Casefile True Crime - Case 37: The Yorkshire Ripper (Part 3)

Episode Date: November 6, 2016

[Part 3 of 3] With the West Yorkshire Police no closer to identifying The Yorkshire Ripper, the department came under intense scrutiny. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher offered to take over the investigation, while the media and public demanded that Scotland Yard be called in to find the killer.  --- Research for this episode by Victoria Dieffenbacher. Co-written by Victoria Dieffenbacher and the Anonymous Host. For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/yorkshire-ripper-part-3

The Source has headphones for everything. We have headphones for running, working, calling, cleaning, gaming, cooking, singing, fishing, hiking, drumming, dancing, lounging, weightlifting, painting, traveling, podcasting, dog walking and streaming TV shows. Yes, The Source has headphones for everything. Find amazing prices on headphones and earbuds from top brands like Beeps, Sony, Bose, Skullcandy and more at The Source, of course. At 10.50pm on Friday the 2nd of January 1981, a brown Rover Saloon motor vehicle was parked in the driveway of Light Trades House, a steel manufacturer in Sheffield, 50 minutes south of Leeds. Being late at night the area was completely deserted, but it was a popular place for sex workers to take clients. Two police officers on patrol drove past the vehicle, they believed it could only be there for one reason. They stopped their patrol car next to the Rover, and one of the officers approached the male driver.

He asked the driver if it was his vehicle. The driver replied it was. He gave his name and address as John Williams, 65 Dorchester Road, Canclo, Rotherham. The driver had a woman in the vehicle with him, and the officers asked who she was. The driver replied she was his girlfriend, but couldn't give her name as he hadn't known her that long. The woman gave her name as Olivia Reevers. The officers radiated in the two names and asked for details on the registration plate of the Rover. There was no match for a man by the name of John Williams. They found out that Olivia was 24 years old and a known sex worker.

They found out the plate was registered to someone by the name of Aslam Khan, and it was registered to a completely different make and model of vehicle. Olivia and the male driver were both arrested on suspicion of theft. When they got back to the police station, they learnt the male driver's name wasn't John Williams. It was Peter Williams Sutcliffe, and this wasn't his first encounter with the police. In fact, his name had come up several times before in the Yorkshire River investigation. Peter Sutcliffe was born in Bingley, 10 minutes north of Bradford, on the 2nd of June 1946. His first convictions were for driving without a licence. When he was 18, he was charged with trying to steal a car.

He was fined, and two official records with his name, date of birth, address and information about the offence were submitted to West Yorkshire and to London. When he was 23, he was seen sitting in a car late at night in Manningham. The engine was on, but the lights were off. A police officer on patrol went to speak with Sutcliffe, but he took off. Sutcliffe was later apprehended, and when they searched him, they found a hammer. The police described this in the report as being equipped to steal. He was photographed, and that photo appeared on his record. He had dark curly hair, a beard and a mustache.

When Sutcliffe was 29 years old, the 15th of October 1975, a tyre company he worked for reported him to the police for stealing, and when questioned, he admitted he'd done it. He appeared at court for this stealing in February 1976. Sutcliffe was a married man and lived in Bradford. Sutcliffe's name came up numerous times in the Ripper investigation. Vehicles registered to him were on the tracking inquiry list. His name was on the list of 241 suspects that Ridgway came up with after all his work on the £5 note. His registration had been recorded in the red light districts numerous times.

But each time he was questioned and cleared. As they weren't storing information on computers, clerical errors meant that when other police went to question Sutcliffe, they had no idea his name had come up previously, and he had already been questioned. Like on the 29th of July 1979, Sutcliffe was visited by two detectives because his car had recently been seen and recorded going through three red light district areas, Bradford, Leeds and Manchester. The detectives that visited him this day had no idea this was actually the fifth time Sutcliffe had been questioned during the Ripper investigation. All these detectives knew about him was that his name was Peter Sutcliffe, he was a truck driver, and his car had been flagged for a triple area sighting. It was a Saturday afternoon and Sutcliffe let the detectives into his front lounge room.

They were joined by his wife Sonia. Detective Andrew Lapchew went through the routine questions, name, date of birth, what he did for a living and who he worked for. When Lapchew heard Sutcliffe say he worked for one of the companies who had come up in the five pound note inquiry, he had a really close look at him. He suddenly realized Sutcliffe looked very similar to the photo fit Marilyn Moore had provided after her attack. The one describing the Jason King style of mustache. He also noticed he had a gap in his front teeth, although he didn't have a Geordie accent like the man on the Ripper tape. Lapchew also noted Sutcliffe and his wife Sonia seemed a bit strange. They didn't seem to have much of a reaction to any of the questions or comments made by the detectives.

