The Yorkshire Ripper faces mounting pressure (Part 2/3) | Forensic Files

[Music] Marilyn Moore ran away from home when she was 15 years old she married at 16
divorced at 19 and then started sex work she worked around London and Bradford before moving to Leeds Marilyn lived in
a town only about one mile away from the red-light district of Chapel town at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 14th of
December 1977 25 year-old Marilyn was working in Chapel 10 she saw a man in a car circling the area in order to get
noticed Marilyn walked towards him as soon as she was in his line of sight he got out
of the car and started talking to it they agreed on the standard price of 5 pounds Marilyn jumped into the front
passenger seat of his car before the men got in she noticed him waving to someone
on the street once inside the men told Marilyn he knew a quiet place he started to talk about himself he said his name
was David but that he preferred Dave Marilyn asked him who he was waving at before he got into the car and he said
it was his girlfriend Dave then told Marilyn about two sex workers from Chapel town who it was good friends with
Gloria and Hillary Marilyn had never met or heard of any women named Gloria or Hillary that worked in Chapel 10 they
only drove about one and a half miles they've stopped the car behind brown's factory in bustling thought lane it was
an abandoned lot Dave got out of the car and asked Marilyn to get in the backseat
Marilyn agreed and opened the front door and then walked to the rear door as soon
as Marilyn opened the rear door she was clubbed from behind she immediately fell
to the ground [Music] Marilyn screamed and put her arms over her head to try and protect us off the
attack continued until Marilyn was knocked unconscious a nearby dog started barking at the commotion and as thought
this is what frightened the Ripper off he got back into his car and took off at high speed Marilyn came to and managed
to stagger the Scott Hall Road which was nearby she approached a young couple who
were chatting there her head was bleeding badly and she asked them to call an ambulance
Marilyn was rushed to hospital where she was seen by a neurological surgeon the surgeon determined that Marilyn required
immediate surgery soon after being admitted to hospital David G the forensic pathologist who had been
working on the Ripper case since the very beginning attended to examine Oh Marilyn had eight wounds on her head one
had sunk the sculling to the brain so deeply that the neurosurgeon had to elevate the skull bone to relieve the
pressure all of the wounds were oval in shape Angie believed they'd been caused by a
hammer the wounds were very similar to those found on the other Ripper victims the next day two officers went to the
hospital to question Marilyn she was still recovering and in a very weak condition but she was able to describe
her attacker in astonishing detail he was a white male late 20s about five feet six inches tall with a stocky build
he had long dark curly hair a short full beard and what Marilyn referred to as a
Jason King mustache Jason King was a fictional character from a TV crime series that aired in the UK at the time
he had a droopy looking full moustache that ran down past the men's Marilyn also said the Ripper had brown eyes
bushy eyebrows and a Sun tanned complexion he was wearing a yellow shirt blue jeans and a dark-colored zip-up
lightweight coat Marilyn described him as being softly spoken furthermore she said he was good-looking
and he seemed to know it he was driving a maroon or dark-colored car detective Jim Hobson gave those details to the
press the Jason King description along with a photo field image of the suspect was highly publicized Hobson also added
that the Ripper was well acquainted with the back streets of chapel town given the react he took after picking Marilyn
up the Ripper had told Marilyn that his name was David and the police believed this might actually be his real name
they went back through all of the index cards listing the details of people that
had been checked out throughout the entire investigation that was over 175,000 people at this point I found
1037 men named David that had come up in one way or another and had already been
interviewed and eliminated they were all interviewed again and asked to provide alibis for the night Marilyn was
attacked nothing further came out of these interviews there was more than likely Dave wasn't the attack his real
name anyway sex workers were also questioned about Gloria and Hilary who the Ripper had told Marilyn he was
friends with but they didn't seem to exist either so the police focused on the car
Marilyn was able to provide a decent description Marone or dark-colored for doors with
two interior rear view mirrors at the crime scene where Marilyn was attacked police located tire tracks which they
made plaster casts of the tire tracks were very similar to those left at iron Richardson's murder
scene and after further analysis and taking into account Marilyn's description police reduced the list of
possible cars to eight five of those eight with different models of the BMC Farina Marilyn discharged herself from
hospital ten days after her attack Christmas Eve police asked her if she could come with them in city different
cars the so she could recognize the one she was in she didn't recognize the exact car but she was able to eliminate
three off that list of eight a few months later a senior lecturer in psychiatry at Leeds University was
called in to perform hypnosis on both Marilyn and Maureen long Maureen also survived the Ripper attack
which we covered in part one they had several sessions of hypnosis Maureen was never able to remember anything more
however Marilyn did she provided a second photo fit most of the previous features were still there but this time
she described their Ripper as having longer hair Marilyn also recalled seeing a cardboard box on the car's dashboard
with the letters T R or the problem was that after these hypnosis sessions Marilyn called the
police numerous times to tell the officers that she'd seen her attacker the police actually arrested two men
based on different sightings Marilyn reported both for similarities to the photo fit however they were eventually
eliminated from the investigation George Oldfield and Jim Hobson now started to doubt how good her memory and
description of the Ripper was although no attack had happened in Huddersfield which was 30 minutes away from Leeds
Oldfield ordered officers to start a covert operation near to record registration numbers Oldfield had now
put in place 33 different observation points there were about 100 officers in total across all the points working each
night to record every registration plate they saw there were 14 points in Chapel
town Leeds 12 in Manningham Bradford and an hour 7 in Huddersfield 30 minutes south of Leeds the officers would
dictate the plates they saw onto a tape recorder the tapes were then stored and kept for three months the idea being
that if a murder happened that would go back to that night and go through all of
the tapes to see what registrations were out and about it was common knowledge amongst the public this was going on and
sex workers tried to use it to their advantage telling clients that are being clocked by the police and that they had
better return them safely Oldfield was a big believer in this operation however it was in place in
chapel town the night marilyn was attacked it didn't help prevent her attack and it didn't help catch who did
Helen Rica had a Jamaican mother and a Polish father she was a twin and her parents also had another set of twins
for kids in total who were all eventually sent to foster homes the sets of twins were separated
however Helen remained with her twin sister Rita throughout the years they lived in various different homes in that
time at the age of 18 rita and helen moved into a flat together in Huddersfield Rita had been attending art school but
dropped out in her second year as she could no longer afford the fees helen had been working in a sweet factory in
another town but left her job behind to move in with Rita both started sex work around
Huddersfield at 9:00 p.m. on the 31st of January 1978 Helen and Rita were working
near a toilet block on Great Northern Street it was a popular place for sex workers two limousines approached them
and the drivers negotiated a price once they agreed the drivers asked them to wait while they went to the toilet when
they got back Rita entered one limousine and helen ends at the other at 9:25 p.m. helen was dropped
off back at the toilet block five minutes later Rita was dropped off but she couldn't see helen anywhere soon
