The British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe was found guilty of murdering at least 13 women, and with his targets including sex workers, the press labelled him ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’. As Netflix’s true-crime documentary section is ever-growing in popularity, the streaming service has now released a show detailing the events of Sutcliffe (in case you hadn’t already seen it).
Here are some unseen images from the case of The Yorkshire Ripper (some images are of a sensitive nature).
Peter Sutcliffe Was Born in 1946
On 2nd June, 1946, the serial killer was born in Bingley, Yorkshire. Although the full name he is notorious with is Peter William Sutcliffe, he was also known as Peter William Coonan. Dubbed The Yorkshire Ripper, Sutcliffe was found guilty of murdering 13 women.
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Image Source/The Herald
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But his crimes were even worse than that. He had also attempted to murder several others in the course of 5 years before 1980. Although his tasteless nickname states Yorkshire, Sutcliffe actually also committed murders in Manchester (though the majority were in Yorkshire).
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Peter Sutcliffe Led a Seemingly Normal Life
The Ripper actually managed to get happily married and pose in his best suit on what should have been a special occasion in anyone else’s life. But beneath the smile and smart suit lay Sutcliffe’s terrifying and dark secret.
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Image Source/iNews
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Sutcliffe, a former grave digger and seemingly hard worker, soon gave police the realisation that they were on the hunt for a serial killer. Sutcliffe gave the police a run for their money during a manhunt where clues were often missed, and Sutcliffe himself evaded capture for a long time.
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Sonia Sutcliffe: The Ripper’s Wife
Another victim of Sutcliffe in an entirely different fashion, Sonia was none the wiser to her husband’s true face. She would have fallen in love and married this man, intending to spend the rest of their lives together without knowing the truth of who he really was.
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Image Source/Daily Mail
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However, it seems that Sonia wasn’t what she initially appeared to be on that wedding day. For when she eventually found out the truth regarding Sutcliffe, following his guilty murder charge in 1981, she remained married to him, and continued to live in their family home. Sutcliffe was 28 years old on their wedding day, and Sonia was 24 years old.
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The Sutcliffe Family Home
Peter and Sonia’s marital home was a detached house in Heaton, Bradford in West Yorkshire. They moved into the house in September 1977. Sutcliffe had already committed his first murders by this point, and he would commit his sixth within a week of moving into the new home.
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Image Source/Huddersfield Examiner
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Sonia stood by her husband even after he confessed, and she didn’t divorce him until 1994 – 13 years after he was found guilty. Sonia remained in their marital home even after discovering everything her husband had done, and was even still living in it in recent years at the age of 70.
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In 2021, Sonia Still Hasn’t Sold The Home She Shared With Sutcliffe
It seems Sonia isn’t willing to part with the house, and hasn’t ever put it on the market. Despite the house’s links to Sutcliffe’s killings, and a home he resided during the height of his murders, Sonia is adamant that the property is still a place to call home.
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Image Source/The Mirror
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This photo shows the pair posing for the camera together in 1980, a seemingly happy couple. They met in 1966, in Bradford’s red light district, at a pub disco. A year later, the pair were engaged. The marital house in Bradford appears to still be in both their names, too.
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Peter Sutcliffe Had a Steady Job As A Truck Driver
In 1976, Sutcliffe began work as a lorry drive for Clark Transport – despite having been previously arrested for stealing second-hand car tyres from his old place of work. Sutcliffe had plead guilty to this offence and been fined.
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Image Source/North Yorks Enquirer
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However, that didn’t stop Sutcliffe from finding further employment as a lorry driver. His work in this role allowed him to drive all over the country, make overnight stops, and sleep in his lorry when needed. While many of Sutcliffe’s crimes were committed through use of his personal car, the fact that he freely had access to a large lorry – driving alone – should have been a cause for concern.
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Sutcliffe Never Showed Any Signs of Violence During His Work As A Lorry Driver
Like most serial killers, Sutcliffe wasn’t suspected by those around him, and appeared to put on a respectable face at his job. Others would describe him as somewhat of a loner, but a hard-worker who apparently never showed any signs of violence.
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Image Source/The Sun
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With freedom to roam alone during night hours using his lorry – a vehicle which gave him an excuse to be on the road late at night – there’s no doubt that Sutcliffe could have taken advantage of this and lured victims into his lorry and make use of the space inside to commit violent acts.
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Sutcliffe’s First Attack: Anna Rogulski
Barely a year after his wedding, Sutcliffe decided to begin attacking innocent women. In an attack that was undoubtedly supposed to kill Anna Rogulski, Sutcliffe hit her over the head with a hammer and cut open her stomach.
