1. Dr Harold Shipman (218 Victims)
Dr Harold Shipman was a British General Practitioner, who on 31st January 2000 was found guilty of 15 murders. He was given a whole life sentence by the British Home Secretary despite the government having abolished such terms prior to the case. After the trial a public enquiry called the 'Shipman Enquiry' found that there was enough evidence to suggest that Shipman had probably killed around 250 people, of whom 218 could be identified. Shipman is not only the biggest British Serial Killer, but is also the worlds biggest ever proven serial killer.
Shipman remains the only British doctor to ever have been found guilty of murdering a patient and his conviction led to an overhaul of the legal structure for health care and medicine. A particular characteristic of Shipmans crimes is that 80% of his victims were women and that most were elderly, with his youngest victim being a 41 year old male. Harold Shipman had graduated from Leeds School of Medicine in 1970 and started his career at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. He moved on in 1974 to Todmorden, West Yorkshire, where he took his first position as a GP. Just a year later he was caught stealing subscription drug pethidine for his own use. He was fined £600 and sent to a drug rehab clinic in York until clean.
The first concerns about Shipman emerged in March 1998 when a funeral parlour manager expressed concerns to the local coroner about the high death rate amongst Shipmans patients. A fellow doctor took these concerns seriously and claimed that Shipman was killing his patients, either through negligence or intentionally, however the police were unable to press charges through a lack of evidence (the police were later criticised for putting inexperienced officers on the case, and Shipman was to kill three further victims before his eventual arrest).
Shipmans last victim was Kathleen Grundy, a former mayor of Hyde, who was found dead at her home in June 1998. Shipman was the last person to see her alive and later signed her death certificate, claiming that 'old age' was her cause of death. Grundy's daughter had become concerned after she was informed that a will had been made by her mother which left all £386,000 to Shipman who was subsequently again reported to police. Grundy's body was dug up and was found to contain traces of diamorphine, also known as 'heroin'. Shipman was arrested in September 1998 and a search of his home found a typewriter of the exact type used to forge the will. Police subsequently investigated other deaths and found a consistent pattern of lethal doses of diamorphine, signing death certificates, and then altering medical records to say that they had been in ill health. It is still, and probably will always be unknown as to why Shipman forged the will. It is likely that he either wished to be caught or wanted to escape the country with the fortune.
Shipman was convicted of the murders of fifteen elderly females, all of whom died between the years 1995 and 1998. The subsequent enquiry decided against pursuing charges for another 213 cases, the same trial concluded that Shipman himself was a regular user of drugs for recreational use. Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison on 13th January 2004, the day before his 58th birthday. The families of his victims felt cheated as they would never receive a confession for the murders. It is believed that Shipman had killed himself so that his wife would receive a full National Health Service pension, which she would not have been entitled to had he have died after the age of 60. After his death it had been confirmed that Shipman had stolen jewellery from his victims, with 33 pieces confirmed as not belonging to his wife.
Shipman remains the only British doctor to ever have been found guilty of murdering a patient and his conviction led to an overhaul of the legal structure for health care and medicine. A particular characteristic of Shipmans crimes is that 80% of his victims were women and that most were elderly, with his youngest victim being a 41 year old male. Harold Shipman had graduated from Leeds School of Medicine in 1970 and started his career at Pontefract General Infirmary in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. He moved on in 1974 to Todmorden, West Yorkshire, where he took his first position as a GP. Just a year later he was caught stealing subscription drug pethidine for his own use. He was fined £600 and sent to a drug rehab clinic in York until clean.The first concerns about Shipman emerged in March 1998 when a funeral parlour manager expressed concerns to the local coroner about the high death rate amongst Shipmans patients. A fellow doctor took these concerns seriously and claimed that Shipman was killing his patients, either through negligence or intentionally, however the police were unable to press charges through a lack of evidence (the police were later criticised for putting inexperienced officers on the case, and Shipman was to kill three further victims before his eventual arrest).
Shipmans last victim was Kathleen Grundy, a former mayor of Hyde, who was found dead at her home in June 1998. Shipman was the last person to see her alive and later signed her death certificate, claiming that 'old age' was her cause of death. Grundy's daughter had become concerned after she was informed that a will had been made by her mother which left all £386,000 to Shipman who was subsequently again reported to police. Grundy's body was dug up and was found to contain traces of diamorphine, also known as 'heroin'. Shipman was arrested in September 1998 and a search of his home found a typewriter of the exact type used to forge the will. Police subsequently investigated other deaths and found a consistent pattern of lethal doses of diamorphine, signing death certificates, and then altering medical records to say that they had been in ill health. It is still, and probably will always be unknown as to why Shipman forged the will. It is likely that he either wished to be caught or wanted to escape the country with the fortune.