after a man in a white sports car picked up Rita Rita directed him back to her and Helen's flat in the hope that helen
had gone back there but she wasn't Rita remained in the flat hoping Helen would return but she never did two days
later Rita decided to report Helen missing when she first made the report Rita didn't tell the police their occupation
or that they were on Great Northern Street but later that night Rita ended up telling the police everything and
this completely changed the way the police handled the case the report was escalated to urgent a 2:00 p.m. the
following day a police dog handler was searching Gerard's timber yard which was only 80 meters away from the toilet
block on Great Northern Street the timber yard was actually a common place where sex workers took clients the dog
handle was greeted by the foreman who helped him search the yard as I walking along the reef fence the
police dog got excited and started pulling hard at a leash the dog wanted to get a closer look at a stack of
timber next to a shed as the officer got closer he looked at the foreman and said
I think this is it Helen's body was found behind the stack of timber covered by a sheet of asbestos
and pieces of timber the dog handle are radioed for assistance and taped off the
entire timber yard while they are waiting the foreman told the dog handler that a few days prior some workers in
the yard had found black lace panties with dried blood on them they didn't think too much of it and nailed them to
a packing case as a joke they had also found a hand bag with a lighter which they had thrown out Helens scene became
the most attended during the investigation so far all of the lead detectives from all jurisdictions were
in attendance Oldfield of course along with the second in charge detective dick Holland
detective Jim Hobson was there as well as was detective Jack Ridgeway the officer in charge from Manchester and
detective John de Mol the officer in charge from Bradford Helens jumper had been pulled up to expose her body she
had six wounds on her head most of which caused fractures she also had multiple stab wounds to her chest
Helen's body had actually been well concealed by the Ripper and they had difficulty removing her from the scene G
concluded that Helen had actually been killed somewhere else and then her body had been left at that location for some
time the Ripper then moved Helens body to the timber yard and concealed it after that the Ripper had returned to a
crime scene and moved a victim's body before but he had never tried to conceal a body there was after Helens murder
that the media first referred to him as the Yorkshire Ripper Oldfield attended a
press conference and pleaded with the public he said the Ripper is someone's neighbour and he is someone's husband or
son someone has to know him the police focused on men who had attended the toilet block on Great Northern Street
the night Helen was killed Oldfield made an appeal for any man who was there that night to come forward he
insisted that he wasn't worried about anyone's morals all he wanted was to find the killer they did learn of a
peeping tom who used to follow sex workers and watch them work from a distance in his van it turns out the
peeping tom was there that night he followed Rita not Helen and Helen was already gone when they returned the two
limousine drivers ended up coming forward they said that when they went to use the toilet there was a man waiting
in there he said to the drivers they tell me you can fall into Birds down here girls on the game one of the
drivers answered yes but those two outside a booked they're waiting for us you'll have to wait your turn until we
come back the drivers noted there was a two-ton Ford Granada parked at the block
and do they assume that vehicle belonged to the man police were convinced this strange man was the killer and made
house their house inquiries around the area in one of the houses a fourteen-year-old
girl explained that around 9:00 p.m. on the night Helen was killed she'd gone to
buy cigarettes for her mother from a nearby store while she was here a man in a two-ton Ford Granada stopped
next to her and said how much for a short time love to which she replied [ __ ] off the driver left but before he
did the girl wrote down his registration number on the pack of cigarettes she had
just bought the problem was by the time police knocked on their door her mother had already smoked them and
burnt the pack the officers pressed them hard to try and remember the registration between mother and daughter
that were able to come up with a series of numbers the officers ran these numbers through the police national
computer but they didn't get a match they tried flipping the numbers and tried different combinations until they
eventually got a hit for a two-ton Ford Granada Oldfield held a press conference
and asked the driver to come forward the appeal appeared in afternoon papers and
on local TV news programs the driver responded almost immediately he called in to the police
and said on the driver of the Ford Granada you're looking for I was down there that night but I'm not the
murderer I left when I couldn't find a woman the call was being traced then the officers did their best to keep him
talking they were trying to convince him to come to the police station to give a
statement but the driver was having none of it he said look I'm not the murderer
and I'm not coming to see you you'll have to [ __ ] find me and then hung up and find him they did he was in
Sheffield about 30 minutes south of Huddersfield they entered his house and arrested him in front of his wife who
had no idea what was happening he was questioned extensively but eventually eliminated from the
investigation he had a solid alibi for nights of the other murders the police was sure there's someone out
there had to know more so they announced a 10,000 parent reward for information that led to the capture and conviction
of the Yorkshire Ripper additional money was put forward by a local paper and other individuals and the reward was
eventually doubled to 20 there's a large amount of calls came in once the reward was announced detective
dick Holland was able to cover two walls with a large map of Great Northern street and Gerard's timber yard he
divided the map into 15-minute periods from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. with all the witnesses marked on there 20
officers were in charge of this map and they cross-checked every response from every witness throughout every minute of
those two hours from this they got a description of a man seen standing at the entrance of the timber yard he was
described as 30 years old well-built five feet eight inches tall wearing dark clothes police made a public appeal for
him to come forward when he didn't oldfield was sure he was the killer he appealed to him directly in a TV address
he said we are getting nearer and nearer to you and it's only a matter of time before you were caught in your own
interests in the interests of the relatives and friends of past victims in the interests of your own relatives and
friends and in the interests of any potential future victims it is now time for you to come forward and give
yourself up the net is closing I'm anxious that we catch you before your turn to add another DEATH to the
appalling catalog that you've already got to your credit unknown to Oldfield and everyone else the Ripper had already
struck again Yvonne Pearson was a 21 year old mother of two young children in 1977 she'd been arrested while working
on the streets of Menninger Bradford it was near the 21st of January 1978 Yvonne
was still on bail for this arrest and was due to appear in the magistrate's court in a few days that evening Yvonne
left her children with a babysitter while she had drinks at the Flying Dutchmen pub situated on Leeds Road at
9:30 p.m. she told a friend she was going off to earn some money everyone was never seen again and was
reported as a missing person a neighbor reported that a1 hadn't been looking very well lately and hadn't been
eating because she was so worried about her court appearance she suggested that maybe a Vaughn had harmed herself or run
away others said that a Vaughn might have gone to London to work but those who knew her best said a Vaughn idolized
their children and would never just leave them plus she hadn't taken any of her belongings with her all she had was
a small handbag and enough money for two drinks on Easter Sunday March 26 1978 two months after her disappearance a boy
called police after he saw a human arm sticking out of a sofa in an abandoned area of Bradford John de Mol was no
longer in charge of Bradford that role now belonged to and real a pitch the first thing he did was call forensic
