000 interviews, visited more than 23,000 homes and checked 150,000 cars. 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. [13] Because of this occupation, he developed a macabre sense of humour. [118] The court decided that Sutcliffe would never be released. The Yorkshire Post reports a second knife had been hidden in a police station toilet before he was searched. Ch 5, documentary "Born to Kill" broadcast 12.05am 21 September 2022 a profile of the serial killer. The visit led to front-page tabloid headlines. Yorkshire Ripper killings created 'culture of fear' - BBC News Yorkshire Ripper death: Force apology over victim descriptions He reportedly refused treatment. John Humble, who was dubbed Wearside Jack, sent police on a wild goose chase when he sent. [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 They Were Caught: The Yorkshire Ripper - YouTube It was his sixteenth attack. While it should have been the effective nerve centre of the whole police operation, the backlog of unprocessed information resulted in the failure to connect vital pieces of related information. Their father would also whip them with a belt. How and where was the Yorkshire Ripper caught? On 1 October 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a prostitute from Manchester. Coronation Street: Bruce Jones unrecognisable after Hollywood makeover [78], Around the time of Wilkinson's murder it was widely reported that Professor David Gee, the Home Office pathologist who conducted all the post-mortem examinations on the Ripper victims, noted similarities between the Wilkinson murder and the killing of Ripper victim Yvonne Pearson three months later. 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. Stephen handed prison time over Georgia sex tape, Finding Michael: What happened to Michael Matthews, Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty of murder, Constance Marten charged with manslaughter, Physical 100 contestant accused of assault, Tory MP says families are 'abusing' food banks, Harry and Meghan react to eviction from Frogmore, The legal age you can get married has just changed, Charles & Camilla break major royal tradition, How the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was finally caught. Despite being found sane at his trial, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The Telegraph reports the murderer claimed he had been "directed by God to kill prostitutes" as reasoning for the grim attacks. 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. [110] On 23 February 1996, he was attacked in his room in Broadmoor's Henley Ward. [122] Sutcliffe spent the rest of his life in custody. [81] Furthermore, earlier on the day as Wilkinson's murder, Sutcliffe had gone back to mutilate Jordan's body before returning to Bradford, showing he had already gone out to attack victims that day and would have been in Bradford to attack Wilkinson after he come back from mutilating Jordan. 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. [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. The sections "Description of suspects, photofits and other assaults" and parts of the section on Sutcliffe's "immediate associates" were not disclosed by the Home Office. But how did they finally discover who he was, after so many years falling under the radar? There, officers searched his car and discovered screwdrivers in the glove compartment. Give yourself up before another innocent woman dies". [86][90] There were also two men on Hellawell's list of possible victims. Byford described delays in following up vital tip-offs from Trevor Birdsall, an associate of Sutcliffe since 1966. [86][88][87] Twelve of these occurred within West Yorkshire, while the others took place in other parts of the country. I see you are still having no luck catching me. 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. 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. [25] Disturbed by a neighbour, he left without killing her. [86], Hellawell also included six unsolved murder cases in Scotland on his list of potential Sutcliffe victims, and Sutcliffe was reportedly interviewed in prison about a number of murders in Scotland. By the mid-1970s Wilma, 28, was bringing up four kids on her own in a house with no carpets or heating. 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. 13 November 2020 . Download Ripper Notes (PDF/BOOK) Full | Martha Williams The play was produced by New Diorama.[142]. 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 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 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. Peter Sutcliffe died in hospital aged 74 in . Video, 00:01:18 The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. [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. [40] Humble died on 30 July 2019, aged 63.[41]. Peter Sutcliffe Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements West Yorkshire Police made it clear that the victims wished to remain anonymous. It was decided that prosecution for these offences was "not in the public interest". [34]:188, The trial judge said Sutcliffe was beyond redemption, and hoped he would never leave prison. Sutcliffe murdered 13 women and attempted to . In October 2020, it was announced that ITV was to produce a new six-part drama series about the Ripper. [18] The following is a summary of Sutcliffe's confirmed crimes: Sutcliffe's thirteen known murder victims were Wilma McCann (Leeds 1975), Emily Jackson (Leeds 1976), Irene Richardson (Leeds 1977), Patricia "Tina" Atkinson (Bradford 1977), Jayne MacDonald (Leeds 1977), Jean Jordan (Manchester 1977), Yvonne Pearson (Bradford 1978), Helen Rytka (Huddersfield 1978), Vera Millward (Manchester 1978), Josephine Whitaker (Halifax 1979), Barbara Leach (Bradford 1979), Marguerite Walls (Leeds 1980) and Jacqueline Hill (Leeds 1980). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. [86][87] A list was complied of around sixty murders and attempted murders. [128][129], In 2017, West Yorkshire Police launched Operation Painthall to determine if Sutcliffe was guilty of unsolved crimes dating back to 1964. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. [75][82] The location Wilkinson was killed was very close to Sutcliffe's place of employment at T. & W. H. Clark, where he would have clocked in for work that afternoon. It was all there in that clogged up system.