When they wanted to ask him about sex workers, Lapchew did what all detectives used to do in these situations. He asked for a glass of water, which resulted most times in the wife saying she'd make tea. That gave the detectives at least five minutes alone with the husband to ask questions without making things uncomfortable. When Lapchew asked Sonia for water, it went to plan. She said she'd make tea, giving them time alone. Sutcliffe told the detectives he didn't have anything to do with sex workers. He passed through Bradford frequently to go to work, and the red light area was on his way. For the lead siding, he said he had taken Sonia to a nightclub, and to get to the club they had to pass through the red light area. But Sutcliffe denied ever passing through Manchester.

The detectives didn't have the times in which Sutcliffe passed through each area, so they couldn't ask more specific questions. And they couldn't confront him about being in Manchester, because confrontations were prohibited during these lines of questioning. They didn't want to break up marriages. That was an order from the boss. When Sonia returned, she alibied Sutcliffe for several dates that ripper murders had occurred. When asked about his blood group, Sutcliffe said he didn't know what he was, but he didn't mind providing a sample. He also provided a handwriting sample by giving them a letter he had written to Sonia. The detectives searched his car and garage, but found nothing. They spoke to Sutcliffe's boss, who described him as a model worker.

They learnt he had been to Sunderland for work, but not on the dates the ripper letters were sent. The vehicle that had been recorded through the red light areas was a sunbeam rapier. Sutcliffe had since sold that car and was now driving the Rover Saloon. The detectives tracked down the new owner of Sutcliffe's rapier, but again found nothing. This fifth interview with Sutcliffe took two hours. By the end of it, Latu was more suspicious of Sutcliffe than it was at the beginning. He said, I had bad feelings about the man.

He had too many uncanny links with what we knew, and the thing that struck me more than anything was the striking resemblance to the Marilyn Moore photo fit. Before leaving, Latu and the other detective debated about arresting Sutcliffe on suspicion. But in order to arrest him or even question him further, they needed express approval from Oldfield. Latu did a check on Sutcliffe and found out about his previous convictions for stealing tyres and being equipped for theft. But he didn't get specific details about the crimes, so Latu was never informed Sutcliffe was found in possession of a hammer when he was arrested for being equipped for theft. Latu completed a report regarding the suspicions he had about Sutcliffe.

It was dated the 2nd of August, 1979. He ended the report by saying, The reporting officers are not fully satisfied with this man. Latu took the report directly to Dick Holland, so he'd read it straight away. Instead, Holland left it in a tray with a whole heap of other paperwork. Latu insisted with Holland and told him, I'm not happy with this bloke, we have another look through it. He specifically mentioned the photo fit resemblance.

Holland's answer was, Anybody who mentions photo fits to me will draw uniform and do traffic for the rest of their service. Latu let it go. Holland marked the report in green ink with the word file, because Sutcliffe's handwriting didn't match the Ripper letters. Sutcliffe was interviewed for a sixth time only two months later, the 23rd of October, 1979. The index cards in the incident room were a complete mess. Only four index cards existed for Sutcliffe, relating to his previous five interviews.

One was missing. But on those four cards, two read Peter William Sutcliffe and two read William Peter Sutcliffe. Each one had a different date of birth. So it seemed like it was two different people. A few weeks earlier, an inspector had found an action report from what had been Sutcliffe's fourth interview. Sutcliffe's mother and his wife Sonia had provided him with alibis for the murders of Jean Jordan and Vera Millwood during this fourth interview. The inspector wasn't happy with the alibis and wanted another interview with Sutcliffe. So he ordered what was actually Sutcliffe's sixth interview.

The detectives who conducted this interview had the papers from his fourth and fifth interview, but no other information. Lucky's detailed report he had written two months earlier that was marked file had been lost. The cards from interviews four and five contained only bare basic information. When they knocked on the door, Sonia answered and said, Oh no, not again. She said Sutcliffe was out and they'd already been questioned three times before. The officers left and returned later that evening when Sutcliffe was home. The officers asked Sutcliffe to produce a handwriting sample.

Due to the poor record keeping, they didn't know he had already provided one. While one of them dictated Sutcliffe a paragraph to write, Sonia said, My husband is not the ripper. To which one of the officers replied, I think he is. Sutcliffe stopped writing, looked at the officer, then got back to writing again. When asked about sex workers, he denied he had anything to do with them. He said he stayed at home with his wife during the evenings because being a truck driver, he was often away. So when he wasn't working, he liked spending time with her.

