Who were Peter Sutcliffe’s victims?
PETER Sutcliffe’s reign of terror in the 70s left everyone fearing for their lives in Yorkshire.
Many escaped his killer grasp, but for these 13 women, they weren’t so lucky.
Who were Peter Sutcliffe’s victims?
Dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper, on May 22, 1981, Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others.
His killing spree lasted from 1975 until 1980, and left many unable to leave their homes for fear of being his next victim.
Sutcliffe is serving 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which was increased to a whole life order in 2010.
WARNING: The below contains graphic content which some readers may find upsetting.
Wilma McCann
Age: 28
The first victim to lose her life in a Sutcliffe attack was Wilma McCann on October 30, 1975.
McCann, from Scott Hall in Leeds, was a mother-of-four.
Sutcliffe struck her twice with a hammer before stabbing her 15 times in the neck, chest and abdomen.
An extensive inquiry, involving 150 police officers and 11,000 interviews, failed to find the culprit.
One of McCann’s daughters died by suicide in December 2007, reportedly after suffering years of depression over her mother’s death.
Emily Jackson
Age: 42
Sutcliffe committed his next murder in Leeds in January 1976, when he stabbed 42-year-old Emily Jackson 52 times.
In dire financial straits, Jackson had been using the family van (with her husband’s agreement and support) to exchange sexual favours for money.
Sutcliffe picked up Jackson, who was soliciting outside the Gaiety pub on Roundhay Road, then drove about half a mile to some derelict buildings on Enfield Terrace in the Manor Industrial Estate.
Sutcliffe hit her on the head with a hammer, and then dragged her body into a rubbish strewn yard and used a sharpened screwdriver to stab her in the neck, chest and abdomen.
Sutcliffe stomped on her thigh, leaving behind an impression of his boot.
Irene Richardson
Age: 28
On February 5, 1977 Sutcliffe attacked Irene Richardson, a Chapeltown sex worker, in Roundhay Park.
Richardson was bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
Tyre tracks left near the murder scene resulted in a long list of possible suspect vehicles.
Patricia Atkinson
Age: 32
On April 23, 1977, Sutcliffe killed Patricia “Tina” Atkinson, a sex worker from Bradford.
He murdered her in her own flat, where police found a bootprint on the bedclothes.
Jayne McDonald
Age: 16
On June 26, 1977 Sutcliffe murdered 16-year-old Jayne MacDonald in Chapeltown.
She was not a sex worker which made locals concerned that the Ripper would attack any woman.
Her body was found at the Adventure playground in Reginald Street, Leeds.
Jean Jordan
Age: 20
On October 1, 1977 Sutcliffe murdered Jean Jordan, a sex worker from Manchester.
In a confession, Sutcliffe said he had realised the new £5 note he had given her was traceable.
After hosting a family party at his new home, he returned to the wasteland behind Manchester’s Southern Cemetery, where he had left the body, to retrieve the note.
Unable to find it, he mutilated Jordan’s corpse and moved it.
On October 9, 1977 Jordan’s body was discovered by local dairy worker and future actor Bruce Jones.
The £5 note, hidden in a secret compartment in Jordan’s handbag, was traced to branches of the Midland Bank in Shipley and Bingley.
Police analysis of bank operations allowed them to narrow their field of inquiry to 8,000 employees who could have received it in their wage packet.
Over three months the police interviewed 5,000 men, including Sutcliffe.
Yvonne Pearson
Age: 21
Sutcliffe’s next victim was Yvonne Pearson, a 21-year-old prostitute from Bradford who he murdered on January 21, 1978.
He repeatedly bludgeoned her about the head with a ball-peen hammer then jumped on her chest before stuffing horse-hair into her mouth from a discarded sofa under which he hid her body near Lumb Lane.
Her body was not found until March 26, 1978.
Helen Rytka
Age: 18
Next Sutcliffe killed Helen Rytka, an 18-year-old sex worker from Huddersfield.
He struck Rytka on the head five times as she exited his vehicle, before stripping most of the clothes from her body, before repeatedly stabbing her in the chest.
Her body was found three days later beneath railway arches in Garrards timber-yard to which he had driven her.
Vera Millward
Age: 40
Vera Millward was killed on May 16, 1978.
Her body was found at Grounds of Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Josephine Whitaker
Age: 19
On April 4, 1979, Sutcliffe killed Josephine Whitaker.
She was a 19-year-old building society clerk who he attacked on Savile Park Moor in Halifax as she was walking home.
Barbara Leach
Age: 20
On September 1, 1979, Sutcliffe murdered 20-year-old Barbara Leach, a Bradford University student.
Her body was dumped at the rear of 13 Ashgrove under a pile of bricks, close to the university and her lodgings.
Marguerite Walls
Age: 47
In April 1980, Sutcliffe was arrested for drink driving.
While awaiting trial, he killed two more women – one of which was 47-year-old Marguerite Walls on the night of August, 20, 1980,
Her body was found in the garden of a house in New Street, Farsley, Leeds.
Jacqueline Hill
Age: 20
Sutcliffe brutally murdered 20-year-old Jacqueline Hill, who was his last victim.
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She was a student at Leeds University.
He killed her on the night of November 17, 1980.
Hill’s body was found on wasteland near the Arndale Centre.