pathologist David G to the scene alopecia had no doubt Vaughn was a ripper victim and he wanted to main
continuity in the investigation the first thing they noticed was that Yvonne had a copy of the Daily Mirror
newspaper under her right hand the paper was dated the 21st of February 1978 one
month after her disappearance they believed the Ripper had returned to the scene and placed the newspaper on
purpose one factor that they kept secret was that Yvonne had a ball of horsehair
placed in her throat to stop her from screaming black-ish believed that was a fact that only the killer would know so
they kept it to themselves G wrote in his report so badly damaged was the head that in order to reconstruct the actual
pattern of the fractures we had to rebuild the skull around a large ball of modelling clay so that it could be
photographed in roughly the form it must have been at death G didn't find any stab wounds or gross internal bleeding
like he did with the other victims G concluded that the head injuries were so severe that they couldn't have been
performed with a hammer but it had to be something heavier he wasn't immediately sure whether to
classify Yvonne as a Ripper victim but the detectives working the case had no doubts whatsoever
police searched the Von's home and found her client book they appealed for the men to come forward but not too many did
sex workers in Bradford were interviewed one of them said she's seen a Vaughn getting into a light-colored minivan
that noise she disappeared all vehicles registered in Bradford that fitted that description were checked and were
eventually eliminated another sex worker said that Yvonne was very careful before
getting into any car so what happened was strange she added we're going to get a shock when they eventually catch him
because we're sure he's going to be somebody we know and have seen around once or twice a week by near the Ripper
investigation had been going for two and a half years it had cost around 1.5 million pounds adjusting overtime
payments facilities and transport also crime in general had gone up 17% because of the amount of manpower and resources
that were dedicated to the Ripper case and it wasn't over yet Vera Millwood was born in Spain she moved to Manchester in
her teens and soon met a man whom she had five children with Vera later left the family home and started work as a
sex worker in my sight Manchester's red-light district she formed a new relationship and had two children with a
new partner they live together in a flat south of Manchester Bavaria was described as quiet and reserved and was
the evening of May 16th 1978 Vera was suffering from stomach pains she said she was going to the pub to buy
cigarettes and then she would go to Manchester hospital to get some tablets for the pain
when Veera hadn't returned home after 90 minutes her partner when he had to look
for her he couldn't stay out too long though as their children were alone in the flat
at 11:15 p.m. a man heard two screams for help and been a third scream that was cut off halfway through the man was
taking his son to Manchester hospital to get checked out and heard the screams in
the ground somewhere he assumed it was just a patient carrying on and he didn't think too much more of it at 8:00 a.m.
the next morning May 17th six gardeners arrived at the private wing of Manchester Hospital one of them saw what
he thought was a store dummy lying on the ground as he got closer he realized that was the body of a woman Veera
Millwood Jack Ridgeway who worked the previous Manchester murder of gene Jordan was in charge of the scene the
first thing they found were tire tracks close by to Vera's body Vera had suffered three blows to the head most
likely from a hammer these blows were extremely severe and would have caused death the wound on her chest was very
extensive and was from a very large weapon approximately 8 inches long Vera had said she was no longer involved in
sex work and hadn't been for around two years prior to her death however Ridgeway had his doubts the
place where Vera was found despite being private grounds of a hospital was actually a common place
where sex workers took clients of annoying plaster casts were made of the tire tracks located at the scene and
they were laid a match to the tracks found at the crime scenes of Maryland Moore and Doreen Richardson the
Yorkshire police were still convinced - those tires belonged to a Farina style of car based on their expert studies of
the tires and based on Marilyn's description but Manchester experts conclusively
ruled out the Farina the tires weren't available in that size for fariñas at the time of r-n Richardson's murder
Yorkshire police were looking for the wrong type of car a few months after Vera's murder Ridgeway went to Leeds and
told Oldfield about this discovery Ridgeway was quoted as saying I was convinced that George Oldfield was on
the wrong track and I told him but he would not have it at any price the only concession Oldfield made was to have the
tire evidence re-examined I told him we were not going to pursue the Farina inquiry but the West Yorkshire team
continued to believe the killer had probably been using a Farina style of car the problem Oldfield had was that at
this point he was already invested heavily on the fact that the Ripper was using a Farina car they had a master
index of all Farina vehicles registered in the area every time an officer spotted a Farina that was pulled over
and checked the tires were examined and any man driving the car who didn't have a strong alibi for one of the Ripper
murder dates was considered a possible suspect once a car had been checked it was crossed off the master index but the
Manchester Police conclusively ruled out the Farina there was a lot of wasted time going into that Farina inquiry
after Vera's murder police had linked two other attacks to the Ripper both of these attacks occurred before the first
murder of Wilma McCann Anna Raguse Key was born in 1941 in Ireland she had three brothers and eight sisters at the
age of 15 she left school and moved to Bradford to live with her older sister she got married when she was 16 and
divorced when she was 32 on Friday the 4th of July 1975 Anna had a fight with her new partner Jeff
and I left her flat in Keighley Bradford and went to a club for drinks she returned home about midnight and saw
that Jeff had packed up his belongings and left Jeff had his own flat in Kelly's town center at 2:00 a.m. and I
went to Jeff's flat and started banging on his door but he refused to open it and I then took off one of his shoes and
threw it at his window at 2:20 a.m. Anna was found in an alley only 20 meters away from Jeff's flat she was lying on
her back with severe head injuries part of her clothing was disturbed and nothing was stolen and I required
neurosurgery but was able to recover from the attack another attack occurred only six weeks after this olives smell
was born in Halifax West Yorkshire she lived with her mother until she married at the age of 21 olive moved only a
short distance away to live with her husband in the town above ndon in 1975 46 year-old olive was working as a
cleaner she enjoyed going out for drinks with friends on Friday night after work
on Friday the 15th of August she went to a pub called the white horse from there
they went to another pub the Royal Oak they finished there about 11:30 p.m. two friends gave Oliver lift from the
pub they dropped her about 400 meters away from their home she walked down Woodville Road and when she turned into
a narrow lane she noticed a man walking just behind her he spoke to her and said
weathers letting us down isn't it olive didn't respond the man hid olive to the back of her head knocking her to
the ground only moments later a car approached the driver saw olive lying face down with her skirt pulled up the
Ripper was nowhere to be seen the headlights of the car had scared him off and saved olives life the driver alerted
authorities and olive was rushed to Leeds hospital Olive suffered two depressed fractures on her skull she
also had two stab wounds on her lower back like the other Ripper attacks there were no signs of sexual assault
and nothing was stolen although at one point olive wasn't expected to live she did survive Anna and olives attacks were
officially added to the Ripper investigation three years later in August 1978 for the rest of 78 and the
early months of 79 there were no new attacks had the Ripper moved away had he been arrested on another charge
was he dead people started to wonder if the Ripper attacks were over they weren't Josephine Whittaker was born in