If they ever went out at night, it was always together. When asked for alibis on different murder dates, Sutcliffe would either say he was with his wife or that he couldn't remember. Once more, the detectives considered him strange, but they didn't go as far as writing a detailed report like Lapchu. They looked at his handwriting sample, saw that it didn't match the ripper letters, noted his voice didn't match the ripper tape, so they completed the interview, filled out an index card, and filed it. It was only a few months later, December 79, when Ridgway narrowed down the list of 6,000 names to 241 names, in relation to who could have received the new £5 note as part of a payroll found at Gene Jordan's crime scene. Sutcliffe was on that list of 241 names.

Ridgway ordered detectives to do a search on all 241 men, to see if they had come up before in the ripper investigation, or if they had any other relevant information about them. Sutcliffe's name had of course come up before, he'd been interviewed six times, and important facts had come out in some of those interviews. He matched the photo fit of Marilyn Moore, his vehicle had been sighted numerous times cruising red light areas. But when detectives completed the search, 18 men came back as no trace, meaning they hadn't come up before in the investigation. Somehow Sutcliffe was on that list of 18 men. Sutcliffe was still interviewed about the note. In total he was interviewed on a further three separate occasions, these interviews occurred in January and February 1980.

In the first interview he was noted as strange, but nothing more. In the second interview detectives inspected his truck, but they found nothing. In the third interview, which was actually his ninth overall, detectives had managed to dig up some of that background info on Sutcliffe, and they were ordered to go and question him further about his vehicle sightings in the red light areas. But this time they wanted to question him about a Ford Corsair being sighted. These sightings had occurred earlier in the investigation. They were also ordered to get a proper alibi out of him for the murder of Josephine Whittaker. The detectives met Sutcliffe at work.

In relation to his vehicle being sighted in the red light areas, he said he was out with Sonja and another couple, but he couldn't remember the other couple's last names. Sonja backed up this story. Sutcliffe said that he had taken his Ford Corsair that was sighted in the red light area to a car wrecker. When detectives visited the wrecker, there was no record of that car. On the night of Josephine's murder, he said he'd been home with Sonja, which she again confirmed. When they got back to the incident room, the detectives said it was difficult to eliminate Sutcliffe and recommended to start afresh on him if another murder occurred.

The inspector, though, felt they'd gone as far as they could with the information, and on the 10th of March, 1980, he recommended Sutcliffe's interviews be filed with no further action. At 11.30pm on the 26th of June, 1980, Sutcliffe drove erratically in his Rover Saloon and passed two officers in Manningham. They chased him, but didn't actually stop him until he was already parked in his driveway. They arrested him for drunk driving and took him to Bradford Station. They ran a routine check on him and found he'd been interviewed and eliminated from the Ripper investigation. So they didn't question him any further. On the 25th of November, 1980, a man by the name of Trevor Birdsall wrote an anonymous letter to the police incident room.

It said, This man has had dealings with sex workers and always had a thing about them. Also, he is a long-distance truck driver, collecting engineering items. I'm quite sure if you check on dates, you might find something. His name and address is Peter Sutcliffe, Five Garden Lane, Shipley, Heaton, Bradford. The incident Trevor was referring to was a night on the 15th of August, 1975, when he went out drinking with Sutcliffe. After visiting several pubs, they passed through Booth Town, Halifax, and Sutcliffe suddenly stopped the car and told Trevor he was going to talk to someone. He returned 20 minutes later and said he'd been talking to a woman.

But that's all he said. He then kept quiet. Trevor found this odd, and the next day he read in the newspaper about Olive Smeltz attack in Booth Town. Trevor had also been out with Sutcliffe six years earlier when he beat a woman. However, she decided not to press charges against him. After sending the anonymous letter, Trevor's girlfriend told him he hadn't given the police enough information. So on the 26th of November, he went to Bradford Police Station and told officers about what happened the night of Olive Smeltz attack. The junior officer who saw him took notes, and these were then forwarded to the lead's incident room. They were so overrun with paperwork, it's not clear if these notes were ever looked at or acted upon.

With that history, we'll now go back to where we were at the start of the episode. The arrest for suspicion of theft with the stolen number plates in Sheffield, 2nd of January, 1981. The officers who had Sutcliffe at the police station in the interrogation room were not aware about any of these previous facts or dealings that Sutcliffe had with the Ripper investigation. But they had a feeling something was up with him. He had fake plates on his car. He looked eerily similar to the photo-fit of the Ripper they had displayed in the station. He was from Bradford, which by now that specialist team of detectives had made clear that's where they believed the Ripper resided. And they found a piece of red and blue nylon rope when they searched him. It was three feet long and had knots at the end and in the middle.