Shipman was convicted of the murders of fifteen elderly females, all of whom died between the years 1995 and 1998. The subsequent enquiry decided against pursuing charges for another 213 cases, the same trial concluded that Shipman himself was a regular user of drugs for recreational use. Shipman hanged himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison on 13th January 2004, the day before his 58th birthday. The families of his victims felt cheated as they would never receive a confession for the murders. It is believed that Shipman had killed himself so that his wife would receive a full National Health Service pension, which she would not have been entitled to had he have died after the age of 60. After his death it had been confirmed that Shipman had stolen jewellery from his victims, with 33 pieces confirmed as not belonging to his wife.
2. Mary Ann Cotton (20 Victims)
Mary Ann Cotton (1832 - 1873) was an English serial killer and the third biggest female serial killer of all time. She is believed to have killed 20 people, most of them by arsenic poisoning. Cotton, like Belle Gunness, often killed for financial reasons. After an unhappy childhood, during which her father had fallen to his death down a mineshaft, Mary Ann married William Mowbray in Newcastle-upon-Tyne aged 20. They moved to Plymouth, Devon, where the couple had five children of which four died from gastric fever or stomach pains. They moved back to Newcastle where they had and lost three more children. Her husband died in 1865 of an intestinal disorder, at which point Mary received an insurance payout of £35, equivalent to one and half years of Williams salary.
Shortly after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to County Durham where she entered into a relationship with Joseph Natrass. He was however engaged to another woman and she left Natrass shortly after he became married. She returned to Sunderland, her place of birth, and took up employment as a nurse at Sunderland Infirmary. In order to work she sent her only remaining child, out of 9 born, to live with her mother. One of her patients at the hospital was engineer George Ward, who became husband number 2 when they married in August 1865. George continued to suffer ill health and he died in October 1866, the attending doctor later acknowledged that Ward had been in very poor health however expressed his surprise that his death had been so sudden. Mary Ann once again collected a large insurance payout, just over a year since her first.
A month after Ward's deathCotton was hired as a housekeeper for James Robinson, a shipwright. One month later Robinson's daughter passed away with gastric fever, and he turned to Cotton for comfort; she fell pregnant. Soon after her mother fell very ill and Cotton went to care for her, she died 9 days after Cotton's arrival, having started to feel better but also complaining of stomach pains. Cotton's nine year old daughter was brought to live withher and Robinson but herself began to experience stomach pains and died, as did another two of Robinson's children. All three children were buried in April 1867. Four months later the grieving Robinson married Cotton; shortly before the birth of their new child Mary Isabella. Mary Isabella fell ill with very familiar symptoms and died in March 1868. James however did not fall victim having fallen suspicious of his wife, who had stolen more than £50 that he had told her to bank and run up debts of £60 without his knowledge. She was being insistent that he started a life insurance policy, and James promptly threw her out of the house, Mary Ann became desperate and was living on the streets before a friend named Margaret Cotton (no relation) introduced her to her brother Frederick. Frederick had lost two of his children and become a widower, with Margaret taking the role of substitute mother for his remaining children but by March 1870 she too had died by a mystery stomach ailment, leaving Mary Ann to console Frederick. Soon Mary Ann was pregnant again, her eleventh pregnancy, and Frederick and Mary Ann married in September 1870. Unbeknown to her new husband, the couple were in fact committing bigamy due to Mary Ann not being divorced from James Robinson. Frederick soon followed his predecessors to the grave, dying in December 1870 of 'Gastric fever'. Insurance had been taken out against him and, alarmingly, also taken out against the two children. Both of the children died, as did yet another partner of Cotton.
Cotton finally became unstuck when a parish official asked her to help a nurse with smallpox. She complained that the last remaining son of Frederick Cotton was in the way and asked the official if he could be sent to the workhouse. The official, Thomas Riley, said that if the boy went she would have to follow. She replied "I won't be troubled long. He'll go like all the rest of the Cottons." Riley replied "No, nothing of the kind - he is fine, a healthy boy" so he was shocked when just five days later Mary Cotton told him that the boy had died. Riley went straight to the police and demanded that the doctor delay writing the death certificate pending investigation. Mary Ann's went straight to the insurance office when the boy had died where she learnt that no money would be paid until she could produce a death certificate. The inquest however determined that the boy had died of natural causes, and it was not until the local press had cottoned on that it was discovered that Cotton had moved around northern England and lost three husbands, a lover, a friend, her mother and a dozen children - all of whom had died of stomach fevers. The body of the boy, the last victim, was subsequently taken up..... where it was found to contain traces of arsenic. Her trial began on 5th March 1873 and she was hanged from Durham County Gaol on 24th March 1873.