December 1959 until the age of four Josephine lived with her mother and grandparents her mother remarried and
had two sons with a new husband however they later divorced before Josephine's mother settled with a new men and they
moved into a place together on Ivy Street in Halifax at the age of 18 Josephine finished
school and started working as a clerk at the head office of the Halifax Building
Society she also had a part-time job behind the bar at a hotel Josephine was kind
thoughtful and considerate she loved horses and dreamed of getting married and starting a family she was
briefly engaged at one point but it didn't work out more than anything Josephine loved her grandparents and
visited them every Sunday without fail on Wednesday evening the fourth of April 1979 19 year-old Josephine finished work
and headed home when she arrived home she had an argument with her mother the argument was over a fishtank Josephine
owned and of the cost of electricity to maintain ten minutes into the fire Josephine
stormed off to her bedroom and after an hour she put on a coat and left the house to walk to her grandparents her
grandparents place was located about one mile away when Josephine arrived only her grandfather was home they chatted
and watched television together at 9:00 p.m. the news came on the prime minister
at Pakistan had just been executed Josephine got sad and told her grandfather nobody deserves to die like
that no matter what they've done no one had the right to kill someone else even if they were murderers her grandfather
then asked her what about the Yorkshire Ripper Josephine replied not even he should be
killed when he was caught Josephine's grandmother arrived home about 11:00 p.m. they chatted briefly before
Josephine said she was heading home her grandparents told her she should stay with them as it was getting late
Josephine declined their offer and promised to see them that Sunday before heading out the door at 6:30 a.m. the
next morning a woman on her way to work was waiting for a bus in free-school lane next to several park in Halifax she
first saw a Brienne leather shoe then she noticed what she thought was a pile of clothes but as she walked over to
investigate she realized that was the body of a woman Josephine Whittaker the first officer
who arrived noticed drag marks going from the end of several Park to where Josephine's body was found
Josephine's clothing had been disarranged and her injuries led the officer to have no doubt Josephine was a
Ripper victim he immediately called Oldfield to alert him Oldfield sent his second in charge d :
and forensic pathologist David G Josephine's thirteen year old brother was out delivering newspapers that
morning he rode past the crime scene and recognized Josephine shoes on the ground
he immediately raced home to raise the alarm Josephine's mother didn't believe it and
raced upstairs to check if Josephine in her bed when she wasn't she frantically caught the police Josephine
had several fractures on her skull which again she believed were caused by a hammer Josephine had also suffered
multiple stab wounds G determined these woman's had been caused by a new weapon that hadn't been used before the weapon
had caused triangular wounds with rounded corners GFE and tiny flecks of material from the weapon in some of the
wounds after a microscopic examination he saw these flecks were traces of a kind of emery powder which suggests that
the killer might be some kind of Engineering they also found another boot print next
to Josephine's body an industrial-sized seven boot the print was very similar to
the prints found at the crime scenes of Emilie Jackson and Patricia Atkinson but
on this particular print the sole was worn experts were consulted and did they determined that the Ripper operated
machinery of some kind further investigation revealed that this particular type of boot was issued to
the Army Air Force and - - Josephine also had a bite mark on her breast the mark suggests that two-g that the man
had a 1/8 of an inch of gap in his upper front teeth we need to go back to part one here we talked about a woman named -
Jane Harrison she was murdered in a garage at Preston police at the time considered the possibility she was a
ripper victim but ruled it out as there were too many inconsistencies no stab wounds being the main one
well they had since reviewed that decision and had now changed their minds John Harrison was now officially listed
as a Ripper victim and she had suffered a very similar bite mark on her breast she tried to discover the different
weapon that had been used in Josephine's murder he visited many different towns in West Yorkshire and collected
different types of tools from small engineering factories and from slaughterhouses the closest he got to
reproducing the stab wounds was with an engineer's scraper but not even that was
an exact match witnesses started to come forward with information about Josephine's murder one man said he'd
been out walking his dog shortly before midnight he saw a woman walking in the direction of civil Road with a man by
her side men hadn't shaven for four or five days and had stubble on his chin police believed this was the Ripper
another witness said he heard an unusual voice that night either a laugh or wail
the type of noise that makes your hair stand on end he followed this noise and looked over to where Josephine's body
was later found he saw a figure or figures 30 seconds later he heard the sound again the figure was still there
but the witness eventually decided not to make anything of it and went home to bed a woman came forward who was walking
to a bus stop in the city centre about 9:00 p.m. a man pulled up next to her out of nowhere driving a Ford Escort he
offered her a lift but quickly drove away when he saw a reaction the woman provided the following description of
the man aged around 30 greasy collar length hair cold at the ends with a square face and jaw and most importantly
she said he had a droopy Jason King style mustache the exact same description Marilyn Moore gave after her
attack police began searching for the Ford Escort but at the same time Oldfield was
downplaying the description at a press conference he said don't jump to the conclusion that this is the river there
was a lot more information that came in from the public as well 1000 calls offering information were registered
within the first few days this was a significant change from most of the other attacks Oldfield held another
press conference and gave the following profile of the river he said he was white between 30 to
35 years of age at least average to above average height a manual worker either skilled or semi schooled with an
engineering or mechanical connection possibly a skilled machine tool fitter electrical or maintenance engineer he
lives or works in West Yorkshire or in close proximity to that area and in all probability lives alone or with the aged
parents and he has some connections with the Northeast apart from giving out this
description detectives started contacting engineering companies in Yorkshire and the Northeast wanting to
know of any employees who were in Sunderland two hours north of Leeds on specific dates the 7th 8th 12th and 13th
of March 1978 and the 22nd and 23rd of March 1979 the reason they wanted to know these specific dates was because a
man claiming to be the Ripper had been sending letters this was a fact that hadn't been made public yet the police
decided to keep the information very guarded the letters were sent from Sunderland the first one was addressed
to George Oldfield at Red Deer sir I'm sorry I cannot give you my name for obvious reasons
I am the Ripper I've been dubbed a maniac by the press but not by you you call me clever and I am you and your
mates haven't a clue the letter went on to say that his sole purpose was to rid the streets of who he called [ __ ] and
that his only regret was 16 year old Jane MacDonald since he changed his routine that night he also teased the
Oldfield saying that they had forgotten to include Preston 75 which was referencing John Harrison's murder
he told Oldfield not to bother to look for him in Sunderland because that was where that letter was postmarked he
wasn't that stupid and he wouldn't send the letter from where he was he finished
with the last paragraph that read worn [ __ ] to keep off streets because I feel it coming on again sorry about
young lassie he always respectfully Jack the Ripper the second letter was sent a
few days later to the Daily Mirror newspaper and it was addressed to the editor in essence that said more or less
the same things and I'm using words that he used in his letter here he said he had already written to Oldfield and
warned him to tell the [ __ ] to get off the streets he also mentioned how [ __ ]