When questioned, Sutcliffe said he used it to repair cars. The officers looked at him confused. How did he use this piece of rope to repair a car? Sutcliffe couldn't answer. Sutcliffe seemed to be extremely nervous about his situation. He avoided a lot of questions and when they offered to call his wife to let her know where he was, he gave a false telephone number. One of the officers, Officer Ring, then took Sutcliffe out to his rover and searched it. Ring saw that there was a hammer missing from the toolbox. Sutcliffe denied there was ever a hammer in the toolbox.

Back inside the station there was a chart with information on the Yorkshire Ripper. A detective approached Sutcliffe and said, Have you been questioned by the Ripper Squad? Sutcliffe replied, Everybody has been questioned. They are always questioning and makes you sick. Sutcliffe was shifting around and glancing in different directions. He looked very uncomfortable. Officer Ring then said, If you are the Ripper, why don't you admit it?

All you have to do is admit it. Are you? Sutcliffe started breathing heavily but didn't reply. So Ring got closer to him. He placed both of his hands on Sutcliffe's shoulders and said, I think you are. At 1am Saturday the 3rd of January 81, Officer Ring called the incident room at Leeds and talked to a sergeant there. The sergeant checked Sutcliffe out and found some of the previous interview files. The sergeant said that apart from not having matching handwriting, there were some details that matched up with the Ripper on Sutcliffe's files,

even though he had already been eliminated from the investigation. At 7.40am two West Yorkshire officers took Sutcliffe for further questioning. They asked him routine questions about his life and then jumped to the reason why he was in Sheffield the previous night. Sutcliffe told them that after his drunk driving charge back in June the previous year, he was scared of losing his job as a truck driver because authorities would take his licence away and there was no point in trying to renew the insurance either. So he had the idea of stealing number plates from his scrapyard.

After he stole the plates and put them on his vehicle, he met three people who offered to pay him £10 to drop them off at Sheffield. Sutcliffe agreed to do it and while he was in Sheffield, a woman flagged him down. He thought she might need assistance of some sort. Instead she offered him business to which Sutcliffe explained, I was surprised. I thought about things and realised I had £10 burning a hole in my pocket and thought I might as well use it.

This girl then disappeared. So I drove on and saw another girl and stopped. She asked me if I wanted business. She got in the car and told me where to drive. I paid her £10. I didn't want sex. I just wanted to talk about my problems at home. I didn't want sex at all.

They then wanted to know if Sutcliffe had sexual problems with his wife, which he denied. They asked for an alibi for the night Teresa Sykes was attacked. He said he was at home with his wife. They took another handwriting sample and took a blood sample. Sutcliffe was blood group B, non-secretar. The letter writer was blood group B, but a secretar. By now, that specialist team of detectives that were hand selected and brought in to assist the investigation had declared the letters and taper hoax.

The detectives then found out that Sutcliffe's vehicle had been sighted in red light areas previously. They focused in on the sighting in Manchester. Sutcliffe had denied ever being in Manchester when he was first interviewed about that sighting. And he stuck to that story in this interview. But this time, the detectives could confront him about it as his wife wasn't around. Eventually Sutcliffe said his car had broken down in Bradford and he had to leave it for the night. So someone must have stolen his car, driven to Manchester and then returned it to the same spot the next day. The detective just stared at him and asked the obvious question.

How did someone steal your car if it was broken down? Sutcliffe had no answer. They then got to the day Jaclyn Hill was murdered. Sutcliffe again said that he was at home with his wife Sonja. The interview went until 10pm. The detective who led the questioning, Detective O'Boyle, planned to see Sonja the next day. He wanted to pressure her and see what he could come up with. Meanwhile, Officer Ring, who had arrested Sutcliffe at Sheffield the night before, was bothered by something.

Sutcliffe had said that he needed to go to the toilet before he was taken in. So Ring let him go. With everything that had come to light since, Ring wanted to go back and check out the area Sutcliffe had gone to the toilet. When he got back to that spot, he found a hammer and a knife. He radioed the lead's incident room and fuelled in Detective O'Boyle. Now Sutcliffe had some real questions to answer. The next morning, Sunday the 4th, O'Boyle went to see Sutcliffe in his cell. Sutcliffe had been on suicide watch all night. They didn't want to take any chances with him.

O'Boyle asked him how he'd slept and Sutcliffe said he hadn't. O'Boyle said neither at he or the other police because they'd been in Sheffield all night. O'Boyle let Sutcliffe know they'd found the hammer and the knife without coming out directly and saying it. O'Boyle then left to let that play on Sutcliffe's mind. At 10am that morning, Dick Holland went with another detective to search Sutcliffe's house in Bradford. When Sonja answered the door, Holland told her that Sutcliffe was being held for questioning and that she would have to come with them for questioning as well. Inside Sutcliffe's house, they found a set of knives in the kitchen that matched the one they found in Sheffield. They also found a piece of rope four feet long in the bedroom and a hacksaw.