Shortly after Mowbray's death, Mary Ann moved to County Durham where she entered into a relationship with Joseph Natrass. He was however engaged to another woman and she left Natrass shortly after he became married. She returned to Sunderland, her place of birth, and took up employment as a nurse at Sunderland Infirmary. In order to work she sent her only remaining child, out of 9 born, to live with her mother. One of her patients at the hospital was engineer George Ward, who became husband number 2 when they married in August 1865. George continued to suffer ill health and he died in October 1866, the attending doctor later acknowledged that Ward had been in very poor health however expressed his surprise that his death had been so sudden. Mary Ann once again collected a large insurance payout, just over a year since her first.A month after Ward's deathCotton was hired as a housekeeper for James Robinson, a shipwright. One month later Robinson's daughter passed away with gastric fever, and he turned to Cotton for comfort; she fell pregnant. Soon after her mother fell very ill and Cotton went to care for her, she died 9 days after Cotton's arrival, having started to feel better but also complaining of stomach pains. Cotton's nine year old daughter was brought to live withher and Robinson but herself began to experience stomach pains and died, as did another two of Robinson's children. All three children were buried in April 1867. Four months later the grieving Robinson married Cotton; shortly before the birth of their new child Mary Isabella. Mary Isabella fell ill with very familiar symptoms and died in March 1868. James however did not fall victim having fallen suspicious of his wife, who had stolen more than £50 that he had told her to bank and run up debts of £60 without his knowledge. She was being insistent that he started a life insurance policy, and James promptly threw her out of the house, Mary Ann became desperate and was living on the streets before a friend named Margaret Cotton (no relation) introduced her to her brother Frederick. Frederick had lost two of his children and become a widower, with Margaret taking the role of substitute mother for his remaining children but by March 1870 she too had died by a mystery stomach ailment, leaving Mary Ann to console Frederick. Soon Mary Ann was pregnant again, her eleventh pregnancy, and Frederick and Mary Ann married in September 1870. Unbeknown to her new husband, the couple were in fact committing bigamy due to Mary Ann not being divorced from James Robinson. Frederick soon followed his predecessors to the grave, dying in December 1870 of 'Gastric fever'. Insurance had been taken out against him and, alarmingly, also taken out against the two children. Both of the children died, as did yet another partner of Cotton.
Cotton finally became unstuck when a parish official asked her to help a nurse with smallpox. She complained that the last remaining son of Frederick Cotton was in the way and asked the official if he could be sent to the workhouse. The official, Thomas Riley, said that if the boy went she would have to follow. She replied "I won't be troubled long. He'll go like all the rest of the Cottons." Riley replied "No, nothing of the kind - he is fine, a healthy boy" so he was shocked when just five days later Mary Cotton told him that the boy had died. Riley went straight to the police and demanded that the doctor delay writing the death certificate pending investigation. Mary Ann's went straight to the insurance office when the boy had died where she learnt that no money would be paid until she could produce a death certificate. The inquest however determined that the boy had died of natural causes, and it was not until the local press had cottoned on that it was discovered that Cotton had moved around northern England and lost three husbands, a lover, a friend, her mother and a dozen children - all of whom had died of stomach fevers. The body of the boy, the last victim, was subsequently taken up..... where it was found to contain traces of arsenic. Her trial began on 5th March 1873 and she was hanged from Durham County Gaol on 24th March 1873.
3. Dennis Nilsen (15 Victims)
Scottish born Dennis Nilsen, also known as 'The Muswell Hill Murderer' and 'The Kindly Killer' is the UK's third most prolific known serial killer, known to have killed at least 15 men and boys between 1978 and 1983. Nilsen was born in Aberdeenshire to a Scottish mother and a Norwegian father, however his parents divorced whilst Nilsen was just 4 years old; probably as a result of his fathers alcoholism. His mother remarried but showed an apparent unwillingness to look after her son, sending him to live with his grandparents; however his grandparents sent Dennis back to live with his mother after just a couple of years. Nilsen, like many serial killers, claim a traumatic childhood; and he has cited his first disturbing event as when his grandfather died. His mother was a strict Roman Catholic and would often lecture his son on the 'impurities of flesh'.Nilsen left school aged 16 in 1961 and enlisted straight into the British Army as a cook, with whom he served in South Yemen, Cyprus, Berlin, and the Shetland Islands. Nilsen left the army 11 years later in 1972, aged 27, and served for a short period as a police officer before taking up employment as a civil servant working in a Jobcentre. Nilsen was a very professional and straight seeming man, even having heavy involvement in trade unions and joining in on the picket lines various industries. Nilsen's murders were first discovered by well known drain cleaning company Dyno-Rod, who had responded to a call reporting a blocked drain in the block of flats that Nilsen lived in at Cranley Gardens, Muswell Hill. The worker who had attended the call found that it was blocked with "flesh-like substance", and he reported this to his supervisor. The next day the worker and his supervisor attended the scene to assess the drain, before finding that it had since been unblocked; this made them suspicious and so they decided to inform the police as a precautionary measure.
