Decades later Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper is still one of Britain’s most infamous serial killers. Their crimes, between 1975 and 1980, shocked the nation. Specially, those in the communities of West Yorkshire and Manchester. The gruesome details of his crimes still captivate the public imagination. Most recently as part of the police manhunt dramatized in TV series The Long Shadow.
Early Life and Background
Peter Sutcliffe was an unremarkable man from Bingley, West Yorkshire, born in 1946. He married Sonia Szurma in 1974, whom he would remain with through all his years of brutality and behind bars. Though on the surface a mobile truck driver, Sutcliffe was far from ordinary, instead hiding dark passions. Many victims were sex workers and other vulnerable women and his murder spree began in 1975. Initially he would kill his victims with a hammer followed by stabbing — later to become his horrific hallmark.
Sutcliffe killed not only at least 12 sex workers, but struck fear across the north of England, with attacks on women outside this group. His younger survivor was only 14 years of age. His reign of terror was such that women were terrified to go out after dark.
The Crimes and Arrest
Sutcliffe, serving 20 life sentences for the murder of 13 women and the attempted murder of seven more women, was convicted in 1981. The total number may well be higher, however. The police spent more than five years and the investigation was massive as well as containing appalling errors. He was interviewed by police nine times but evaded detection because of false leads and mismanagement. By 1999 however, the call and hoax letter from the killer ensured that all eyes were once again on Bundy.
It was a bit of a fluke that Sutcliffe was arrested in January 1981. False license plates were discovered immediately after his arrest. Items such as screwdrivers and knives used in the killings were found later during a police interrogation. He later admitted killing the women, saying he did so on voice command. His legal team later used to argue at trial that his mental health had been so “abnormal”. Due to schizophrenia it amounted in law to diminished responsibility. Nevertheless, he received a life sentence without possibility of parole in 1981.
Life in Prison and Death
Sutcliffe was diagnosed with overly suspicious schizophrenia and spent almost 40 years in prison. He was first detained at Broadmoor Hospital, a high-security psychiatric institution, and then moved to HMP Frankland in 2016. Although kept away from the press for most of his time in prison, Sutcliffe gained widespread media attention after inmates attacked him.
Sutcliffe died from COVID-19 complications in November 2020. The virus had supposedly refused to offer his treatment thus, taking him at the age of 74. So it was with his death; some felt relief, while others reflected on the pain he’d wrought upon the families of those he killed.
Family and Personal Life
One of the more interesting parts of Sutcliffe’s private life was his marriage to Sonia Szurma. Even though he had committed hideous acts Marta was still married to him until 1994 when their divorce came through. Even after he was convicted, she continued visiting him in prison, spurring rumors that their relationship was more than case-related. Although Sonia led a mostly private life after the divorce, public interest in her connection to Sutcliffe did not wane over the years.
After Sutcliffe was convicted of the crimes, his family basically disowned him. These unspeakable actions would affect their lives forever. He left a trail of destruction from his many criminal acts, but the consequences for the victims and their families paled against those who should have been closest to him — his kin who largely disowned him.
Today in Public Interest and Legacy
Sutcliffe, who died in 1981, is still said to be of considerable public interest even more than forty years later and with interest further heightened due to per record TV drama examining the investigation. One of the most recent depictions of his horrendous crimes is coming in 2023 from the ITV series The Long Shadow. The series exposes the systemic ineptitude of police to apprehend him along with the tales from some of his survivors and betrothed, but is on a deeper level illuminates how Sutcliffe’s activity affected Britain as a whole.
The legacy of Sutcliffe is a legacy that still divides. For some, it symbolises the dismal history of a justice system that did not work while to others it is proof his victims survived and reform followed his arrest. His passing meant the end of a chapter, but sadly even now his victims’ stories echo in collective memory.
Overall, the story of Peter Sutcliffe is a sad tale in British criminal history. It was his disturbing actions that not only destroyed the lives of those he preyed on, but also cast a shadow over British policing and the public consciousness. And his death in 2020 may have marked the end of his life, but the trauma he has inflicted remains — most notably for those who survived him.