Through the entire search, Sonja didn't seem surprised or even remotely curious about what was happening. At 12pm that day, the second interview took place with Sutcliffe. It was conducted by detectives Boyle and Smith. Boyle being different to the one who conducted the first interview, Detective O'Boyle. They started the interview with the same questions that Sutcliffe got asked in his first interview. Again, he said his reason for being in Sheffield was dropping off hitchhikers. Boyle told him that he was lying. The only reason he was there was to find a sex worker. And the reason why he changed his number plates was to hide his real identity. Then they had the following exchange.

Boyle, do you understand what I'm saying? I think you're in serious trouble. Sutcliffe, I think you've been leading up to it. Boyle, leading up to what? Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper? Boyle, what about him? Sutcliffe, well, it's me. Boyle asked Sutcliffe if he wanted a lawyer. Sutcliffe said, no, I don't need one. I just want to tell you what I've done. I'm glad it's all over.

I would have killed that girl in Sheffield if I hadn't been caught. But I'd like to tell my wife myself. I don't want her to hear it from anyone else. It's her I'm thinking about and my family. I'm not bothered about myself. Sutcliffe admitted to hiding the hammer and the knife in Sheffield. He said he was hoping he'd be released after the first lot of questioning so he could go back and pick them up. Sutcliffe confessed to the murders but strongly denied being Joan Harrison's killer in Preston 75. Boyle asked him if he knew all of his victims' names and Sutcliffe said he did. When asked if he kept press cuttings or something to help him remember, he said, no, they are all in my brain, reminding me of the beast I am.

Holland was staring at Sutcliffe through the two-way mirror of the interview room. He really couldn't believe this was the man they'd been searching for for so long. He looked normal. In his words, he looked like the sort of person you would meet on the way to church on a Sunday morning. But he did admit how astonishingly similar he looked to Marilyn Moore's photo fit. At 11pm Sutcliffe was allowed to see Sonja. They had the following conversation. Sonja, what on earth is going on, Peter? Sutcliffe, it's all those women. I've killed all those women. Sonja, what do you mean?

Sutcliffe, it's me. On the Yorkshire River. I've killed all those women. Sonja, what on earth did you do that for, Peter? Even a sparrow has a right to live. After that, she asked him if he had sex with any of his victims. He said he had only with one, but it meant nothing. The sex was just mechanical. Detectives went with Sutcliffe to his house in Bradford. Sutcliffe pointed out all of the clothes he wore on each attack. Sonja was there and said that she'd saved a piece of Christmas cake for Sutcliffe, insisting he couldn't be taken away before eating the piece of cake and drinking a glass of warm milk. Sutcliffe asked the detectives if that would be okay, and they said yes. Sutcliffe ate his cake and drank his milk while handcuffed to one of the detectives. During his interviews, Sutcliffe said his hatred for sex workers started because of Wilma McCann.

He picked her up hitchhiking and she asked him if he wanted to do business. Sutcliffe said he didn't know what she meant, so she started mocking him, saying, do I have to spell it out for you? When Sutcliffe realized what Wilma meant, he agreed. But then he said Wilma started mocking him and taunting him when he couldn't get aroused, so he decided to hit her in the head with a hammer. He said that when he realized what he had done, he knew he would be in serious trouble, so he stabbed her to make sure she wouldn't live to tell anybody. That's how he says his hatred for sex workers started. But it was only the next day when he changed his story. The next day he said his hatred started in 1974, when a sex worker stole 10 pounds from him. But his story changed again. He said no, actually that happened in 1969. Then it changed again, stating it had all started around 1965, when he had an accident and hit his head.

In relation to pulling up his victims clothes to expose their body, he said he did it, quote, so that when they're found, they will look as cheap as they are. He also said it satisfied a sexual revenge for him. Once he committed his first murder on Wilma McCann, he said he became completely unhinged and felt nothing but hatred for sex workers. His intention was to hunt down as many as he could and get rid of them. The more he killed, the more it became an obsession. Sutcliffe said he felt bad about the Jane McDonald murder because he had no idea she wasn't a sex worker. And it was this murder where he first felt like an inhuman beast. However, he soon realized he had the ability to easily detach himself from the murders and talk openly about the ripper to other people. Joining them in conversations about the crimes and speculating who was responsible.