The police responded to the complaint and found some small bones and what looked like chicken in a pipe which led off from the drain, they took samples and it was confirmed by forensics that these were of human origin. Three policemen, including Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay, attended the scene and awaited the return of Nilsen from work. Upon Nilsen's return, DCI Jay introduced himself and explained that they had come about his drains. They asked Nilsen where the rest of the body was hidden, to which Nilsen calmly informed them that they were hidden in plastic bags in the wardrobe. He was immediately arrested on suspicion of murder and taken back to a police station, on the way back to the station Nilsen admitted that he had killed "15 or 16". Upon a subsequent search of his flat, they found a third body hidden in a large tea chest. They later searched his former address at 195 Melrose Avenue, Cricklewood. At Melrose Avenue he had burnt his victims bodies on a bonfire.
Nilsen admitted to killing 15 men and boys, most of whom were students or homeless men who he had picked up in bars and invited back to his house. He claimed that he strangled and drowned all of his victims during the night, before waking up with little memory of what he had done. He used skills gained during his time in the British Army to help dispose of the bodies. He would often keep the bodies in different locations in his home for several months before dismembering them. It was not until he moved from 195 Melrose Avenue, Cricklewood, to his Cranley Gardens flat that he had trouble disposing of bodies and he would store them in bin bags in his wardrobe. Neighbours had begun to notice the smell of rotting flesh in the days leading up to his arrest. It was eventually discovered that Nilsen had murdered three people at this address, and had begun attempting to dispose of the bodies by boiling their hands, heads and feet to remove flesh before chopping it up into small pieces and flushing them down the toilet, it was by doing so that he blocked drains and was subsequently caught out.
Just 8 of the 15 Nilsen victims have been identified, but it is known that the murders took place between 30th December 1978 and 26th January 1983. The first of Nilsen's known murders was of Stephen Dean Holmes, who Nilsen claimed he had met in a gay bar before taking him back to Melrose Avenue where he strangled him with a necktie until he was unconscious, and proceeding to drown him in a bucket of water. It was not until 12th January 2006, 27 years after the event, that it was announced that the first victim had been identified. Stephen Dean Holmes was actually just 14 years old, and had gone missing on his way back home from a concert that he had attended with friends. On 9th November 2006 Nilsen finally confessed to the killing of Holmes in a letter sent from his cell to London newspaper the Evening Standard. The Crown Prosecution Service decided that a prosecution would not be in the public interest, Nilsen was after all already serving a full life sentence.
Following the first murder, Nilsen attempted to murder a student from Hong Kong who he had met in a public house. Although the police question the student, Andrew Ho, he decided not to press charges. Nilsen was released without charge, and was free to murder for the second time. The second known murder occurred almost a year after the first on 3rd December 1979, when 23 year old Canadian tourist Kenneth Ockenden met Nilsen in a pub and subsequently escorted his victim on a tour of Central London; Nilsen then offered Ockenden the opportunity for another drink at his home. Nilsen strangled Ockenden with the cord of a pair of headphones whilst Ockenden was listening to a record. The murders became a more frequent occurrence, with murder number three occuring in May 1980, this time it was 16 year old Martyn Duffey - a 16 year old runaway from Birkenhead. Duffey, like Ockenden, accepted an invite back to Nilsen's home; Nilsen was strangled and drowned in a kitchen sink. Victim 4 was Billy Sutherland, a male father of one from Scotland who had been working as a prostitute, who was strangled by Nilsen's own hands.
