He was interrupted and fled, leaving her for dead. [22] Claxton was four months pregnant when she was attacked, and lost the baby she was carrying. The so-called Yorkshire Ripper is finally caught by British police, ending one of the largest manhunts in history. Peter Sutcliffe, the man also known as the Yorkshire Ripper after he murdered 13 women in the north of England throughout the 70s and 80s, died of coronavirus last month at the age of 74. [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. [123] The hearing for Sutcliffe's appeal against the ruling began on 30 November 2010 at the Court of Appeal. This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, a British television crime drama miniseries, first shown on ITV from 26 January to 2 February 2000, is a dramatisation of the real-life investigation into the murders, showing the effect that it had on the health and career of Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield (Alun Armstrong). Video, 00:01:18 The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. [9][pageneeded], The first victim to be killed by Sutcliffe was Wilma McCann on 30 October. [69], This letter was marked "Priority No. Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was finally caught in January 1981 with simple old-fashioned police work. 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. [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. [75], Yallop highlighted that Steel had always protested his innocence and been convicted on weak evidence. [86][87] A list was complied of around sixty murders and attempted murders. In January 1981, Peter was jailed after police caught him with a 24-year-old prostitute called Olivia Reivers. 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 police found that the alibi given for Sutcliffe's whereabouts was credible; he had indeed spent much of the evening of the killing at a family party. Sutcliffe was not convicted of the attack but confessed to it in 1992. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Weeks of intense investigations pertaining to the origins of the 5 note led to nothing, leaving police officers frustrated that they collected an important clue but had been unable to trace the actual firm (or employee within the firm) to which or whom the note had been issued. The whole thing is making my life a misery. 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 man who hoaxed detectives by claiming to be the Yorkshire Ripper has died, police have confirmed. He went on to describe all the attacks in a detailed confession that lasted 24 hours. [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. [26] She later said, "I've been afraid to go out much because I feel people are staring and pointing at me. Birth City: Bingley, West Yorkshire. In 2001, Angus Sinclair was convicted of the murder of Mary Gallagher on DNA evidence, and he was also convicted of the World's End murders in 2014 in a highly publicised trial. [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. [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. [122] Sutcliffe spent the rest of his life in custody. His 200-strong ripper squad eventually carried out more than 130,000 interviews, visited more than 23,000 homes and checked 150,000 cars. [121], Psychological reports describing Sutcliffe's mental state were taken into consideration, as was the severity of his crimes. On 23 March 2010, the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw, was questioned by Julie Kirkbride, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Bromsgrove, in the House of Commons seeking reassurance for a constituent, a victim of Sutcliffe, that he would remain in prison. [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. [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. [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. 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. Employing the same modus operandi, he briefly engaged Smelt with a commonplace pleasantry about the weather before striking hammer blows to her skull from behind. [125] On 9 March 2011, the Court of Appeal rejected Sutcliffe's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court. While awaiting trial, he killed two more women. Shipley. The identification and subsequent capture of the man labelled 'The Yorkshire Ripper' by the media was actually quite fortuitous. He is confirmed to have brutally murdered 13 women between 1975 and 1980 before he was stopped. [91] Sinclair also happens to be the prime suspect in the murders of Kenny, McAuley and Cooney, but detectives felt they did not have enough evidence to charge him before his death in prison in 2019. Once she was dead, Sutcliffe mutilated her corpse with a knife. He was interviewed by police nine times, his car was spotted 60 times in red light districts where the Ripper prowled for victims. Sutcliffe had been interviewed on this issue. 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. In 1981, Yorkshire lorry driver Paul Sutcliffe was convicted of murder. In the series she questions whether the attitude of both the police and society towards women prevented Sutcliffe from being caught sooner. At his trial he pleaded not guilty to murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, but he was convicted of murder on a majority verdict. At the time of this attack, Claxton had been four months pregnant and subsequently miscarried her baby. [44], When Sutcliffe was stripped at the police station he was wearing an inverted V-necked jumper under his trousers. [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. 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. On 16 July 2010, the High Court issued Sutcliffe with a whole life tariff, meaning he was never to be released. The tape contained a man's voice saying, "I'm Jack. [100] Jenkins' murder remains unsolved. Police visited Sutcliffe's home the next day, as the woman he had attacked had noted Birdsall's vehicle registration plate. [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). Between November 1971 and April 1973, Sutcliffe worked at the Baird Television factory on a packaging line. Rogulskyj survived after neurological surgery[a] but she was psychologically traumatised by the attack. [84] As part of the research for the book, Clark and Tate claimed to have found evidence that pointed to the wrong man having been convicted for the Sewell murder, having unearthed a pathology report which allegedly indicated that the originally convicted Stephen Downing could not have committed the crime. [2]:30, Sutcliffe attacked 20-year-old Marcella Claxton in Roundhay Park, Leeds, on 9 May. [86] Although a hammer was not used, Sutcliffe also often used a knife to stab his victims. It was one of the largest investigations by a British police force[55] and predated the use of computers. The Telegraph reports the murderer claimed he had been "directed by God to kill prostitutes" as reasoning for the grim attacks. But how did they finally discover who he was, after so many years falling under the radar? 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. Between 1975 and 1980 Sutcliffe preyed on women across Greater Manchester and Yorkshire. [63], In response to the police reaction to the murders, the Leeds Revolutionary Feminist Group organised a number of 'Reclaim the Night' marches. 