never learned and is still out there even after all the murders and since there were so many young girls he might
go for an older one next time perhaps in Manchester or Liverpool after these letters Oldfield was interested in two
references one made in each in the first letter it was the reference to Jane Harrison's murder since he was positive
that nobody had publicly linked to Joan to the Ripper murders in the second letter it was the reference of killing
an older victim in Manchester or Liverpool the letters were sent in early March 1978 and the next victim murdered
after these letters was 40 year old Vera Millwood in Manchester still even though
Oldfield considered these references important he didn't see many other clues at the time so he put them aside and no
one ever made public it wasn't until the third letter sent a year later in late March 79 that Oldfield decided to get to
the bottom of them the third letter arrived 12 days before Josephine's murder and it was again addressed to
Oldfield it was also sent from Sunderland the writer of the letter said that when he mentioned he'd striking
Manchester next and kill an older woman they should have listened he also said that before he killed Vera she mentioned
to him that she had previously been treated at the Manchester hospital this line was what struck a chord with
Oldfield he believed only the killer could have known that Vera had medical treatment at the hospital where she was
killed and Oldfield also thought back to the ref of John Harrison in the first letter
these two things combined with the fact that the author of the letter predicted a killing in Manchester of an older
woman led Oldfield to believe the letters were actually authentic and sent from the Yorkshire Ripper the envelope
was sent for forensic testing and traces of saliva showed that the envelope had been licked by a man who was blood group
B blood group B was found at the crime scene of John Harrison the letter also said he would strike again soon
and the Josephine Whitaker was murdered only 12 days later a bite mark was found
on her body that was very similar to a bite mark found on John Harrison this was all Oldfield needed he was now
convinced the letters were authentic and were sent by the Yorkshire Ripper in May
79 Oldfield announced they were close to catching him when Sunderland police heard that Oldfield now believed that
the Ripper had been in Sunderland because of the letters they sent detectives to West Yorkshire to be
briefed Oldfield explained to them the discoveries they had made with the blood group and the predictions that appeared
in the letters Sunderland officers were given the task of checking local firms for employees based in Yorkshire who
were in Sunderland when the letters were posted for each employee that was traced
a handwriting sample had to be obtained the sample was then sent off for analysis to be compared to the letters
received by the river in a matter of weeks 200 employees had been traced about one third of them provided a
statement and an alibi Sunderland police tried their best to pinpoint the exact location in
Sunderland where the letters were posted but this proved to be an impossible task
Oldfield steered the Ripper investigation full-swing into the letters and it wasn't long before he got
another package in mid June 1979 a tape arrived and was signed Jack the Ripper I'm Jack I see look at him
I have the greatest respect for you George with the Lord the one one neighbor touching me now I'm four years
ago when I started I reckon your bones are letting you down George they can't be much good and the the only
time they came near touching me was a few months back in seventh and when I was disturbed I want you in March that I
started the interview sorry it wasn't record I'm not quite sure when I strike again pudding will be definitely now
this year I'm not sure well maybe Manchester I like that there's plenty of them nothing about me you never learn do
there George I bet you've warned them would be never listen well it'd be nice chatting George does Chuck know about
him the tape had also been sent from Sunderland and the handwriting on the envelope was a match to the letters the
envelope had again been licked by a B group secrete off one curious detail found on the tape was that it had faint
scratches on the outer plastic surface which indicated the label had been scraped off the cassette had a small
hole on one edge and on the inside of this hole there were more scratches which indicated the cassette was opened
and reassembled there were gaps of silence during the talking and further analysis showed these gaps were because
the tape had been stopped and started on many occasions there was a chance that it had been produced on more than one
tape recorder at the very end of the recording there was a song for George Oldfield called thank you for being a
friend by Andrew gold on the 26th of June 1979 a press conference was held Oldfield played the tape for everyone in
the room and after it he announced this was the breakthrough they'd been looking
for he was so confident the tape was from the Ripper that he said I hope he sends his photograph next time with his
address on the back reporters commented that the me the tape had a Geordie sounding accent
that evening the tape was played across the country on radio and TV and a free phone number allowed people to call in
and hear it again in less than 24 hours 700 people had called hotlines in Halifax Leeds and Sunderland claiming
they knew who the voice belonged to and as time went on the number of people that caught in only grew this took up a
large amount of police time as every person that was named had to be checked out police - in local pubs offices
factories and social clubs playing the tape in the hope someone would recognise the voice Oldfield also released brief
extracts from the letters in the hope someone would recognize the handwriting the tape and letters worth played and
displayed all over the north of England when the letters were released detectives a christen from Sunderland
read a newspaper report where the journalist claimed these letters from the Yorkshire Ripper copied the style
and wording of the Jack the Ripper letters from the late 1800s Zack resan arranged to get copies of the
Jack the Ripper letters and upon studying them he realized the journalist was on to something so Zack erson did a
little more digging meanwhile a specialist team of 15 officers with training in handwriting analysis
screamed more than 100,000 written applications for local council houses and 7,500 letters from men on probation
if any writing was considered suspect then the samples were sent away for more expert analysis other officers were
placed in the main postal sorting offices of Sunderland they had to check every letter in case they found a new
Ripper letter this way they would be able to catch it before it was sent so they would be able to determine where
exactly it had been posted from they would end up checking a total of around 15 million letters Sunderland police and
West Yorkshire Police were taking different approaches during this phase of the investigation West Yorkshire
completely eliminated suspects from the investigation on the grounds that their voice and handwriting didn't match where
Sunderland police didn't eliminate them completely from the investigation they had the view that just because
somebody's handwriting didn't match the letters or the voice on the tape didn't mean that person wasn't the Ripper
Sunderland police weren't convinced the letters or the tape were authentic especially when they discovered the
similarities to the Jack the Ripper letters from the 1800s Oldfield though was certain and he continued full steam
ahead eliminating people based solely on the letters and tape Oldfield sought the
help of stanley Ellis who worked for the mi5 British security service he was an expert in phonetics and dialect
he toured the north of England with two tape recorders one he used to play people the Ripper tape the other he used
to record different dialects they went through small towns and villages until they reached two particular towns where
the residents recognized the dialect on the tape as their own these towns were Southwick and to castle town about 1
hour and 40 minutes north of Leeds Sunderland police began making house they house inquiries in those two towns
boyars Eckerson had done some more digging into the letters he found too alarming pieces of information the first
were numerous newspaper reports that had published the fact veeram Elwood had previously had an operation at
Manchester hospital where she was killed this was a fact that Oldfield believed only the killer could know but it was