Victims 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 remain unidentified by Nilsen, who recalls certain characteristics about them but has been unable (or possibly unwilling) to assist police with their identification. At some point between these 7 unidentified murders, another attempted murder by Nilsen was reported. This time a Scottish barman, Douglas Stewart, woke up being strangled by Nilsen and was able to fight Nilsen off. He called police immediately, however the officers took no action who brushed it off as a domestic argument. This was the second missed opportunity to take Nilsen off of the streets. Victim number 12 was a man named Malcolm Barlow, who was murdered on 18th September 1981. Nilsen found him slumped in a doorway near his home, and in a rare act of compassion took him in and called an ambulance for him. When Barlow was released from hospital the following day, he returned to Nilsen's home to thank him and was invited in for a meal and some drinks; he was murdered on that same night. The Barlow murder was the last murder in Nilsen's former address.
Nilsen moved to his second address in November 1981, and there are two known attempted murders during this period, although both of these only came to light after his arrest was publicised. John Howlett became murder victim number 13 in December 1981 and was the first known victim at Nilsen's new address. He had initially fought back against Nilsen and was at one point was actually strangling Nilsen, however Nilsen eventually drowned him after holding his head under water for five minutes. This body was one of the three to be found in the Cranley Gardens flat. The next Cranley Gardens victim was Graham Allen, a homeless man originally from Scotland, who was invited back to Nilsen's flat for food. He was strangled whilst eating an omelette that Nilsen had prepared for him, and then left in the bath for 3 days before Nilsen eventually dismembered him. The 15th and final murder was that of Stephen Sinclair, a 20 year old Heroin addict who Nilsen had met in Oxford Street, on 26th January 1983. Sinclair managed to beg a hamburger off of Nilsen, who then suggested that they go back to his flat. Sinclair was plied with alcohol which, when mixed with his drug intake, left him in a stupor. He was strangled and, like victims 13 and 14, his body dismembered. It was the flesh of Stephen Sinclair which had been found by Dyna Rod in the blocked drains less than two weeks later.
Nilsen pleaded 'Diminished Responsibility' as his defence, in an attempt to seek a guilty plea for manslaughter. This defence was unsuccessful and he was convicted of six murders and two attempted murders; he was sentenced to life in prison on 4th November 1983, with the Home Secretary imposing a 'whole life tariff' meaning that he would never be released; although he was granted permission in 1993 to give a televised interview from prison. Nilsen is still in prison now, currently at HMP Full Sutton, and is fighting a legal battle to be allowed to publish an autobiography entitled 'The History of a Drowning Boy'.
4. Peter Sutcliffe (13 Victims)
Peter Sutcliffe is an English serial killer, better known globally as 'The Yorkshire Ripper'. who was convicted in 1981 for the murder of 13 women and attacks on several others. Sutcliffe was in June 1946 in Bingley, West Yorkshire, the son of John and Kathleen Sutcliffe. A loner at school, Sutcliffe left at the age of 15, taking jobs including that of a grave digger during the 1960s. He is also known to have worked at the Baird Television factory between November 1971 and April 1973, leaving after the company asked him to join the sales team; subsequent jobs included a stint as an HGV driver. Sutcliffe was a frequent user of prostitutes during his youth and is believed to have had a bad experience with one, during which he was conned out money; an incident which may have helped fuel his violent hatred towards women.Peter Sutcliffe was a married man at the time of his arrest in 1981, having been married to Czech born Sonia Szurma on 10th August 1974. His wife suffered a series of miscarriages over the next few years and were subsequently informed that they would not be able to have children. As a result, Szurma returned to a teacher training course and began teaching in 1977; the couple used the additional money to buy their first house in Bradford in the same year. The couple were still living in this house in 1981 when Sutcliffe was arrested for the murders.
Sutcliffe's first known serious assault came in July 1975, when he attacked 36 year old Anna Rogulskyj by striking her with a hammer and slashing her stomach with a knife as she walked alone in Keighley. He left without killing her after being disturbed by somebody, she survived the attack after extensive medical treatment but was left severely traumatised by the events. In the following month, August 1975, hr attacked 46 year old Olive Smelt in Halifax using the same method by striking her from behind with a hammer and slicing her buttocks with a knife, his victim was badly injured but survived; albeit also severely traumatised. In the same month, on 27th August, he attacked Terry Browne a 14 year old in Silsden; this time he struck the girl some five times with a hammer. Miraculously Browne survived to tell the tale, and Sutcliffe admitted this crime in 1992.
Peter Sutcliffe's first murder soon followed on 30th October 1975, the victim being 28 year old Wilma McCann from Chapeltown in Leeds. Sutcliffe struck the mother of four twice with a hammer before stabbing her some 15 times in the neck, abdomen and chest. It is believed that she may also have been sexually assaulted as traces of semen were found on the back of her underwear. A huge police investigation was undertaken involving 150 police officers and 11,000 interviews, but the police failed to uncover Sutcliffe. One of McCann's daughters committed suicide in December 2007 following years of struggle in coming to terms with the event.