He recounted how he had come face to face with Maureen Long only a few weeks prior to his arrest. He was at a shopping center with Sonia when they crossed paths. He recognized her straight away, but Maureen didn't recognize him. His intention was to kill Maureen when he attacked her and he was surprised to learn she had survived. He became worried she would be able to identify him, but when he heard she was suffering memory loss, he felt safe. In relation to Jean Jordan's murder, he confirmed the police theory was right. After he had killed her, he realized he had left the £5 note. So he returned and when he couldn't find it, he became frustrated and tried to soar off her head so as to make the killing look different. He confirmed details about the Marilyn Moore attack, saying he pretended to talk to someone on the street before getting in the car with her and telling her his name was Dave.

He intended to kill her, however he noticed there were people walking about 40 meters away when the attack started. So he became scared and drove off. With the murder of Yvonne Pearson, Sutcliffe said he hit her with a hammer and dragged her to a spot about 20 meters away from his car. Then suddenly another car turned up and parked next to his car. He had to hide with Yvonne's body until the car left. There was a man and a woman inside the car. Yvonne's body wasn't found until two months later. If she had been found sooner, maybe the couple would have come forward remembering the car they parked next to that night.

Sutcliffe said he was in tears after this murder as he hadn't planned to kill anyone that night. After murdering Vera Millwood, Sutcliffe said the killings became more random and indiscriminate. He now had the urge to kill any woman. He just happened to drive past Josephine Whitaker when she was walking home from her grandparents. He approached her and started talking to her, telling her she should be careful about walking alone as you never know who you can trust. The Barbara Leach and Jacqueline Hill murders were the same. He just happened to drive past them and had the urge to kill. When he was questioned about Marguerite Wall's murder, he initially said,

No, that wasn't me. You have a mystery on your hands with that one. However, on further questioning, he admitted it. He said he was in a rage and just happened to see Marguerite walking home. He didn't have a knife with him though, so he strangled her with a piece of rope. He also admitted to strangling Upadjay Bandara with a piece of rope, as he didn't have any other tools with him at the time. He said he was overcome with remorse during this attack, so he said sorry and left. But it's more likely the headlights of the approaching police patrol car is what scared Sutcliffe off.

He also admitted to the Teresa Sykes attack, saying he followed her down a path and attacked her, but then somebody started yelling at him so he ran off. After these confessions, Sutcliffe had to be immediately taken to his first court hearing. However, he hadn't been properly searched or had his clothes removed and given their usual prisoner clothes. When they did this, they found he had holes inside his coat so that he could reach for the weapons through the pockets without being noticed. Also, he wasn't wearing underwear. He was wearing a sweater, as a makeshift sort of underwear. The arms of the sweater were on Sutcliffe's legs, and due to the way it was placed, it meant his genitalia was exposed. Detectives asked him what he was doing. Sutcliffe said they were leg warmers.

What they found, though, was that this meant his knees were padded, so it made it easier to put pressure on his victims. It also meant he could easily masturbate during the attacks. He is being questioned in relation to the Yorkshire Ripper murders. It is anticipated that he will appear before the court in Dewsbury tomorrow. Can you tell us whether he has a Geordie accent? I cannot tell you that because I've not heard him speak. I can tell you that we are absolutely delighted with developments at this stage. Absolutely delighted. Can you all smile?

Really delighted. You're delighted as well. For Sutcliffe's first court hearing, there were 1,500 people outside waiting for him. They were yelling and shouting, hang the bastard, hang him, die. The crowd was in a frenzy and Sutcliffe was terrified he was going to be killed. They managed to get him inside the court safely where he was charged with murder and then taken to prison in Leight. On the 29th of April 1981, Sutcliffe had his first trial in court number one at the Old Bailey Court in London. All the weapons that were found both in his possession and in his house were on display.

There were eight hammers, a hacksaw, a long kitchen knife, eight screwdrivers, a knife with a wooden handle and a short rope. Peter was charged with 13 counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder. He pleaded guilty but on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He was claiming he wasn't responsible for his actions. He had been seen by three psychiatrists before this court appearance and he told them that he heard voices. And the reason why he killed was because God asked him to. He claimed he had to take sex workers off the streets because a higher power had ordered it. The psychiatrists believed him.

One thought Sutcliffe had been a paranoid schizophrenic since he was about 20. At the trial, the prosecution was ready to accept Sutcliffe's plea, but the judge stepped in. He said, The matter that travels me is not the medical opinions because there is a consensus. But it seems to me that all these opinions, and I'll say this without criticism, all these opinions are based simply on what this defendant has told the doctors, nothing more. Moreover, what he has told the doctors conflicts substantially with what he told the police on the morning of his arrest. In statements to the police, he expressed the desire to kill all women.

