Yorkshire Ripper
Contents
The Yorkshire Ripper
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Overview
Peter Sutcliffe was born at Shipley, West Yorkshire, on 2nd June 1946.
During the period in which his admitted crimes were committed he was employed as a tyre fitter, and subsequently, following qualification as a heavy goods vehicle driver, as a lorry driver for the Bradford engineering and transport company, T. & W.H. Clark (Holdings) Ltd.
On the 10th April 1974 he married Sonia Szurma.
Initially Sutcliffe lived in Clayton with Sonia's parents. From September 1977, they moved to a detached house which he bought in the Heaton district of Bradford.
Sonia Sutcliffe
24/05/1989 Yorkshire Ripper's wife Sonia Sutcliffe wins damages from Private Eye
Victims of the Yorkshire Ripper
Anna Rogulskyj
Anna Rogulskyj was attacked by the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, in Keighley on the 5th July 1975. Sutcliffe attacked his victim with a hammer in an alleyway in Keighley and left her lying on the ground suffering from very severe head injuries. Sutcliffe also inflicted a number of superficial slash wounds to the body. The crime was investigated by Detective Superintendent Perry of West Yorkshire’s Western Crime Area and an incident room was established in the Keighley Division for the purpose of the inquiry. The crime was not linked with any others, neither was it linked with the Ripper series until June 1978 when the West Yorkshire Police issued a “Special Notice” to all police forces about the murders which had, by then, been committed.
Olive Smelt
On the 15th August 1975, just over a month after the Rogulskyj incident, Sutcliffe, after leaving his friend Trevor Birdsall in his car, attacked Olive Smelt with a hammer in Boothtown, Halifax. Sutcliffe inflicted serious head injuries. Using a knife he also inflicted two slash wounds to her back after first disarranging her clothing. Although the nature of the crime was very similar to the attempted murder of Anna Rogulskyj it was not specifically linked with it in police crime circulations, neither was it linked with the Ripper series until June 1978.
Read more about Olive Smelt here
Wilma McCann
On 30th October 1975 Peter Sutcliffe committed his first known murder. Sutcliffe murdered Wilma McCann, a known prostitute, on the Prince Philip playing fields in Leeds.
In a pattern which was to become all too familiar, Peter Sutcliffe hit Wilma McCann on the head with a hammer. At least one of the blows penetrated the full thickness of the skull.
On this occasion, however, unlike the tentative slashings of the bodies of Anna Rogulskyj and Olive Smelt, Wilma McCann was stabbed once in the neck and 14 times in the chest and abdomen.
Read more about Wilma McCann here
Emily Jackson
The Yorkshire ripper struck again on 20th January 1976 with the brutal murder of Emily Jackson, a known prostitute. Peter Sutcliffe brutally murdered Emily in a factory yard in Leeds.
Once again Sutcliffe had used a hammer to inflict violent blows to Emily. Sutcliffe disarranged her clothing to expose her torso and inflicted multiple stab wounds to her lower neck, upper chest and lower abdomen. Sutcliffe also inflicted wounds to Emily's back using a cross shaped instrument thought to be a “Philips” screwdriver.
Read more about Emily Jackson here
Marcella Claxton
On the 9th May 1976 Peter Sutcliffe attacked Marcella Claxton in the Roundhay area of Leeds.
Marcella Claxton sustained severe head injuries as a result of hammer blows.
Read more about Marcella Claxton here
Irene Richardson
Irene Richardson, who was believed to be an active prostitute, was murdered on a playing field in Roundhay, Leeds, by Peter Sutcliffe on the 5th February 1977.
She had been struck down by three hammer blows after which her body had been exposed and slashed with a knife. The slash injuries to her abdomen were particularly severe. One apparently coincidental similarity between this crime and the murder of Joan Harrison in Preston was the way in which the dead woman’s boots had been neatly placed over her thighs.
Read more about Irene Richardson here
Police
Detective Superintendent Perry
Detective Superintendent Perry was assigned to investigate the brutal attack of Anna Rogulskyj
Detective Superintendent Holland
Detective Superintendent Holland established an incident room at Halifax in order to investigate the brutal attack of Olive Smelt on the 15th August 1975,
Detective Chief Superintendent Hoban
Detective Chief Superintendent Hoban, of West Yorkshire’s Eastern Crime Area, was assigned to investigate the brutal murder of Wilma McCann.
Police Stations
Millgarth Police Station, Leeds
Sir Lawrence Byford
Sir Lawrence Byford report into the police handling of the Yorkshire Ripper case.
Persons of Interest
Trevor Birdsall
Trevor Birdsall was a friend of Peter Sutcliffe and was left in a car in Boothtown, Halifax, when Sutcliffe left in order to carry out a brutal attack on Olive Smelt.
Cars known to be owned by Peter Sutcliffe
Ford Capri - EUA 831K
EUA 831K - At the time of his marriage to Sonia Szurma Peter Sutcliffe owned a lime green Ford Capri with the registered number EUA 831K.
At the end of April / beginning of May 1976 Peter Sutcliffe disposed of his Ford Capri.
Ford Corsair - KWT 721D
KWT 721D - During May 1976 Sutcliffe acquired a white Ford Corsair saloon registered number KWT 721D.