It was just a few months before Sutcliffe killed again, this time he killed 42 year old Emily Jackson, a married woman from Leeds in financial difficulties; Jackson had been using her families van to make cash giving sexual favours. Sutcliffe used his usual technique of hitting his victim on the head with a hammer before stabbing her 51 times in the neck, chest and abdomen with a sharpened screwdriver. He also stamped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot which would further tease officers who were desperate to catch the unknown psychopath. Four months went by before his next attack, this time it was 20 year old Marcella Claxton who had been offered a lift home by Sutcliffe after he saw her walking home from a party. When Claxton got out of his car to urinate, he hit her with a hammer from behind. Claxton survived the attack and would later testify against Sutcliffe at his trial.
It is believed that Sutcliffe had a significant gap between killings, with the next known murder taking place in February 1977 when he attacked 28 year old Chapeltown prostitute Irene Richardson in Roundhay Park. Again he used a hammer, hitting her repeatedly with it before mutilating her dead body with a knife. Police were given a further clue, this time it was tyre tracks near the scene which provided a huge list of possible vehicles. It was just two months later that he would kill again, this time another prostitute on 23rd April 1977, this time it was 32 year old Patricia Atkinson who was killed in her flat. police found a boot print on the bedclothes.
It was just two months until his next murder in June 1977, again in Chapeltown. a 16 year old named Jayne MacDonald. MacDonald was not a prostitute and it was this murder that showed the women of Yorkshire that anybody could be a victim of this type of crime. In July, Sutcliffe attempted to murder 42 year old Maureen Long before he was interrupted by a passer by and fled. The witness identified the make of his car, but police could still not find Sutcliffe despite the number of policemen on the case being doubled to 300 and a further 12,500 statements being taken.
Peter Sutcliffe's next venture took him outside of Yorkshire, this time it was 20 year old Manchester prostitute Jean Jordan who was killed on 9th October. Police did not find her body for 10 days, but they noted that it had been moved several days after the killing. Sutcliffe later confessed that he realised that he was traceable to a new bank note that he had given her and so he returned to the body. He was unable to find her handbag so instead he tried to remove her head with a hacksaw and a large pane of broken glass to try and disguise the death as a trademark ripper attack. The police later recovered the handbag and £5 note, which was traced back to branches of the Midland Bank in either Shipley or Bingley - both towns close to Sutcliffes home. Extensive police investigations into the banking process narrowed the possible recipients down to just 8000 local employees who were paid their wages through the banks. Police interviewed 5000 men over the following three month period, including Sutcliffe, but did not connect him with the murders. Sutcliffe went on to attack another prostitute, 25 year old Marilyn Moore, on 14th December. Moore survived and was able to provide police with a description of the attacker; police were also able to identify more tyre tracks which matched those previously found,
In January 1978 police ended their search for the recipient of the £5 note, with Sutcliffe being interviewed and disregarded several times by the Ripper squad. In that same month he was to kill again, attacking another Bradford prostitute - 21 year old Yvonne Pearson - hiding the body under an old discarded sofa; the body was not uncovered until March. He killed again at the very end of the same month, on 31st January, this time it was Helen Rytka an 18 year old Huddersfield prostitute. After a few months of inactivity, Sutcliffe was to kill yet again. 40 year old Vera Millward died in the car park of the Manchester Royal Infirmary on 16th May. It was almost a year before he killed again, when he killed 19 year old bank clerk Josephine Whitaker in Halifax after assaulted her as she walked home from work, Police gained new forensic evidence but were thrown off of the scent by a series of hoax taped messages from a man with a Wearside accent claiming to be the killer.
The search became focused on the Castletown area of Sunderland. The hoaxer, who had been dubbed 'Wearside Jack' had sent two letters to the police in 1978 boasting of his crimes; both of which had been signed 'Jack The Ripper' and claimed responsibility for a murder which Peter Sutcliffe did not actually commit. It should perhaps be noted that John Samuel Humble was charged in 2005 of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison on 21st March 2006. Sutcliffe's next murder victim was to be 20 year old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University Student, who was murdered close to her university lodgings. Whilst the media was pushing a wearside connection, Sutcliffe was actually interviewed again on at least two separate occasions in 1979. By this point he was still on a narrowed down list of just 300 possible recipients of the £5 note, and even matched certain forensic evidence, yet was still not strongly suspected by the police. Sutcliffe was interviewed on a total of nine occasions in relation to the crimes.