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. [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. [2]:112 Sutcliffe said of Rytka while in police custody in 1981: "I had the urge to kill any woman. Yorkshire Ripper's niece says evil uncle's ashes are scattered at . [143] To be titled The Long Shadow, it was expected to air in September 2022.[144]. Despite being found sane at his trial, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Sutcliffe was charged with multiple counts of murder, and was found guilty at a trial in the Old Bailey later that year. [68] Nina Lopez, who was one of the ECP protestors in 1981, told The Independent forty years later, Sir Michael's comments were "an indictment of the whole way in which the police and the establishment were dealing with the Yorkshire Ripper case". [137], The 13 May 2013 episode of Crimes That Shook Britain focused on the case. Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe. With the evidence mounting up against him, after two days of questioning Peter Sutcliffe eventually admitted being the Yorkshire Ripper. [72][69] The report said that it was clear Sutcliffe had on at least one occasion attacked a Bradford prostitute with a cosh. Cat is Cosmopolitan UK's features editor covering women's issues, health and current affairs. He had a number of underlying health problems, including obesity and diabetes. [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. Sutcliffe flung himself backwards and the blade missed his right eye, stabbing him in the cheek. The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. The killer was sentenced to 20 concurrent life sentences, and he remained imprisoned until his death this week. 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. The sleeves had been pulled over his legs and the V-neck exposed his genital area. The Netflix series reveals that the serial killer had murdered 13 women and attempted to murder seven more between the years 1975 and 1980. Two local police officers on the night shift chanced upon the couple parked in this . [2]:63, After leaving Baird Television, Sutcliffe worked nightshifts at the Britannia Works of Anderton International from April 1973. 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. [104] Derbyshire Constabulary dismissed the theory, pointing to the fact that a reinvestigation in 2002 had found that only Stephen Downing couldn't be ruled out of the investigation, and responded by stating that there was no evidence linking Sutcliffe to the crime. In that episode, Sutcliffe is played by Joseph Mawle. The letters, signed "Jack the Ripper", claimed responsibility for the murder of 26-year-old Joan Harrison in Preston in November 1975. He added that he was with Sutcliffe when he got out of a car to pursue a woman with whom he had had a bar room dispute in Halifax on 16 August 1975. 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]. During a strip search, officers noticed that Sutcliffe was wearing elbow padding, as well as an upside-down V-neck jumper under his trousers, exposing his genitals. The serial killer was serving a whole life term for murdering 13 women across Yorkshire and north-west England. On 1 September, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student. Sutcliffe admitted he had hit her, but claimed it was with his hand. Straw responded that whilst the matter of Sutcliffe's release was a parole board matter, "that all the evidence that I have seen on this case, and it's a great deal, suggests to me that there are no circumstances in which this man will be released".[117]. He was the subject of one of the most expensive manhunts in British history, making fools of the West Yorkshire Police. Sutcliffe spent thirty years at Broadmoor Hospital before being moved to HMP Frankland in County Durham four years ago 2016. Sutcliffe committed his second assault on the night of 5 July 1975 in Keighley. Drug kingpin Rehman was caught out after being identified as an Encrochat user who had facilitated the sale of drugs worth over 4million in an 11-week period. [8] Kathleen was a Roman Catholic and John was a member of the choir at the local Anglican church of St Wilfred's; their children were raised in their mother's Catholic faith, and Sutcliffe briefly served as an altar boy. [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. 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. Cosmopolitan participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Two of Sutcliffe's murders took place in Manchester; all the others were in West Yorkshire. A later inspection back at the site of Sutcliffe's arrest revealed he had discarded a hammer and a knife when he supposedly went to relieve himself behind the building. [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. [29] After two days of intensive questioning, on the afternoon of 4 January 1981, Sutcliffe suddenly declared he was the Ripper. Birth Year: 1946. Best Known For: Peter Sutcliffe was a British serial killer known as . [2]:36. Initially, Peter Sutcliffe was only stopped by police in Sheffield because they suspected his car had false number plates. [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. Name: Peter Sutcliffe. That indicates your mental state and that you are in urgent need of medical attention. "The women I killed were filth", he told police. Now, Netflix is showing a documentary looking into the harrowing crimes the Yorkshire Ripper committed, in a new four part series. Fans likely wouldn't have recognised Bruce in the horror show (Picture: S Meddle/ ITV/ REX/ Shutterstock) Speaking about what happened that day, Bruce shared his story in the documentary The Ripper. After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester's Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, to retrieve the note but was unable to find it. His first. [86] She survived the attack with serious injuries as a man distrupted the attacker, who matched Sutcliffe's description. Sutcliffe confessed to being the perpetrator, saying that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes. For five years, between 1975 to 1980, the Yorkshire Ripper murders cast a dark shadow over the lives of women in the North of England. 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. [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. 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. [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. [108] In March 1984, Sutcliffe was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, under Section 47 of the Mental Health Act 1983.[109]. The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. Cosmopolitan UK's current issue is out now and you can SUBSCRIBE HERE. This was the date and place of the Olive Smelt attack. The play focuses on the police force hunting Sutcliffe. [86] Most notably, Sutcliffe's work record also showed that he was delivering to an engineering plant 100 yards from Schlessinger's home on the day she was killed. On 6 April 1991, Sutcliffe's father, John Sutcliffe, talked about his son on the television discussion programme After Dark. Was the Yorkshire Ripper Caught? But the Ripper is now killing innocent girls. [2]:71, Sutcliffe reportedly hired prostitutes as a young man, and it has been speculated that he had a bad experience during which he was conned out of money by a prostitute and her pimp. Sutcliffe. Peter Sutcliffe, the convicted serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper, refused to be shielded in prison in the months before he died from the coronavirus, an inquest has heard.