The judge's conclusion was to have a second trial, this time with a jury. The second trial started on the 5th of May 1981. Sutcliffe's plea didn't change, and once again he was backed up by the psychiatrist who had seen him. On the 22nd of May 1981, the jury made their decision. They deliberated for seven hours and returned with a majority verdict, ten votes to two. Guilty. They didn't accept his diminished responsibility defense. The judge gave Sutcliffe 20 life sentences and recommended a period of 30 years before he could be given parole.

But on that he said, That is a long period, an unusually long period. But I believe you are an unusually dangerous man. I express my hope that when I have said life imprisonment, it will mean precisely that. In January the following year, a report about the handling of the Yorkshire Ripper investigation was completed. It was called the Byford Report. It was completed by Lawrence Byford, the man who was consulted in 1980 after Margaret Thatcher threatened to take over the investigation and solve it herself. He put into place the group of five handpicked detectives from around the country that went to Leeds to try and help crack the case.

The idea of the report was to be honest and critical, so the mistakes made on the Yorkshire Ripper case wouldn't be repeated. The problem was that so many mistakes had been made that if all were revealed, the report would sink the West Yorkshire Police. So once the report was complete, it was edited before being sent anywhere. The complete report totaled 156 pages, but it was reduced to far less, only about 1200 words. Throughout the years, very few people have read the entire report. In March 1984, Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital. Three psychiatrists had seen him again and recommended the move. They believed Sutcliffe's condition had deteriorated and he now suffered hallucinations.

The hallucinations were him being revisited by his victims and him smelling their perfume. The public were far from impressed with this transfer and Sutcliffe didn't start taking medication for schizophrenia until 1993, nine years after the move. Sutcliffe was continually questioned over the years to see if they could link any more attacks to him. It's believed Sutcliffe could be responsible for as many as 13 other attacks for which he has not yet been charged. Recent media reports state police are now currently considering whether to add further charges. They have obtained fresh DNA evidence and have taken new victim statements, leading people to believe further charges could be laid soon. One of the victims of these other attacks linked to Sutcliffe is Tracy Brown. On the 27th of August 1975, 14-year-old Tracy was walking home from a friend's house near Bradford.

A man started talking to Tracy along the way and she thought he probably just lived close by and didn't consider him a threat. When they got to the entrance of Tracy's family farm, the man stayed behind her. Tracy kept going a few steps towards her house and was about to turn around to thank the man for keeping her company during the walk. But before she could, she was knocked down by hard blows to the head. A car with its headlights on approached and scared her attacker off. When she entered her house, her mother saw her and at first believed she'd had red paint thrown over her. Then she saw the hole in Tracy's head and quickly rushed her to hospital. She needed neurosurgery and bone had to be removed from her brain.

Two years later, Marilyn Moore was attacked and a photo fit was completed based on the description that she gave of her attacker. That photo fit was widely circulated and when Tracy saw it, she recognized the man as being the same one who had attacked her. She went to the police to report it. The response from the officer who saw her that day was, we're all having fun and games today, aren't we? Tracy didn't think she'd be taken seriously after that. Ian Rooney was attacked in the outskirts of Leeds in 1979. She was hit in the head with a hammer from behind. She gave a description of her attacker, which matched Sutcliffe. And she said her attacker was driving a dark sunbeam rapier, which Sutcliffe drove at the time. But her attack was never linked as her wounds were not caused by the same type of hammer used in the other river attacks.

Sutcliffe has since actually admitted to the attacks on Ian Rooney and Tracy Brion, but nothing has been done. He hasn't been charged because at the time the reasoning was that it wouldn't be in the public's interest to charge him again and to have another trial. Some other attacks believed to be committed by Sutcliffe that he has never been charged with are that of Moe Lee. She was attacked in 1980 by a man with a hammer and then she was stabbed with a screwdriver. Somehow no link was made to the other river attacks at the time, despite bearing all of the same hallmarks. The attack happened in Leeds just before the murder of Jaclyn Hill. Gloria Wood was attacked in November 1974 in Bradford by a man with a hammer. She was hit in the head and required hospitalization.

Yvonne Misalwich was attacked by a man with a hammer in 79. She was also hit in the head and suffered a severe head injury. The description she gave of her attacker matched Sutcliffe. Her attack was never linked to the other river attacks as it was considered at the time as being the work of a copycat. One journalist believes these attacks weren't linked previously because the police were already so overwhelmed. There was pressure from the forces managers to leave some of the attacks out of the official count, as it would only add to the mounting pressure of the case. Some believe the number could be closer to 23 attacks and murders that Sutcliffe was responsible for but never charged with. The police are currently using new technology to test DNA samples from old police exhibits. The writer of the letters and sender of the tape known as the Yorkshire Ripper Hoaxer wasn't caught until the 18th of October 2005.