Sutcliffe was arrested in April 1980 of drink driving, and killed two more women whilst awaiting a trial on this charge, 47 year old Marguerite Walls and 20 year old Jacqueline Hill a student at the University of Leeds. He is also known to have attacked at least two other women, both of whom survived. He was reported in November 1980 as a suspect by one of his closest friends, however police were swamped with accusations from a worried public and this lead was lost amidst a sea of information. It was assumed by his friend that the police had followed up on the lead and cleared him of any involvement.
Sutcliffe was finally arrested on 2nd January 1981, after being found by police to have 24 year old prostitute Olivia Reivers in his car in the Broomhill area of Sheffield. He was arrested on the grounds of having false number plates on his car and was transferred to Dewsbury police station to be investigated for this offence. Officers at Dewsbury noticed that he met many of the characteristics of the Yorkshire Ripper and questioned him in relation to the case. The next day, the police found a knife, a hammer and a rope at the site of his arrest in Sheffield. They later found a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station after telling officers that he needed to use the toilet. When Sutcliffe was strip searched at the police station, they found that he had been wearing a 'V neck' sweat top under his trousers with his groin exposed at the 'V' and with padded elbows to protect his knees - presumably because he knelt over the corpses of his victims. It was not until 2003 that the public were informed of the sweater, and the obvious sexual implications, in a book by Michael Bilton titled 'Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper'. After two days of questioning, Sutcliffe admitted that he was the Yorkshire Ripper on 4th January 1981, he said that he was told to murder by God; he was charged on the next day 5th January 1981.
Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of murder, instead pleading manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility; the basis of the claim centered around his belief that god had told him to murder prostitutes whilst he was working as a gravedigger. The prosecution intended to accept a plea of manslaughter on the basis of four psychiatrists diagnosing him as a paranoid schizophrenic, however the trial judge rejected the plea and insisted that the case be decided by jury. In the subsequent two week trial he was found guilty of all counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; he is entitled to apply for parole in 2011 at which time he will be 65 years old and would have served 30 years in prison.
Sutcliffe began his sentence at HMP Parkhurst on 22nd May 1981 and was soon diagnosed with schizophrenia, however attempts to transfer him to a secure psychiatric units were repeatedly blocked. He was attacked several times at Parkhurst and eventually sent to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984. He has been attacked several times, and there have been attempts on his life on numerous occasions; including one incident where he lost the site in one of his eyes. He narrowly avoided losing the site in his remaining eye after an attempt by a fellow prisoner to blind him. It was reported on 17th February 2009 that Sutcliffe was fit to leave Broadmoor, leaving the Ministry of Justice to decide whether or not he can be moved to a medium-secure unit to continue his rehabilitation.
It is believed that Sutcliffe had a significant gap between killings, with the next known murder taking place in February 1977 when he attacked 28 year old Chapeltown prostitute Irene Richardson in Roundhay Park. Again he used a hammer, hitting her repeatedly with it before mutilating her dead body with a knife. Police were given a further clue, this time it was tyre tracks near the scene which provided a huge list of possible vehicles. It was just two months later that he would kill again, this time another prostitute on 23rd April 1977, this time it was 32 year old Patricia Atkinson who was killed in her flat. police found a boot print on the bedclothes.
It was just two months until his next murder in June 1977, again in Chapeltown. a 16 year old named Jayne MacDonald. MacDonald was not a prostitute and it was this murder that showed the women of Yorkshire that anybody could be a victim of this type of crime. In July, Sutcliffe attempted to murder 42 year old Maureen Long before he was interrupted by a passer by and fled. The witness identified the make of his car, but police could still not find Sutcliffe despite the number of policemen on the case being doubled to 300 and a further 12,500 statements being taken.