actually common knowledge Zach resan also founded newspaper reports that had publicly discussed the
possibility of John Harrison being a victim of the river these reports were published one year before the letters
were sent again this was a piece of information that Oldfield said hadn't been made public yet and only the killer
could know and finally the Zach resan realized something that Oldfield and Dick Holland
and everybody else on their team had missed the first letter was sent in early March 78 it teased Oldfield saying
that he was wrong about there being seven Ripper murders they were actually eight because they had forgotten press
than 75 john harrison well what had been missed by everyone up to this point was
that if you included Jane Harrison's murder then there were actually nine von Pearson was killed in January 78 but her
body wasn't found until two months later after the first two letters had already
been sent if the letter Ryder really was the Ripper he would have known about it
Vaughn's murder and he would have included her murder on to his tally but he didn't mention it at all
proving he had no knowledge of Avon's murder until she was found Zach erson couldn't believe what he had found the
letters the tape they were hoaxes the problem was that Zach resan wasn't sure what to do with this information
he didn't want to make Oldfield or West Yorkshire police seem like fools they had made the letters and tape the
primary focus of the investigation at this point he ended up deciding to write a report
for his bosses and leave it up to them to decide what to do other Sunderland officers were convinced as a person was
right they started having friendly informal chats with their colleagues from West Yorkshire in the hope they
could make them see what was glaringly obvious and that it would in turn filter back to Oldfield they preferred this
approach than coming out publicly and humiliating Oldfield [Music] sundaland police had by now searched
around 5,000 homes in the area where they believed the dialect on the tape came from around 130,000 names had been
checked on birth registers and school registers with all these names they ran further checks to say any of those men
had later moved to Yorkshire and all that work had been for nothing it was based on a hoax in late August 79
George Oldfield suffered a heart attack and had to be hospitalized the investigation was wearing on him he
survived but two weeks later another victim was dead Barbara leach was born in Northampton she Barbara was a
dedicated student who strived to earn the best grade she could to qualify her for a good university she ended up being
accepted to Bradford University where she studied humanities and economics she also had a job she worked on weekends
and through uni holidays she enjoyed horse riding dancing and having fun with her close circle of friends on Saturday
night the 1st of September 1979 20 year-old Barbara went to the Manville arms parlor with a group of friends it
was located only around the corner from where she lived they finished up at the pub around
12:40 a.m. it started raining outside and one of Barbara's friends offered her a ride home
Barbara thanked her but said she felt like walking her friends waved goodbye and promised to catch up again soon
Barbara never made it home and was reported missing the next afternoon at 3:55 p.m. on Monday the 3rd of September
a police officer who was searching an open yard behind a house opposite Bradford University found a Barbara's
body under an old carpet covered by stones she'd been deliberately hidden by the
river the alarm was raised and when David G arrived he had difficulty moving Barbara's body due to the way she had
been hidden her clothes and bra had been pulled up and her jeans had been undone
like the other victims Barbara suffered fractures to her head and multiple stab wounds
she found black material in some of Barbara's wounds which he believed was grease she concluded that Barbara had
been hit in the head from behind with a hammer after that she was stabbed and then dragged to the place where her body
was found as oldfield was still recovering from his heart attack dick Holland now became the man in
charge another senior detective was brought in to assist Holland Peter Gill reign from Wakefield Gil reign believes
that someone must have seen the killer either approaching or leaving the area and he wanted to concentrate on
identifying witnesses and encouraging them to come forward the main witness for this murder reported seeing a man
putting some kind of bundle into a green Hillman Avenger that was parked near the
crime scene he was described as white in his early 30s with an athletic build short dark hair and a thin dark mustache
Barbara is investigation then went down the same path as the others police concentrated on the car but had no luck
identifying it they made numerous house-to-house visits interviewed a lot of people took a lot of statements and
it all led nowhere people started to doubt if the Yorkshire Ripper would ever be caught newspapers
started a campaign to have Scotland Yard called in to take over the investigation
Scotland Yard being the Metropolitan Police Service one of the largest police forces in the english-speaking world and
of the police force that covers most of London 1 Yorkshire detective replied to this campaign saying
Scotland Yard having caught Jack the Ripper yet what makes you think they will come up here and catch our
Yorkshire Ripper another newspaper donated a further five thousand pounds to the reward for the capture of the
Ripper the total reward now being 25 thousand pounds self-defence classes for women when they are taking off many
carried knives and other weapons for protection and many businesses made arrangements to transport female workers
at night people were terrified the Ripper was no longer solely targeting sex workers the
worrying thing now is that he's pulled out of the red-light areas where is operating in the past which makes it now
that any woman at risk dick Holland released the report to all police forces in England it included
detailed information on all Ripper attacks which now totaled 16 the report focused heavily on the tire tracks the
letters and the tape recording Yorkshire Police were still running with the theory that the letters in tape were
authentic the report also gave clear instructions as the winner suspect could be eliminated if he wasn't born between
the years 1924-1930 9 if his shoe size was 9 or higher if his blood group wasn't B if he didn't have a northern
accent or if his handwriting didn't match the Ripper letters many police disagreed with dick Holland and
considered it a disaster as tactic to eliminate people just because their handwriting didn't match or because they
didn't have the right accent especially considering what had been uncovered by Zack resan and it was only the day after
Holland released this report that the tape and the letters would finally fall apart once and for all a man with the
same voice as the one on the tape called Sunderland police and said tell him it's
a fake when he was asked what's a fake he replied the tape recording the call was then ended
and it was at this time that Zack resan completed his 9 page report titled commentary on the Ripper letters and
tape and it was also at this time that forensic officers 100% ruled out John Harrison as being a victim of the
Yorkshire Ripper so the evidence found at her crime scene from her killer that identified him as being blood group B
was no longer relevant to the Ripper she had a different killer after all this detective Gill rain acted fast in issued
instructions their suspects now could no longer be eliminated because of their accent or the fact they weren't blood
group B or because their handwriting didn't match but the damage had already been done it was a complete disaster and
unbelievably Ronald Gregory the Chief Constable of the West Yorkshire Police Oldfield's boss remained at the forum he
launched a massive publicity campaign which cost around 1 million pounds the campaign ran across newspapers TV and
radio and focused heavily on the letters and tape during this campaign that ran until the end of 79 300 newspapers rent
stories featuring the letters 5500 billboards were displayed featuring the writing on the letters and - the tape
was played nilly on a continuous cycle on radio and TV Gregory even organized their own
full-page newspaper to be printed featuring the information on the tape and letters two million copies of the
paper were distributed all over the north of England and of course all this new publicity created a massive response