His name was John Humble, a DNA match finally brought him undone. The night he made the call to the police to tell them the tape was a fake, he tried to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. He was charged with four counts of perverting the course of justice. His trial was held on the 21st of March 2006. He was sentenced to eight years in prison. Barbara Leage's mother blamed him for her daughter getting killed. When asked why he did it, he said, I don't know why I done it. I must have been daft. I regret it, like especially them lasses who've died. The coppers were useless. I thought I was doing them a favour in catching him because it intensified the hunt then, didn't it? In 2010, a DNA match showed who killed Joan Harrison in Preston 75. His name was Christopher Smith.

He had died of cancer two years earlier, but before he died he left a note. To whomever it concerns, I would like to put the record straight. I can't go on with the guilt. I have lived with it for over 20 years. I am truly sorry for all the pain I have caused to anyone. Please believe me when I say I am sorry. That same year, Sutcliffe started the campaign to be given parole. In March 2010, he had a preliminary court hearing where he asked the judge to give him a definite number of years before he could be released. The judge made a ruling on July 16 that year. Sutcliffe would never be released. Sutcliffe's lawyers and doctors commenced an appeal. They said his conviction wasn't fair since he shouldn't have been considered responsible for his actions.

The court of appeal gave a final answer on the 14th of January 2011. Sutcliffe's papers were marked, never to be released. On the 24th of August this year, Sutcliffe was transferred out of a Broadmoor psychiatric hospital and back to prison. Sutcliffe had spent 32 years in the psychiatric hospital. He stay there has been heavily criticised with many believing it had been far too cushy. A tribunal ruled that he no longer required mental health treatment and he was ordered to Franklin to prison. Before heading to prison, he called his brother and said he was scared for his life. He had constantly received death threats over the years and he was savagely attacked during his first prison stint and he had been attacked in hospital as well. His brother told him that he thought he should have been executed anyway. Last month, it was reported that Sutcliffe, who was a Jehovah's Witness, was considering converting to Islam in order to try and get protection in prison.

Franklin Prison is known as one of the UK's toughest prisons and Sutcliffe was terrified of being attacked. In 2012, a convicted child killer was murdered and disembowelled by fellow inmates at Franklin Prison. Sutcliffe fears similar treatment. According to the most recent media reports, Sutcliffe has taken steps to make the conversion but it's not yet complete. Over the years, Sutcliffe has received a large quantity of letters from women, some with provocative pitches. It's believed that the aim of many of these letters is to get a response from Sutcliffe, which then sell online for high prices. In a recent letter, Sutcliffe said the media has painted a false picture of him and he's really a kind and gentle person. Tracy Breon, who Sutcliffe attacked on the 27th of August 1975, had to have constant brain scans and required drugs to prevent seizures. Afterwards, she had flashbacks and insisted the lights couldn't be switched off at night or the door on her bedroom closed or her curtains drawn.

She had panic attacks and broke into cold sweats for a long time after. Marcella Claxton, who Sutcliffe attacked on the 9th of May 1976, not only lost the child she was pregnant with, but also suffered from blackouts and severe headaches. She said, it is like my brain is bursting and hitting the inside of my head, sometimes all day. Marine Long, who Sutcliffe attacked on the 10th of July 1977, suffered from fits as a result of her head injuries and had to remain as an outpatient for years. She suffers from depression and can't watch anything on television that involves violence. Teresa Sykes, who Sutcliffe attacked on the 5th of November 1980, broke up with her boyfriend after the attack. She was convinced her attacker was going to come back for her. She had constant nightmares and barricaded the door of her room.

She had to sleep with a knife under her pillow. Olive Smelt, who Sutcliffe attacked on the 15th of August 1975, became afraid of all men and she almost lost her marriage. She experienced bouts of anger, depression and frustration. She said, sometimes I get so depressed, I almost think it would have been better if he had finished me. Olive passed away in 2011. The Yorkshire Ripper investigation has been one of the largest and most expensive investigations there has ever been. Around 250,000 people were spoken to. 28,687 statements were taken.

The failure to cross-reference vital pieces of information, the misfiling of vital information on index cards. West Yorkshire's belief that the ripper letters and tape were genuine, ignoring the photo fit, and many other missteps led to Sutcliffe being interviewed and eliminated nine times during the investigation. Sutcliffe himself has said that it got to the point where he thought he must have been invisible. He believed he was never going to be caught. .