Cover of the book Wicked Beyond Belief: The Hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper by Michael Bilton During the late 1970s, Britain was rocked by the murders of several young women in Northern England. Though serial killers were not unknown at the time, the hunt for Peter Sutcliffe, aka "The Yorkshire Ripper," had more impact than any previous case, and significantly changed police work in the United Kingdom. Detectives interviewed Sutcliffe nine times before his arrest, but couldn't connect him to the killings. The mass of paperwork in the case made cross-referencing a nightmare. Finally, in May 1981, he was found guilty of 13 counts of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. This led to 1982's Byford Report which introduced the major incident room for all big crimes, the computerization of records, extensive training for officers, and recognition for the role that the media and the public can play in helping solve crimes. Many years later, the Yorkshire Ripper story continues to fascinate and cause controversy. Just last year, a prominent Ripper hoaxer was imprisoned, and some writers have even claimed that Sutcliffe was not the true murderer. Is "The Real Yorkshire Ripper" still at large? For everyone's sake, let's hope that's not the case. Suggested Sites... The Yorkshire Ripper - everything you need to know, and probably quite a lot you don't. Britain's Famous Yorkshire Ripper - 16 pages of horror. Murder in the UK - cheery reading from dear old Blighty. BBC: Infamous British Serial Killers - a not-so-pretty list.

Directory categories: Peter Sutcliffe, The Yorkshire Ripper, Serial Killers, Crime in the UK, Serial Killers in the UK

Archived under: Crime, England, Law Enforcement, Murder, Serial Killers, United Kingdom

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