How did 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe die? Notorious serial killer who murdered 13 women dies at 74
Peter Sutcliffe – English serial killer who was dubbed the 'Yorkshire Ripper' by the press – died on Friday, November 13 at the age of 74. As per initial reports, Sutcliffe died in a hospital where he refused treatment for Covid-19. He also had a number of underlying health problems. Convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others, Sutcliffe was serving 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment which was increased to a whole life order in 2010. He was dubbed the 'Yorkshire Ripper' because all the murders her committed, except two, took place in West Yorkshire (the others were in Manchester).
His Crimes
Sutcliffe, who managed to continue with his serial murders despite being interviewed nine times by the police in the course of their five-year investigation, initially attacked women and girls in residential areas but moved to red-light districts because of the vulnerability of prostitutes. He carried out murders for over five years (1975 to 1980) and was arrested only for driving with false number plates. When questioned further by the police, he confessed to being the perpetrator and said that the voice of God sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes.
Later, in 1984, Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to a high-security psychiatric hospital after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He filed an appeal in the High Court in 2010 wanting to get out of prison on account of his mental condition, but the court dismissed the appeal and said that he would serve a whole life order and never be released from custody. In 2016, it was ruled that Sutcliffe was mentally fit to be returned to prison and he was transferred to HM Prison Frankland.
A miniseries, 'This Is Personal: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper', is a dramatization of the real-life investigation into these murders showing its effect on the health and career of Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield (played by Alun Armstrong). The series also starred Richard Ridings and James Laurenson as DSI Dick Holland and Chief Constable Ronald Gregory, respectively. It was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Serial at the 2001 awards.
His Victims
Sutcliffe's 13 known murder victims were Wilma McCann (1975), Emily Jackson (1976), Irene Richardson (1977), Patricia 'Tina' Atkinson (1977), Jayne MacDonald (1977), Jean Jordan (1977), Yvonne Pearson (1978), Helen Rytka (1978), Vera Millward (1978), Josephine Whitaker (1979), Barbara Leach (1979), Marguerite Walls (1980) and Jacqueline Hill (1980). He is also known to have attacked at least 9 other women: an unnamed woman (1969), Anna Rogulskyj (1975), Olive Smelt (1975), Tracy Browne (1975), Marcella Claxton (1976), Marilyn Moore (1977), Uphadya Bandara (1980), Maureen Lea (1980) and Theresa Sykes (1980).
