Peter Sutcliffe

Nickname: The Yorkshire Ripper

Reign of terror: 5/7/75 - 2/1/81

Motive: Sex

Crimes:

Date	Victim	Crime	Place
5 / 7 / 75	Anna Rogulskyj	Attempted murder	Keighley
15 / 8 /75	Olive Smelt	Attempted murder	Halifax
30 / 10 / 75	Wilma McCann	Murder	Leeds
20 / 1 / 76	Emily Jackson	Murder	Leeds
9 / 5 / 76	Marcella Claxton	Attempted murder	Leeds
6 / 2 / 77	Irene Richardson	Murder	Leeds
23 / 4 / 77	Tina Atkinson	Murder	Bradford
25 / 6 / 77	Jayne MacDonald	Murder	Leeds
1 / 10 / 77	Jean Jordan	Murder	Manchester
14 / 12 / 77	Marilyn Moore	Attempted murder	Leeds
21 / 1 / 78	Yvonne Pearson	Murder	Bradford
31 / 1 / 78	Helen Rytka	Murder	Huddersfield
16 / 5 / 78	Vera Millward	Murder	Manchester
4 / 4 / 79	Josephine Whitaker	Murder	Halifax
1 / 9 / 79	Barbara Leach	Murder	Bradford
18 / 8 / 80	Marguerite Walls	Murder	Farsley
October 1980	Dr Upadhya Bandara	Attempted murder	Leeds
5 / 11 / 80	Theresa Sykes	Attempted murder	Huddersfield
17 / 11 / 80	Jacqueline Hill	Murder	Leeds

Method: Battered over the head with a ball-head hammer, and then stabbed in the chest and stomach repeatedly with a knife and a Philips screwdriver. Often these stabbings occurred after the victim's death.

Sentence: Life with a recommendation of at least 30 years.

Interesting facts: With the murder of Jean Jordan, he killed her in a cemetery, and failed to complete his ritual. Several days later he realised he had given her a brand new five pound note, which could be used to trace the murder to him, and so he returned to the body to find the note and complete the stabbing ritual. Unfortunately for him, he couldn't find the note, as it was hidden in a secret compartment of her handbag. The police did find it, and he was interviewed regarding it, along with other employees in the same company, but he was not under suspicion.

Sutcliffe was finally caught, whilst he was in the company of another prostitute, probably destined to be his next victim - Olive Reivers. Police driving past decided his number plates looked dodgy, and they came up as stolen. So they arrested him. He told the police that he desperately needed the toilet, and as he went in the bushes, he surreptitiously dumped his hammer and screwdriver. Later, at the police station, he disposed of his knife in the toilets.

In association with amazon.co.uk

Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper by Michael Bilton. If you want to buy this book, click on the book cover.

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