from the public over 19,000 calls were registered in total and the information from all those calls had to be checked
out all this while other police were still trying to track down cars others were still out recording registrations
others were participating in the thousands of house-to-house door knocks and checking birth records and running
other checks the different police jurisdictions were eliminating suspects based on different criteria
was it the Bible to forensic scientists who had assisted in most of the murders up to this point
we're trying to help centralize the investigation again and get it back on track they put a chart up on the wall in
the main incident room the chart had two columns the first was titled what we know about the Ripper
the second was titled what we think we know about the Ripper in the first column there was nothing in the second
column there was very little at different times detectives would walk in see the chart on the wall and say bloody
hell you're right after he's failed publicity campaign with the letters and tape
Ronald Gregory went to Scotland Yard in London and met with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner the Commissioner
offered to send two of his top detectives to Leeds to give an objective opinion on the investigation the first
thing the to Scotland Yard detectives pointed out was that everyone was dealing with too much paperwork that had
been a direction of Oldfield when he first took charge of the investigation Scotland Yard recommended to streamline
the whole paperwork process they said detectives needed to be focused on the case not filing paperwork they also said
that suspects definitely should not be eliminated from the investigation just because their handwriting didn't match
the letters or their voice didn't match the tape finally they recommended that Oldfield be removed from the case
completely removing Oldfield was the only recommendation the Yorkshire Police took on board they still continued to
eliminate suspects because their handwriting or voice didn't match Peter Gill rain who had been called in to
assist dick Holland while Oldfield was in hospital was now put in overall command of the investigation
Oldfield returned to his assistant chief constables office in the New Year 1980 he no longer had anything to do with the
Ripper investigation his only hope being that he would see the Ripper court before he retired
meanwhile back in Manchester detective Jack Ridgeway was still investigating the Manchester murders he was still of
the belief that the best way to catch the Ripper was to follow the new five-pound note that was found at Jean
Jordans crime scene there were six thousand people that could have potentially been in possession of this
new note Ridgeway appealed to Kilrain to provide manpower to help him interview these people but Gil rein had no men
left the offer he told Ridgeway that if he could narrow down the list from 6,000 to something
more manageable than he might be able to help Ridgeway had a meeting with a senior
official from the Bank of England he wanted to understand the process through which the money was produced and then
distributed he had been able to work out that 25,000 pounds was distributed to the Midland Bank in Shipley and it was
from that 25,000 pound that the killer got the five pound note left that June Jordans murder that 25,000 pounds was
then sent to various businesses which was used for payroll but Ridgeway could only narrow it down to six thousand
employees from over a hundred companies who could have possibly been in possession of the note so seeing your
bank officials agreed to do something extraordinary to help the investigation they did an exact reprinting of the
bundle of five-pound notes that were sent to Midland Bank and Shipley two years prior
this would allow Ridgeway to follow the money from the very beginning Ridgeway met up with the chief cashier
of the Midland Bank at Shipley the cashier explained the process of how money in the bank was handled Ridgeway
then spent weeks working in secret from 5:00 p.m. until 11 p.m. every night reproducing the movements every cashier
in the bank made with the money when they got to the point where the reprint of jean jordan's five-pound note came
out of the bank Ridgeway followed the note and his plan paid off he was able to narrow the list
down from six thousand people to two hundred and forty-one a new line of inquiry was set up to
interview these two hundred and forty-one people Garre now agreed to provide manpower in the Manchester
detectives worked in pairs with West Yorkshire detectives Ridgeway instructed that houses garages and vehicles had to
be thoroughly searched and if anyone didn't satisfy them they could take them in for questioning people could only be
eliminated if they had a verifiable alibi and Ridgeway was very clear on the fact that no suspect could be eliminated
on the basis of handwriting or accent there was a promising lead Ridgeway had high hopes that would pay
off but nothing came of it and the Ripper struck again Margaret walls was born in 1943 in Lincolnshire a few years
later she moved with her family to Northern Ireland after school she had a few jobs before joining the woman's
royal army courts she reached the rank of sergeant and left after five years at 25 she joined the civil service in
Northern Ireland and Dement transferred to London from London she moved to Leicester she was in a long-term
relationship with a man but never married from Leicester marguerite moved to putzie a town located between Leeds
and Bradford on Wednesday the 20th of August 1980 47 year-old marguerite stayed back late at work she didn't
leave her office until 10:45 p.m. Margaret's home was a 1 and a half mile walk away from her office but she never
made it at 9:00 a.m. the next morning a couple in charge of the Clermont gardens
in new street putzie entered the grounds 10 meters from the entrance they found a
pair of women's shoes scattered throughout the grounds they also found a torn skirt a leather shopping bag and a
checkbook alarmed the couple called the police the police found Marguerite next to a
garage she was lying face down and virtually naked with more clothes lying by her side she also had a leg
- marker around her neck Marguerite had bruising on her knuckles from punching her attacker
she suffered two wounds to the head and three of her ribs were fractured but there were no stab wounds Marguerite had
been strangled as a result of this murder a decision was made to abandon the covert operations that were still
running in chapel town and Manning him the Ripper was clearly no longer looking for victims there much like the other
murders the police came up empty and one month later the Ripper struck again open
J Bend era was a doctor from Singapore that was attending lead to University for a postgraduate course in Health
Service studies after she won a scholarship from the World Health Organisation have you at 11:00 p.m. on
the 24th of September 1980 34 year-old a pager left her friend's house to make the walk back home as she was turning
into Chapel lane she heard footsteps behind her she moved over to let the person walk by and as she was doing so
she got a glance of a man with a beard suddenly she felt a thick rope around her neck and then lost consciousness
when she woke up there was a policeman bending over her the headlights from the officers car had scared the Ripper off
and save a Paget's life although the officer never actually saw the attack or the Ripper as he was too far away her
pages head was bleeding and the cardigan she was wearing had been pulled up around her head she was taken to Leeds
Hospital there was an arc shaped laceration to the back of the head caused by a hammer injuries to her face
and bruising around her neck police came up empty and five weeks later the Ripper
struck again an 8 p.m. on the 5th of November 1980 16 year old Teresa Sykes left her house to buy cigarettes at a
store close to her home in Huddersfield as she was walking past the police station she noticed the men in a
telephone box who wasn't using the phone she found it odd but didn't make too much more of it
she bought the cigarettes and on her way back home she heard someone walking behind her when she turned around she
saw it was the man she'd sing in the telephone box they men quickly veered onto a different path and walked off
when he noticed the razor looking at him Theresa kept heading for home but it wasn't long until she noticed the shadow
creeping up behind her Theresa was only just outside her house when she was struck in the head from behind Theresa's
boyfriend James actually saw the attack he was looking out of the window at fireworks he ran out of the house and
