Remembering Peter Sutcliffe’s 13 victims on the day of his demise

It has been announced this morning that the serial killer – known as the Yorkshire Ripper – has died after contracting coronavirus (COVID-19) and reportedly refusing treatment.

Peter Sutcliffe, 74, was one of the UK’s most notorious prisoners, having murdered at least 13 women across the north of England in the late 1970s, and was jailed for 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment back in 1981, before having his prison term increased to a whole life sentence in 2010.

A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed Mr Sutcliffe died at University Hospital of North Durham, three miles from where he was an inmate at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

But, on the day of his death, we want to take a moment to remember and shine an important light on the 13 victims who tragically lost their lives between 1975 and 1980.

While we have chosen not to disclose any detailed information regarding the nature of their deaths out of respect for the victims’ families, we want to express our condolences and ensure that each of their names will always live on in memory.

May they rest in eternal peace.

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Wilma McCann

28, Leeds – October 1975

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Emily Jackson

42, Leeds – January 1976

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Irene Richardson

28, Leeds – February 1977

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Patricia Atkinson

32, Bradford – April 1977

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Jayne McDonald

16, Leeds – June 1977

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Jean Jordan

21, Manchester – October 1977

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Yvonne Pearson

22, Bradford – January 1978

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Helen Rytka

18, Huddersfield – January 1978

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Vera Millward

41, Manchester – May 1978

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Josephine Whitaker

19, Halifax – May 1979

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Barbara Leach

20, Bradford – September 1979

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Marguerite Walls

47, Leeds – August 1980

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Jacqueline Hill

20, Leeds – November 1980