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Image Source/Yorkshire Evening Post
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Miraculously, Rogulski managed to survive the attack, which took place in 1975. She was treated with extensive surgery which fortunately saved her life. The surgery was performed at Leeds General Infirmary, and included Anna having to have a steel plate fitted to her skull.
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The Attack Took Place In An Alleyway in Keighley
Sutcliffe committed his attack on Anna within an alleyway off Alice Street in Keighley, pictured below. He left her for dead in a doorway, but at around 2 in the morning, a passerby moving through the alley found Anna and ensured she got help.
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Image Source/Execulink.com
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She was said to be found unconscious, face upwards, in a pool of blood. The operation to save her life took around 12 hours, and included removing bone from her brain. It wasn’t certain whether she would recover, but fortunately Anna did.
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Sutcliffe’s First Kill: Wilma McCann
Wilma McCann, not his first victim but the first woman to have been killed by Sutcliffe, was a 28-year-old mother of four. McCann was killed close to her home in Leeds, on the Prince Philip Playing Fields (pictured below).
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Image Source/The Yorkshire Post
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In this photo, police search for her body in 1975. She was attacked in the early hours of the morning by Sutcliffe. Her body was discovered by a milkman and his son, who at first didn’t realise it was the body of a young woman. McCann had been struck in the head several times by a hammer.
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Sutcliffe Then Killed Emily Jackson In 1976
Sutcliffe also attacked Emily Jackson with a hammer. The 42-year-old mother and wife was driven by Sutcliffe to an area of derelict land, where he planned to commit the attack. Sutcliffe attacked her under the guise of looking under his car bonnet when she bent to help.
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Image Source/The Mirror
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After attacking her with a hammer, Sutcliffe then took a screwdriver to stab her multiple times. He left her body covered by a coat, which was later found by a workman taking a shortcut through the derelict area of land. Due to the similarities of the injuries, police then linked this murder with that of McCann’s.
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Irene Richardson Would Be Sutcliffe’s Third Victim
On the night of Richardson’s death, Sutcliffe was patrolling the streets, looking for his next victim. Richardson got into his car as he pulled over, and he drove them to Soldiers Field. Once in the field, Sutcliffe attacked her over the head with his hammer.
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Image Source/Weird Island
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He then proceeded to stab her with a Stanley knife he had also taken with him. In what was seen as a more calculated move, Sutcliffe then covered the bottom half of her body with her coat, which is how police would find her. She was later found by a passing jogger, who called the police.
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The Police Find Her Body
Called to Soldiers Field, the police began their investigation. And it turned out that Sutcliffe had left behind an important clue. Due to driving his car onto the grass of the field, he had left behind tyre marks which could be used to identify the vehicle.
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Image Source/John Halley
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Unfortunately, this didn’t make it very easy for the police, who would have to check around 100,000 vehicles which matched the tyre tracks, a feat which may have been impossible if Sutcliffe changed his tyres immediately after the attack. In a later confession, Sutcliffe admits that he didn’t even remember which car he had been driving at the time.
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Three Detectives Leave The Scene After Her Body Is Discovered
Irene Richardson’s body would have made for a difficult discovery by police, due to the severity of the attack, including knife wounds in her neck and throat. She also suffered stab wounds to her stomach.
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Image Source/Yorkshire Post
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Sutcliffe had also draped Irene’s boots on to her legs before fleeing the scene after hitting her three times on the head with his hammer. At the time of Richardson’s murder, Sutcliffe was living with his wife at their Heaton home, and it was to this home that he returned following the murder.
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Patricia Atkinson Was Killed In 1977
Atkinson’s was Sutcliffe’s first Bradford victim. She lived in a small block of flats (pictured below), inside of which the murder would take place. Sutcliffe noticed Atkinson on the street, where he picked her up and drove her back to her flat.
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Image Source/Execulink.com
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Sutcliffe collected his murder weapon – his hammer – from his car before following her inside, where he hit her four times on the head with it. He then proceeded to attack her further with the hammer and a knife whilst she was lying on the bed, and covered her body with a sheet before leaving the flat.
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The Jayne MacDonald Murder
Jayne MacDonald was only 16 years old when she was killed by Sutcliffe. She had only recently left high school, and worked as a shop assistant in Leeds. It’s understood that Sutcliffe believed her to be a prostitute – even though she wasn’t – after watching her walking through the street late at night.
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Image Source/Cosmopolitan
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He attacked Jayne in the street with his hammer, and dragged her body to a nearby playground. He then proceeded to attack her in the same way as his other victims: using his hammer and a knife. After 9am the next morning, her body was discovered by children making their way to the playground.