screamed Theresa the Ripper ran off but James gave chase when they reached the junction of streets James you're dear
I'll [ __ ] kill you but he lost him not long after that meanwhile a neighbor heard the screams and walked outside to
see what was going on when they found Theresa they picked her up and carried her inside the police were then called
Theresa's head was covered in blood she was rushed to hospital and required brain surgery she remained in hospital
for five weeks but survived deep Holland went to the scene and together with local officers and a police dog they
conducted a search they picked up a bit of a scent but found nothing useful they
refused to link to raise his attack to the ripper at that time detective stating it was a local incident and a
local man was involved and all the talk that Theresa was attacked by the Ripper was just making it more difficult to
catch her assailant but other detectives on the Ripper investigation had no doubt
it was the work of the river they even told Teresa's parents this but told them not to go to the media with the
information and 12 days later the Ripper struck again Jacqueline Hill was from Middlesbrough
one hour and 20 minutes north of Leeds she was a Sunday school teacher and was interested in pursuing a career in
social work she was engaged to be married to an RAF technician and was thought of as kind-hearted someone who
thought the best of everyone and had nothing but love to give on Monday the 17th of November 1980 20 year-old
Jacqueline was returning home from a seminar she was on the number 1 bus which left her outside the Arndale
Centre in Headingley close by de where she lived but she never made it home at 10 p.m. that night a man fee under
Jacqueline's handbag inside was some money and Jacqueline's university card the student tried to hand her handbag
into the University Office but no one was there so he took it home with him when he got home he had another look
inside the bag and this time he found a blood he immediately called the police the call was logged at 12:03 a.m. the
sergeant on duty made a comment this will be the Ripper's 13th victim at 12:12 a.m. - officers inspected the area
where Jacqueline's handbag had been found they didn't find anything and at 12:30 a.m. they were called away to
another job at 10:00 a.m. later that morning a shop manager who was entering the car park
behind at the shopping complex at the Arndale Centre found Jacqueline lying on her back with the jeans pulled down and
a coat covering her when David G arrived at the crime scene he saw her bra had been pulled up and a silver heart-shaped
locket was in her hair if he owned several lacerations to her head made with a hammer and in numerous stab
wounds believed to be either from a chisel or a screwdriver G believed the actual place she was killed was 30
metres away the Ripper had been dragged her into the car park the sergeant on duty who answered the call that night
was right Jacqueline was the Ripper's 13th murder victim witnesses came board and police chased more leads this time
looking for a square-shaped car and a man wearing a black jacket with a mustache but nothing ever came of those
leads the media heavily criticized the police with this one the place where the two officers were searching where
Jacqueline's handbag was found was very close to where her body was later found the public joined in on the criticism
and there were actually protests begging Scotland Yard to take over the case Ronald Gregory came out and said these
protests were only undermining the morale of the force Doreen Hill Jacqueline's mother made a
television appeal she said I want to ask everyone not just in Leeds or around Leeds but all over the country to help
us find the person who killed my daughter please think perhaps he lives in your house he could live in a mansion in a
block of flats or down the street he lives somewhere he works for someone please think the biggest reaction to
this appeal came from Margaret Thatcher England's Prime Minister she called the Home Secretary and offered to go to
Leeds and take over the investigation because it was clean nobody else cared about these murders the Home Secretary
is a senior member of government responsible for crime he tried to calm me down and ended up making some calls as a
result there was another change detective Jim Hobson who had been in charge much earlier on in the
investigation was now officially back in charge four of the best detectives in England were hand-picked and sent to
Leeds to assist Hobson along with the leading forensic scientists in England this new team were referred to as the
best brains in the Police Service Hobson also consulted with Scotland Yard again and this time he took on board
their recommendations information was prioritized and the dedication the paperwork collecting was cut back the
first thing the new team of detectives did was to officially declare the letters and the tape a hoax but because
the letters and the voice were so deeply ingrained into people it was actually hard to convince them that it was a hoax
they had to try and work out a way to convince people to stop looking for that voice the next thing they did was a tour
through all of the crime scenes from this they came to the conclusion that the Ripper was from Bradford they
believed Barbara leaches murder was an opportunistic attack while he was standing at the scene one of the
detectives said the Ripper lives in Bradford and he did it going home the forensic scientists then drew up a
map which he believed show geographically the river was from Bradford Bradford was at the center of
all of the attacks what they referred to as the centre of gravity at that time that wasn't a common tool used by
investigators but today it is widely used it's something the police did back in the Frankston serial killing case we
covered the idea is that killers use a certain distance to move from one killing to another and that the more
they kill the closer to home they tend to get their house tends to be at the center of gravity right in the middle
another thing they noticed was that the attacks that happened near Bradford were
done later at night whereas the attacks that happened further away were committed earlier establishing that the
Ripper did them earlier because he knew he needed the time to return home in order not to raise any suspicions
the team presented this theory to Ronald Gregory just before Christmas December 1980 they also made 14 other key
recommendations for the entire investigation they were right the Ripper was from Bradford but would Gregory
listen would the Ripper be stopped before he had a chance to kill again well I think the time had come you might
say the time had come a few murders ago but it's certainly come for a rethink about the whole investigation and
currency in it just yet [Music] you

Case 37: The Yorkshire Ripper (Part 2)

[Part 2 of 3]

West Yorkshire is a county in England that has a population of over 2 million people. It covers an area of over 2,000 km² and is formed by five cities: Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale. Each one of these cities has its own history, its own identity, and its own voice…

But during the 1970’s, they were all united. The residents of each city were looking over their shoulders, praying they wouldn’t be the next victim, in one man’s reign of terror who the press named, “The Yorkshire Ripper.”

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research, writing – Victoria Dieffenbacher Writing – Anonymous Host Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

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Brief Summary

The episode details the Yorkshire Ripper's attacks on sex workers and the police investigation challenges.

Key points

Marilyn's Attack. Marilyn Moore was brutally attacked by a man she thought was a client.
Helen's Disappearance. Rita reported her twin sister Helen missing after she didn't return home.
Discovery of Yvonne's Body. Yvonne Pearson's remains were found two months after her disappearance, confirming her as a Ripper victim.
Vera Millwood's Tragic End. Vera Millwood was found dead after suffering severe injuries, raising concerns about the Ripper's identity.
Josephine Whittaker's Murder. Josephine Whittaker's body was discovered with signs of a brutal attack, linking her to the Ripper.
The Ripper's Letters. Letters from the Ripper taunt police, revealing his intentions and mocking their efforts.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I think this is it.

Police dog handler's reaction upon discovering Helen's body.

11:30WatchNov 19, 2018

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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