Britain's 'Yorkshire Ripper' serial killer Peter Sutcliffe dies of COVID-19
London: The British serial killer known as the "Yorkshire Ripper" has died at a hospital in northern England. He was 74.
Peter Sutcliffe, a former grave digger, was serving a life sentence for killing 13 women in Yorkshire and north-west England between 1975 and 1980.
Peter Sutcliffe, under a blanket, as he was led from court in 1981.Credit:AP
He had reportedly refused treatment after testing positive for COVID-19 and was suffering from a number of underlying health conditions. His death will be investigated by the coroner.
Sutcliffe's murders triggered widespread fear across northern cities. His barbaric attacks on young women were compounded by the police incompetence that allowed him to evade arrest and continue killing.
The police hunt was one of the largest the country had ever seen and the investigation consumed some 2.5 million hours.
Sutcliffe's youngest victim, just 14 when he hit her five times in the head with a hammer in 1975, survived the attack.
He was convicted in 1981 and, after a long spell in Broadmoor Hospital in Berkshire, he was transferred to HMP Frankland in 2016 after being deemed stable enough to serve time in prison.
A prison service spokesman said: "HMP Frankland prisoner Peter Coonan (born Sutcliffe) died in hospital on November 13. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been informed."
Sutcliffe reportedly suffered from a range of conditions before his death, including heart trouble, diabetes and obesity. He had also been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
AP, Reuters