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Jayne’s High School
Not long before the murder, Jayne MacDonald had attended Allerton High School in Leeds, shown below. It was the murder of the young schoolgirl that finally brought national attention to the case, and also brought a strange remorse in the killer himself.
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Image Source/Leodis
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Sutcliffe later admitted that he felt regret over the fact that she hadn’t been a prostitute – as he had originally presumed – and it was perhaps this that made him realise what a monster he had become. During his confession, he even admitted that he was able to discuss the Ripper case in conversation, detaching himself from his own identity.
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The Police Put Out A Plea For Help
With national attention now on the case, the police realised they were looking for a serial killer following the murder of Jayne MacDonald. They also began to use his infamous nickname, “The Ripper”, in their posters and pleas for assistance with the case.
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Image Source/BBC
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The police received a high number of complaints and a lot of criticism for how they handled the case. The case of Sutcliffe was on a huge scale, which meant a lot of pressure during a time before computers. All information had to be stored on paper and index cards. Sutcliffe slipped through the net a high number of times during the entire investigation.
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Sutcliffe Claimed To Hear Voices From The Grave
During his time as a gravedigger – before working as a truck driver – Sutcliffe claimed that he actually heard voices from the grave, telling him to kill. Not only that, but he alleges that the voices instructed him to kill sex workers specifically.
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Image Source/True Crime England
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Pictured is the grave which Sutcliffe claims was the one he could hear a voice issuing from. The grave was of a Polish man, and Sutcliffe reported that he believed to be speaking to the voice of Jesus. He believed that he had been chosen specifically to hear the word of God.
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Jean Jordan: The Ripper’s First Victim Outside Yorkshire
In his first move outside of his usual territory, Sutcliffe murdered young mother Jean Jordan in Manchester in 1977. The pair drove to an allotment area after Sutcliffe invited Jean into his car. Once out of the car, Sutcliffe proceeded to his Jordan over the head several times with his hammer.
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Image Source/The Sun
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Sutcliffe was then forced to drag her body into some bushes to hide it, as the allotment area began to attract the attention of other parked cars. Fearing he would be caught, Sutcliffe then fled in his car. This was the first time Sutcliffe had left incriminating evidence at the scene: a £5 note he had used to pay Jordan, which could be traced back to him.
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The Murder of Yvonne Pearson
Pearson’s body wasn’t found until around two months after her murder. After Pearson had gotten into Sutcliffe’s car, he drove them to Drummond’s Mill (the murder site pictured below). Sutcliffe knew of the mill because his own father worked there.
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Image Source/The Irish Sun
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Once out of the car, Sutcliffe used a heavy hammer to hit her over the head. Suddenly interrupted by another vehicle, Sutcliffe pulled Pearson’s body behind a dumped sofa out of sight. He hid her body with soil and dirt and used the sofa to deposit on top of his makeshift grave site.
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Helen Rytka Murder
Only 10 days later, Sutcliffe decided to murder 18 year old Helen Rytka. The murder took place in Huddersfield. After picking her up, Sutcliffe drove Rytka to a nearby timber yard. He proceeded to hit her several times with a hammer and then stab her using a knife from his own kitchen.
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Image Source/John Halley
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Despite there being two taxi drivers parked nearby, neither of them saw what Sutcliffe was doing. He then hid Helen’s body behind a stack of wood in the yard. The above photo shows police searching the timber yard for evidence.
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Yorkshire Ripper Hoax: Wearside Jack
Before Sutcliffe was eventually caught, a hoaxer by the name of John Samuel Humble – nicknamed Wearside Jack – pretended to be the Ripper through an audio recording and several letters. Wearside Jack is shown in the below photo.
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Image Source/BBC
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His letters included taunts to the police for not having caught the killer yet. The hoax resulted in the police being distracted from the correct area of investigation in which Sutcliffe was operating. Humble was later sentenced to eight years in prison for perverting the course of justice. He died in July 2019.
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Police At First Discounted Sutcliffe Because Of His Accent
Due to the hoax, during which Humble used a Wearside accent, police quickly discounted Sutcliffe as a suspect because he didn’t have a Geordie accent. This led to Sutcliffe being free to commit three more murders while being free from suspicion.
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Image Source/Daily Record
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The police could only later identify Wearside Jack’s correspondence as a hoax following Sutcliffe’s official confession. The police were heavily criticised for missing the hoax, which included an audio cassette tape sent to the Assistant Chief Constable. Humble also sent a hoax letter to the Daily Mirror.
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Josephine Whitaker Murder
Due to the police’s increasing presence in known ‘red light districts’, Sutcliffe had begun travelling further afield for his victims. This included 19-year-old Josephine Whitaker, who was attacked and murdered in Halifax.
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Image Source/Twitter
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After visiting her grandparents, Josephine took a late-night walk home, taking a route across Savile Park. Sutcliffe caught up to Josephine and walked with her, making conversation, until she explained she wanted to take a short cut across the field. Once away from the road, Sutcliffe attacked with a hammer and screwdriver.
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Her Body Was Mistaken For A Bundle Of Rags
More than one person reported seeing what they believed to be a strange bundle of rags lying in the field, and one of these witnesses included a bus driver who was driving along the road close by. At 6.30am, a woman approached the bundle after spotting a woman’s shoe, only to find Whitaker’s body.
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Image Source/Execulink.com
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When the police arrived, the manner of her murder, including the stab wounds, made it clear that she was another victim of the Yorkshire Ripper. The police managed to find evidence of boot prints on the grass close to the body. Despite Whitaker’s initial innocent conversation, Sutcliffe apparently heard a voice telling him that she was lying.
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Barbara Leach: Murdered In 1979
Leach was a 20-year-old university student who would become another of Sutcliffe’s victims. After deciding to go for a walk late at night, Sutcliffe caught up with her, and as she walked past his car, he attacked her from behind with a hammer.
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Image Source/Execulink.com
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He dragged her into a back alley, to the side of the house shown above, and covered her body with a piece of carpet and stones to weigh it down. Sutcliffe had attacked Leach with a screwdriver as well as a hammer. After Barbara failed to return home late that night, her roommates became concerned and informed the police.
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Police Search The Area For The Missing Barbara
Following the concerned call from Barbara’s roommates, the police conducted a search of the area the following day. Leach’s body was then discovered in Back Ash Grove (pictured), where Sutcliffe had hidden it.
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Image Source/Daily Mail
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The wounds on Barbara’s body were enough to tell police that she was another victim of the Yorkshire Ripper. The alley where Leach’s body was found was only 200 yards from where she had separated from her friends that night to walk alone. Sutcliffe later threw away the large screwdriver he had used for the attack.
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The Murder of Marguerite Walls
Sutcliffe’s next victim would be 47-year-old Walls, who Sutcliffe spotted whilst driving through Farsley, Walls’ place of work and home. She had been walking home after her late shift had ended. He managed to overtake her before attacking her with a hammer in a rage.
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Image Source/West Leeds Dispatch
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Following the attack, Sutcliffe dragged her body into a high-walled garden and proceeded to cover it with shrubbery, leaves and grass. Shown here, police attend the area where her body was later found by two gardeners. However, due to the fact that Sutcliffe this time used rope to strangle her, the police didn’t suspect it to be the work of the Yorkshire Ripper.
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Sutcliffe’s Final Known Victim: Jacqueline Hill
In 1980, Sutcliffe committed his final known murder by killing student Jacqueline Hill. Sutcliffe had been parked outside the Arndale Shopping Centre, which Hill passed on a walk from a bus stop to her halls of residence. He decided to follow her.
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Image Source/The Times
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As shown in the photo, the police combed the area over a wall close to the car park by the shopping centre. It was over this wall that a passerby had spotted Hill’s body, which had been abandoned there by Sutcliffe following the attack. Hill’s handbag had also been found at the place Hill had first been attacked by Sutcliffe.
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Sutcliffe Used His Own Vehicle To Commit His Crimes
Sutcliffe made use of a stolen vehicle to drive the streets, lure women and commit violence and murder. To evade capture, Sutcliffe removed the licence plate from this vehicle after every kill, hoping that police wouldn’t be able to track him.
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Image Source/Warehouse 13 Artifact Database Wiki
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During the times of Sutcliffe’s murder spree, he used many different vehicles and licence plates, and since claimed that he could barely remember which vehicle he used when discussing each murder. Sutcliffe would regularly park up and cruise the streets to look out for potential victims, and it’s how he easily lured women into his vehicle.
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But Eventually It Was His Car Which Led To His Arrest and Capture
In Sheffield, Sutcliffe was found in a parked car with a prostitute. Two officers had decided to investigate the area, and after the vehicle was spotted, the police – suspicious – ran a check to find that the number plates were fake.
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Image Source/BT
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Sutcliffe was then arrested for his use of fake number plates, though at this point the police didn’t know that he was the serial killer they had been hunting. Although he had been picked up for his suspicious vehicle, it was days later when the whole truth would be revealed when he was questioned regarding the Ripper case.
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Peter Sutcliffe Officially Arrested in 1981
After being picked up for the false number plates, Sutcliffe was transferred by police to Dewsbury, where he was to be officially questioned regarding the murders committed by the Ripper. After returning to the crime scene where Sutcliffe had been found in his car, police then found a hammer, rope and knife.
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Image Source/Dewsbury Reporter
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The police proceeded to search his home, and also bring his wife in for questioning. After constant criticism regarding the way the police handled the case, even Sutcliffe later reported that he was surprised he wasn’t found sooner due to the amount of information the police had to go off. But Sutcliffe didn’t confess straight away.
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Peter Sutcliffe Is Brought In
It took two days of questioning for Sutcliffe to eventually admit to the killings. He then told the police the details of every attack, including his claim that voices in the graveyard told him to do it. Although Sutcliffe admitted to the killings initially, he later refused to plead guilty.
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Image Source/News & Star
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Instead, Sutcliffe would plead not guilty on 13 counts, and instead plead to manslaughter. In his opinion, he was not solely responsible for the murders because he believed God had been the one to tell him to commit them. His case then went to trial, which lasted two weeks.
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Newspaper Headlines Detailing His Arrest
Newspaper headlines revealed the truth over Sutcliffe’s arrest, including details over how the police had already questioned him more than once, without ever suspecting him of being the real killer. Following his two week trial, Sutcliffe was found guilty for the 13 murders.
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Image Source/Daily Mail
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Sutcliffe was sentenced to life imprisonment. It’s clear that the woman Sutcliffe was found in his car with in Sheffield, leading to his arrest, should have been his 14th victim – though luckily the police arrived just in time. Even at the time of the arrest, one of the officers had a gut feeling that he was the one they had been looking for.
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Peter Sutcliffe Mugshot
After evading arrest for six years and being questioned more than once, Peter Sutcliffe had finally been caught and identified as the serial killer, the Yorkshire Ripper. Fortunately, his outlandish claim that God had told him to commit the murders didn’t sit well with the judge, and he was sentenced accordingly.
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Image Source/True Crime England
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Due to his claims of hearing voices, however, Sutcliffe’s mental health was taken into question. Sutcliffe was eventually found to be sane and completely responsible for his own actions in regard to the 13 women he had murdered. Even during his arrest, Sutcliffe was playing with the police, claiming his name was Peter Williams.
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Sutcliffe Confessed To The Killings
Sutcliffe eventually stopped playing and admitted to the killings. The photo below shows demonstrations at the Old Bailey, where Sutcliffe was taken to commence his trial. His transfer to Old Bailey was on 14th April, 1981.
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Image Source/Yahoo News
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It’s no surprise that demonstrations outside on the street included women defending their rights and standing up against Sutcliffe’s brutality. As the truth regarding who was responsible for the murders came to light, Sutcliffe’s case and trial drew a lot of attention.
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Sutcliffe Meets Frank Bruno In Broadmoor
In perhaps one of the most bizarre photos and meetings, Sutcliffe was actually introduced to heavyweight champion Frank Bruno – by none other than convicted sex offender, Jimmy Savile, during his time in Broadmoor secure facility.
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Image Source/Huffington Post UK
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In 1991, Bruno was visiting the hospital with intentions to open a gym there. He was prompted to shake hands with one of the inmates by Savile. At the time, Frank reported that he had no idea who he was shaking hands with – and it was only later that Savile revealed that he’d just shaken hands with the Yorkshire Ripper himself.
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Sutcliffe Is Eventually Transferred To Durham Prison
During the time after his arrest and sentencing, Sutcliffe spent time at HM Prison Parkhurst in 1981. His time there included being viciously attacked by a fellow inmate. Sutcliffe was later transferred to Broadmoor hospital after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (despite being judged as sane duing his trial).
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Image Source/The Scottish Sun
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Sutcliffe remained in Broadmoor until 2009, when it was reported that he was in a fit state to leave the hospital. In 2016, he was eventually transferred to Durham prison following a rejected appeal, after which he was declared as no longer mentally ill. Sutcliffe had been the victim of further attacks from fellow inmates during the time before his transfer.
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The Yorkshire Ripper Died in November 2020
Sutcliffe spent his last days in Durham prison. After refusing treatment for COVID-19 which he had contracted, along with other health concerns like diabetes, he died in November 2020. This picture shows Sutcliffe during what were to be his final hours.
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Image Source/The Mirror
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He was 74 years old at the time of his death, and had previously been treated for a suspected heart attack. At least now, with news of the Yorkshire Ripper’s death, the families of the victims can find some peace. The documentary The Ripper is now on Netflix, detailing the events of Sutcliffe’s crimes.
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