INTRODUCTION
Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, first began his attacks with the Stone-In-Sock attack in
September 1969. His next confessed attack was in July 1975. Both the Byford and the Sampson
reports on the police handling of the investigation pointed to a failure of the police to link as being
possible Ripper victims attacks and murders which had similar factors and aspects as the Ripper
series. The attack on Marcella Claxton (which Sutcliffe confessed to after his arrest) and the attack
on Tracy Browne (which Sutcliffe confessed to in 1992) were two cases that were cited in the
reports.
The following list contains attacks and murders that were speculated at one time or another as being possible Yorkshire Ripper victims. Some were eliminated as victims within days of the attack, or shortly afterwards, due to forensic evidence and other factors. Other attacks and murders were speculated about after the arrest of Peter Sutcliffe, some eliminated through forensic evidence years later.
Further speculation about additional Yorkshire Ripper attacks came from Keith Hellawell, Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, when it was revealed in 1996 that he had examined 60 possible murders and attacks that were unsolved and could have been Ripper attacks. He culled these 60 attacks down to 20 which he believes may be the responsibility of Sutcliffe. Mr Hellawell said that the unsolved murders and attempted murders are linked by a number of factors, including similar descriptions, the use of a hammer as a weapon, and similar head injuries.
On December 7 1996, a programme called "Silent Victims: The Untold Story Of The Yorkshire Ripper" was broadcast. The programme detailed six attacks, the confessed Stone-in-sock attack in 1969, the attack on Gloria Wood in 1974, the attack on Tracy Browne in 1975 (Sutcliffe confessed to being responsible for this attack in 1992), the murder of Debra Schleslinger on April 21 1977, the attack in Ilkley (Yvonne Mysliwiec) in 1979, and the attack on a Leeds student (Maureen Lea) in October 1980. The attack on an Irish student, which Sutcliffe also confessed to in 1992, did not feature in the programme, other than a mention that he had confessed to the attack while showing a photograph of where the attack took place. Keith Hellawell was interviewed but did not give any details of the alleged murders or attempted murders that he is convinced are the Ripper's work.
Further information about attacks which might be the responsibility of Peter Sutcliffe became available in 2003 with the release of the book "Wicked Beyond Belief" by Michael Bilton. Included in the documents available to the author, were the unpublished sections of the Byford Report which examined attacks not included in the original investigation.
On February 3 2005, the Yorkshire Evening Post reported that after Peter Sutcliffe's arrest a
list of 47 crimes that he could have been responsible for was drawn up by Ripper Squad detectives
on an official TIC (taken into consideration) form. The cases reported in the newspaper as being on
the list were the murder of Fred Craven, the attack on John Tomey, and the murder of an unidentified
young woman, believed to be a prostitute, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertsfordshire (no date given for the
murder).
The following list is by no means a complete listing. Any speculation about the "Victim Status" is based only on what information (at times, very incomplete in details) I have been able to gather, and my own personal opinion about the viability of the victim being a possible Ripper victim.
The confessed Yorkshire Ripper victims have also been included as a point of reference.
| FRED CRAVEN Date of attack: April 22 1966 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Murdered |
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| JOHN TOMEY Date of attack: March 22 1967 Place of attack: Oxenhope Outcome: Survived |
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| MARY JUDGE Date of attack: February 26 1968 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered |
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| STONE-IN-SOCK ATTACK Date of attack: September ?? 1969 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| BARBARA MAYO Date of attack: October 12 1970 Place of attack: Ault Hucknall, Derbyshire Outcome: Murdered |
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| WAKEFIELD CLERK-TYPIST Date of attack: December 29 1972 Place of attack: Wakefield Outcome: Survived |
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| GLORIA WOOD Date of attack: November 11 1974 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived |
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| BARBARA MILLER Date of attack: March 1975 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived |
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| ANNA ROGULSKYJ Date of attack: July 5 1975 Place of attack: Keighley Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| RENEE McGOWAN Date of attack: July 23 1975 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Murdered |
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| OLIVE SMELT Date of attack: August 15 1975 Place of attack: Halifax Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| TRACY BROWNE Date of attack: August 27 1975 Place of attack: Silsden Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| LESLEY MOLSEED Date of attack: October 5 1975 Place of attack: Rushwood Moor, Yorkshire Outcome: Murdered |
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| WILMA McCANN Date of attack: October 30 1975 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| JOAN HARRISON Date of attack: November 20 1975 Place of attack: Preston Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) NOT A YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| BARBARA & ALAN BOOTH Date of attack: January 7 1976 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered |
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| ROSEMARY STEAD Date of attack: January 1976 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived |
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| EMILY JACKSON Date of attack: January 20 1976 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| MARCELLA CLAXTON Date of attack: May 9 1976 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| MAUREEN HOGAN Date of attack: August 1976 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived |
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| BARBARA BREARLY Date of attack: October 1976 Place of attack: Doncaster Outcome: Survived |
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| IRENE RICHARDSON Date of attack: February 5 1977 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| BARBARA YOUNG Date of attack: March 22 1977 Place of attack: Doncaster Outcome: Murdered |
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| DEBRA SCHLESINGER Date of attack: April 21 1977 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered |
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| PATRICIA ATKINSON Date of attack: April 23 1977 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| JAYNE MacDONALD Date of attack: June 26 1977 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| MAUREEN LONG Date of attack: July 10 1977 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| ANNA KENNY Date of attack: August 5 1977 Place of attack: Glasgow, Scotland Outcome: Murdered |
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| MARY GREGSON Date of attack: August 30 1977 Place of attack: Shipley Outcome: Murdered |
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| JEAN JORDAN Date of attack: October 1 1977 Place of attack: Manchester Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| HILDA MILLER (or McAULEY) Date of attack: October 1 1977 Place of attack: Glasgow, Scotland Outcome: Murdered |
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| CAROL WILKINSON Date of attack: October 10 1977 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Murdered |
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| BRADFORD SCHOOLGIRL Date of attack: Oct 11 1977 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived |
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| AGNES COONEY Date of attack: December 2 1977 Place of attack: Glasgow, Scotland Outcome: Murdered |
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| DONCASTER PROSTITUTE Date of attack: November/December 1977 Place of attack: Doncaster Outcome: Survived |
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| MARILYN MOORE Date of attack: December 14 1977 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| YVONNE PEARSON Date of attack: January 21 1978 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| HELEN RYTKA Date of attack: January 31 1978 Place of attack: Huddersfield Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| LEEDS SHOP ASSISTANT Date of attack: March 2 1978 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Survived |
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| VERA MILLWARD Date of attack: May 16 1978 Place of attack: Manchester Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| MARY GALLACHER Date of attack: November 19 1978 Place of attack: Glasgow, Scotland Outcome: Murdered |
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| BRADFORD ADDRESSOGRAPH OPERATOR Date of attack: November 28 1978 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Survived |
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| HARROGATE STUDENT Date of attack: February 17 1979 Place of attack: Harrogate Outcome: Survived |
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| IRISH STUDENT Date of attack: ??? ?? 1979 Place of attack: Bradford? / Leeds? Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| ANN ROONEY Date of attack: March 2 1979 Place of attack: Horsforth, Leeds Outcome: Survived |
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| CAROL LANNEN Date of attack: March 20 1979 Place of attack: Dundee, Scotland Outcome: Murdered |
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| JOSEPHINE WHITAKER Date of attack: April 4 1979 Place of attack: Halifax Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| MARION SPENCE Date of attack: June 10 1979 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered |
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| 21-YEAR-OLD DERBY WOMAN Date of attack: August 3 1979 Place of attack: Derby Outcome: Survived |
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| BARBARA LEACH Date of attack: September 2 1979 Place of attack: Bradford Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| RUBY ZACHERT Date of attack: September 21 1979 Place of attack: Manchester Outcome: Murdered |
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| YVONNE MYSLIWIEC Date of attack: October 11 1979 Place of attack: Ilkley Outcome: Survived |
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| ELIZABETH McCABE Date of attack: February 11 1980 Place of attack: Dundee, Scotland Outcome: Murdered |
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| MARGUERITE WALLS Date of attack: August 20 1980 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| ANN MARIE HAROLD Date of attack: September 1980 Place of attack: Mexborough Outcome: Murdered |
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| UPADHYA BANDARA Date of attack: September 24 1980 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| MAUREEN LEA Date of attack: October 25 1980 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Survived |
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| THERESA SYKES Date of attack: November 5 1980 Place of attack: Huddersfield Outcome: Survived Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| JACQUELINE HILL Date of attack: November 17 1980 Place of attack: Leeds Outcome: Murdered Details Of Attack (opens new window) YORKSHIRE RIPPER VICTIM |
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| JEAN CLAY Date: December 10 1980 Place: Dewsbury Outcome: Died |
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