Peter Sutcliffe

Peter William Sutcliffe was born in Bingley, Yorkshire, on June 2, 1946, into a family of highly religious Catholic parents. He was born prematurely and doctors were not sure whether he would live, but he did.

It is said that he preferred to be alone, in order to save himself from the bullying that he faced throughout his school years. He never discussed his issues with his parents, or with the few friends that he had. This turned him into a shy loner. He did not continue his education after the age of 15.

His father was a known alcoholic and despite being a staunch Catholic, he did not respect his wife. The oldest of six children, Peter loved his mother. However, he could not take a stand for her, as he was afraid of getting beaten up by the father.

Upon dropping out of the school, Peter indulged in some odd jobs, such as an engineering internship. However, the job that he loved the most was that of a gravedigger.

He worked as a gravedigger at the ‘Bingley Cemetery’ and showed immense passion for it. It is also said to be a turning point in his life, which turned him into a sadist. He enjoyed watching the corpses and even worked extra hours. He would later get excited while telling his friends about how he had the best job in the world and how much he enjoyed the sight of the corpses.

October 1975 was the time when he finally snapped and let his violent instincts out without fearing the consequences. He hired Wilma McCann on October 30, and things turned ugly between the two. They had a fight, which resulted in Peter hitting the back of her head with a hammer. He then grabbed a knife and slashed her to death.

This style of killing became his trademark, and getting away with the first murder further infused a confidence in him. He hated women in general, especially the ones who sold their bodies in exchange for money.

Emily Jackson became his second victim, just three months after the first incident. He hit the back of her head with a heavy hammer and then stabbed her more than 51 times. The case was investigated by the police, but they found no evidences or witnesses, which had Peter roaming around freely on the streets, looking for his next target.

Over the course of the next year, he killed three more prostitutes, and as the body count kept increasing, the police became more attentive. They were aware that there was some connection between the murders, and they even had some suspects, but they were unable to gather enough evidence to accuse anyone of the crimes.

He moved to Manchester in 1977 and killed his sixth victim, Jean Jordan, a 20-year-old prostitute. This time, he made a mistake and dropped a currency bill at the place where she was murdered. He even went back to retrieve it but was unsuccessful.

In January 1981, he was taken into custody after being caught in a car with a prostitute, Olivia Rivers, in Sheffield. He was questioned about the fake number plate on his car. He somehow managed to slip away for a minute and got rid of his murder gear.

When he was brought to the station, it was found that he was one of the suspects in the infamous ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ serial murders. He even had the physical attributes that the policemen had deduced by then. The police went to the scene of his arrest and found a rope, a hammer, and a knife.

After two days of intense interrogation sessions, on January 4, Peter confessed that he was the ‘Yorkshire Ripper,’ who had been making news in the national and international media for quite a few years. After his confession, he gave the detailed descriptions of the murders that he had committed.

The trial went on for two weeks and by the end of it, Peter was found guilty of the murders and was given 20 concurrent sessions of life imprisonments. It was declared by the court that he would be considerd for parole only after 30 years of imprisonment. However, in 2010, the court passed an order that said that he may never get out of prison.