Peter Sutcliffe's next venture took him outside of Yorkshire, this time it was 20 year old Manchester prostitute Jean Jordan who was killed on 9th October. Police did not find her body for 10 days, but they noted that it had been moved several days after the killing. Sutcliffe later confessed that he realised that he was traceable to a new bank note that he had given her and so he returned to the body. He was unable to find her handbag so instead he tried to remove her head with a hacksaw and a large pane of broken glass to try and disguise the death as a trademark ripper attack. The police later recovered the handbag and £5 note, which was traced back to branches of the Midland Bank in either Shipley or Bingley - both towns close to Sutcliffes home. Extensive police investigations into the banking process narrowed the possible recipients down to just 8000 local employees who were paid their wages through the banks. Police interviewed 5000 men over the following three month period, including Sutcliffe, but did not connect him with the murders. Sutcliffe went on to attack another prostitute, 25 year old Marilyn Moore, on 14th December. Moore survived and was able to provide police with a description of the attacker; police were also able to identify more tyre tracks which matched those previously found,
In January 1978 police ended their search for the recipient of the £5 note, with Sutcliffe being interviewed and disregarded several times by the Ripper squad. In that same month he was to kill again, attacking another Bradford prostitute - 21 year old Yvonne Pearson - hiding the body under an old discarded sofa; the body was not uncovered until March. He killed again at the very end of the same month, on 31st January, this time it was Helen Rytka an 18 year old Huddersfield prostitute. After a few months of inactivity, Sutcliffe was to kill yet again. 40 year old Vera Millward died in the car park of the Manchester Royal Infirmary on 16th May. It was almost a year before he killed again, when he killed 19 year old bank clerk Josephine Whitaker in Halifax after assaulted her as she walked home from work, Police gained new forensic evidence but were thrown off of the scent by a series of hoax taped messages from a man with a Wearside accent claiming to be the killer.
The search became focused on the Castletown area of Sunderland. The hoaxer, who had been dubbed 'Wearside Jack' had sent two letters to the police in 1978 boasting of his crimes; both of which had been signed 'Jack The Ripper' and claimed responsibility for a murder which Peter Sutcliffe did not actually commit. It should perhaps be noted that John Samuel Humble was charged in 2005 of attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was sentenced to 8 years in prison on 21st March 2006. Sutcliffe's next murder victim was to be 20 year old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University Student, who was murdered close to her university lodgings. Whilst the media was pushing a wearside connection, Sutcliffe was actually interviewed again on at least two separate occasions in 1979. By this point he was still on a narrowed down list of just 300 possible recipients of the £5 note, and even matched certain forensic evidence, yet was still not strongly suspected by the police. Sutcliffe was interviewed on a total of nine occasions in relation to the crimes.
Sutcliffe was arrested in April 1980 of drink driving, and killed two more women whilst awaiting a trial on this charge, 47 year old Marguerite Walls and 20 year old Jacqueline Hill a student at the University of Leeds. He is also known to have attacked at least two other women, both of whom survived. He was reported in November 1980 as a suspect by one of his closest friends, however police were swamped with accusations from a worried public and this lead was lost amidst a sea of information. It was assumed by his friend that the police had followed up on the lead and cleared him of any involvement.
Sutcliffe was finally arrested on 2nd January 1981, after being found by police to have 24 year old prostitute Olivia Reivers in his car in the Broomhill area of Sheffield. He was arrested on the grounds of having false number plates on his car and was transferred to Dewsbury police station to be investigated for this offence. Officers at Dewsbury noticed that he met many of the characteristics of the Yorkshire Ripper and questioned him in relation to the case. The next day, the police found a knife, a hammer and a rope at the site of his arrest in Sheffield. They later found a second knife in the toilet cistern at the police station after telling officers that he needed to use the toilet. When Sutcliffe was strip searched at the police station, they found that he had been wearing a 'V neck' sweat top under his trousers with his groin exposed at the 'V' and with padded elbows to protect his knees - presumably because he knelt over the corpses of his victims. It was not until 2003 that the public were informed of the sweater, and the obvious sexual implications, in a book by Michael Bilton titled 'Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper'. After two days of questioning, Sutcliffe admitted that he was the Yorkshire Ripper on 4th January 1981, he said that he was told to murder by God; he was charged on the next day 5th January 1981.
Sutcliffe pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of murder, instead pleading manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility; the basis of the claim centered around his belief that god had told him to murder prostitutes whilst he was working as a gravedigger. The prosecution intended to accept a plea of manslaughter on the basis of four psychiatrists diagnosing him as a paranoid schizophrenic, however the trial judge rejected the plea and insisted that the case be decided by jury. In the subsequent two week trial he was found guilty of all counts of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment; he is entitled to apply for parole in 2011 at which time he will be 65 years old and would have served 30 years in prison.
Sutcliffe began his sentence at HMP Parkhurst on 22nd May 1981 and was soon diagnosed with schizophrenia, however attempts to transfer him to a secure psychiatric units were repeatedly blocked. He was attacked several times at Parkhurst and eventually sent to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984. He has been attacked several times, and there have been attempts on his life on numerous occasions; including one incident where he lost the site in one of his eyes. He narrowly avoided losing the site in his remaining eye after an attempt by a fellow prisoner to blind him. It was reported on 17th February 2009 that Sutcliffe was fit to leave Broadmoor, leaving the Ministry of Justice to decide whether or not he can be moved to a medium-secure unit to continue his rehabilitation.
Source http://hubpages.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment