Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Yorkshire Ripper” - Peter Sutcliffe

Episode Date: August 27, 2018

Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe claimed he was directed by voices of God to kill innocent women. Naturally, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges that he slaughtered over a dozen women. Was his psychosis real or did he develop a deep hatred of women in childhood? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This episode includes discussions of murder and assault that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In 1859, after murdering his wife's lover, Daniel Sickles became the first man in United States history to be acquitted after using an insanity defense. Clearly, this defense worked quite well, as Sickles would later become one of the most prominent generals during the Civil War, and even re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. For years to come, criminals would take inspiration from Sickle's insanity plea as they tried to evade jail, but this poses the question, how well has the insanity defense worked for serial killers?

One serial killer tried hard to use this justification when he said, quote, I know it's wrong to kill, but if you've got a reason, it's justified. It's all right. I have no doubts whatsoever. My mission is only partially fulfilled. God gave me the mission to kill. He got me out of trouble. I'm in God's hands." End quote. Those are the chilling words of a man pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe claimed he was directed by voices of God to kill innocent women. But can we be in time? entirely sure he wasn't just a master manipulator? In other words, is it possible to successfully fake your own psychosis, to create an elaborate lie in order to get out of jail? And if Peter Sutcliffe's insanity was, in fact, all an extensive hoax, then what were his real motivations for brutally slaughtering 13 women with hammers and screwdrivers?

Hi, I'm Greg Poulson, and this is Cereux. serial killers. Today we're going to take a deep dive into the life of Peter Sutcliffe and his questionable claim of mental insanity. I'm here with my co-host Vanessa Richardson. Hi everyone. We'd like to ask a quick favor. Would you leave a five-star review of serial killers on your favorite podcast directory? It seems so simple, but it really helps our show. And don't forget to subscribe while you're there, because a new episode comes out every Monday. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram. Instagram at Parcast and on Twitter at Parcast Network or in our website, parkast.com.

To many, Yorkshire is known as the historic county of Northern England, in which elegant castles sprinkle the rolling hills. Friendly British folk stroll along the various quaint towns. But in the eyes of Peter Sutcliffe, Yorkshire was a detestable breeding ground of sinful sex workers who deserved deathly punishments. Over the course of 11 years from 1969 to 1980, Sutcliffe, a seemingly quiet married man, brutally murdered 13 innocent women, mostly sex workers with a hammer. This earned him the infamous nickname Yorkshire Ripper. In part one of our series on Peter Sutcliffe, we'll look at the roots of what created the Yorkshire Ripper. We'll discover how his misguided hatred of women was often manufactured by his own mind.

We'll also lay the groundwork to investigate whether his story is one crusted with lies. In part two, we'll unpack the killings of Peter Sutcliffe and try to understand how his brutal murders went undetected for so long. Sutcliffe has said that his entire killing spree is a result of God's guidance and the direction. of the voices in his head. In order to analyze the root of these claims, it's important to first have an understanding of his childhood and early life. You could say Sutcliffe's rough family life

began before he was even born. His father, John, an alcoholic womanizer, was reportedly abusive to Sutcliffe's mom, Kathleen, even as she was pregnant with her son. And the abuse apparently didn't stop after Sutcliffe's birth on June 2, 1946, in Bingley, England. But Sutcliffe's life also began under stressful circumstances

because he was born prematurely. Doctors were unsure whether Sutcliffe would survive. However, after two sickly weeks in the hospital, he finally went home. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show. His premature birth likely had a couple of long-term effects on his life. Kathleen likely felt closer to Sutcliffe as a result of his complications as a premature baby.

A study from Stanford University School of Medicine published in the Journal of Psychosomatics followed the parents of infants who were born prematurely. After four months, more than half of these parents either had post-traumatic stress disorder, otherwise known as PTSD, or were considered at high risk for children. developing PTSD. Kathleen clearly faced unthinkable fears as her days old son struggled to

survive. So when Sutcliffe did grow up to be a relatively healthy boy, she understandably gave him extra love at attention. Clearly, Kathleen very much cherished Sutcliffe who obsessively admired her in return. While Sutcliffe

did have a fairly healthy childhood, he was still smaller than average and was often taunted for this school. Whether kids were bullying him for his tiny legs or his shy nature, he developed a deep-set insecurity that manifested itself in his timid and quiet personality. He was consequently known by classmates as a shy loner. As we've seen time and time again, serial killers oftentimes experienced excessive bullying and demonstrated antisocial personalities throughout their childhoods. By the time he was 11 and beginning secondary school in 1957, Sutcliffe was often truant,

spending the day hiding in his parents' loft. He hated school and couldn't handle the cruel bullying from other boys. At-school challenges weren't the only problems young Sutcliffe faced. His family life was similarly troubling and abusive. Another common factor among serial killers. Though there aren't records of Sutcliffe himself facing abuse, he did live in fear of his father, who his siblings have described as a, quote, monster. Unfortunately, abusive spouses are still far too common.

Abusers are often successful at appearing normal to outsiders, despite their terrible behavior behind closed doors. Given the fact that all of Sutcliffe's future victims would be women, it's interesting to consider how witnessing his father abuse his mother influenced Sutcliffe. As a child, he reportedly felt a deep love and admiration for his mother. But Sutcliffe would eventually repeat his father's cycle of violence against women in an even more dramatic way. And surely this abuse more immediately affected his socializing at school. With hardly any friends, Sutcliffe seemed to show early signs of being lonely and facing symptoms of depression.

He mostly kept his issues private from his family and peers, which was also known. not helpful for his mental health. But also not surprising. According to stop violence against women's research in Canada in 1999, children and adolescents who witness a woman being abused often face many damaging long-term effects. These can include developing anxiety and depression, isolating themselves, and also becoming abusive in the future. And Sutcliffe would, of course, become disgustingly violent toward women.

But before that, he would continue struggling with friends throughout his adolescence, until in 1961 he ultimately dropped out of school at the age of 15. Sutcliffe had an IQ of 110, which was above the average IQ of roughly 95. This above-average intelligence suggests that Sutcliffe did not drop out of school because he didn't understand his coursework. Rather, it seems as though he most likely stopped his education, primarily as a way of avoiding bullying and uncomfortable social situations. Sutcliffe did seem to gain some confidence in happiness after leaving school.

He became more social, through a passion for bodybuilding and frequent visits to a local pub. He also fell in love with his new job as a gravedigger. This would soon become the place where his morbid fantasies and murderous desires would begin. In 1962, Sutcliffe had finally found a lot of the same. found a place that he loved, the Bingley Cemetery. He was 16 years old, and it was at this cemetery that he would spend the next few years surrounded by dead bodies. While grave digging and mortuary work are certainly necessary and valuable professions,

surrounding yourself with death might be emotionally difficult at times for some people. However, Sutcliffe thoroughly enjoyed his job and would reportedly ask to volunteer extra time at the mortuary as he enjoyed washing down deceased bodies. That definitely seems unusual. A 2011 Brazilian study on the mental and physical health of grave diggers interviewed grave diggers about their outlook on their job. Most of the interviewed grave diggers did in fact seem very different from Sutcliffe. But it's important to note that this study, of course, does not represent all grave diggers. There are countless hardworking grave diggers that love their job and are perfectly healthy members of society.

Absolutely. This study is only a method of comparing Sutcliffe to apparent trends and commonalities among the grave digging profession. First, many of the interview subjects had grown up in families who worked in cemeteries, so they naturally fell into grave digging as an easily accessible career. To our knowledge, no one in Sutcliffe's family or friend circle had worked in cemeteries. So Sutcliffe had to seek out this opportunity on his own. This seems unique, as it demonstrates an expressed interest in the deceased. A majority of the interviewed grave diggers communicated various forms of defense mechanisms when talking about their job. Some developed rationalizations to validate their career, and others discussed grave digging as solely a vehicle

for helping support their children. Others still displayed elements of denial, as they said they don't frequently think about the fact that they work at a cemetery, but instead they lie to themselves that they're digging in a garden or a ranch. It seems like these defense mechanisms could be a result of the social stigmas against cemeteries. That's definitely possible. Perhaps the use of defense mechanisms does not reveal whether or not the grave diggers liked their profession, but rather it was just their way of handling judging questions from their peers. Nevertheless, from what we can tell, Suttcliffe certainly did not express any hesitations about grave digging. In fact, he became obsessed with it. During this period of employment from

1962 to 1965, Sletcliffe frequently talked about the dead bodies to his friends at local pubs. This further shows his lack of connection with his peers, as he didn't seem to filter himself or care about his friend's judgments. Or maybe he just loved his friends. Or maybe he just loved the work that much. He supposedly even jumped into a grave for fun, and most disturbingly, he took trophies from the bodies that he buried. That shows a disturbing possessiveness over the deceased. It almost seems as though Sutcliffe wanted to keep these dead bodies in the forefront of his mind that he wanted to be sure he'd never forget them. Sutcliffe, though, is an interesting case, because unlike so many of the serial killers we've studied, Sutcliffe never demonstrated.

any violent tendencies as a kid. We could say that his peculiar behavior at the cemetery is the first sign that Sutcliffe has some morbid tendencies. And then, in 1965, everything changed. When 19-year-old Peter Sutcliffe experienced an awful motorcycle accident, his head crashed into a lamp post, knocked him unconscious, and caused him significant brain damage. It was this accident that directly preceded Sutcliffe hearing voices. At least, this is what Sutcliffe claimed happened.

It's worth noting that this event has only been confirmed by Sutcliffe himself. We therefore cannot be sure that it's truthful. It's certainly possible that Sutcliffe entirely lied about this accident and made the head trauma sound worse than it actually was. In fact, on one occasion, he told doctors that after the accident, he was knocked unconscious for hours. But to other doctors, Sutcliffe said he was only knocked unconscious for half an hour. That inconsistency does seem suspicious.

But if we do take a moment to trust his recollection of events following this accident, it might give us insight into his descent into murder. According to Sutcliffe, this accident left him with terrible depression. He also said, quote, I used to be subject to hallucinations, just seeing things that aren't there and getting strange noises in my head, humming and buzzing, end quote.

Those could definitely be symptoms of a severe concussion or head trauma. And while scientists have not yet discovered a definitive cause for schizophrenia, studies have proven a correlative link between the mental illness and head trauma. In fact, results of a 2010 Danish study at the psychiatric center Copenhagen show that people who face a traumatic brain injury are 65% more likely to eventually have schizophrenia than people who have not faced head traumas. However, this, of course, does not prove that Sutcliffe developed schizophrenia. Especially since we can't even be positive if this accident happened,

or if Sutcliffe entirely fabricated it. Nevertheless, if we chose to momentarily trust this account, it could possibly shed light onto the reason why Sutcliffe alleged started experiencing hallucinations. Even without the accident, most cases of schizophrenia are first diagnosed in people during or after their late teenage years. Sutcliffe fit exactly in that range, as he was 19 at the time of the accident, so it certainly is possible that Sutcliffe was facing the early stages of schizophrenia. And it is also at this point, coinciding with the claim that

started hearing voices, that the real darkness in Peter Sutcliffe began to emerge. The first time he claimed to hear a voice would prove to be a crucial moment in his life. Not only did the voices come from a terrifying place, but they would deliver some very specific, very violent instructions. Our story will continue in a moment after the break. Now, the story continues. Peter Sutcliffe, a vicious British serial killer, faced excessive bullying as a young boy in Yorkshire, England.

After finally leaving school at the age of 15 in 1961, he became unusually obsessed with his job as a gravedigger, and all of the dead bodies he encountered. According to Sutcliffe, his life changed for the worse as he allegedly suffered a motorcycle accident in 1965 at 19 years old. Sutcliffe claims that this event was a catalyst in causing his future mental illnesses, including schizophrenia. It was at the Bingley Cemetery where Sutcliffe first began hearing voices. In reflecting on this pivotal moment, he has said,

It was, quote, something that I felt was very wonderful at the time. I heard what I believed then and believed now to have been God's voice. I was in the process of digging a grave. I just heard something. It sounded like a voice similar to a human voice, like an echo. I looked around, but there was no one in sight. The voice was not very clear. I got out of the grave and walked.

There was no one there at all. I heard again the same sound. It was like a voice saying something, but the words were all imposed on top of each other. The voices were coming directly in front of me from the top of a gravestone, which was Polish. I remember the name on the grave to this day. It was a man called Zipolsky. Stanaswav Zipolsky, end quote.

And after more closely studying this gravestone, which was in the Catholic section of the cemetery, Suttcliffe did his best to interpret the Polish words. He, quote, thought the message on the gravestone was a direct message telling me, it was the voice of Jesus speaking to me, end quote. It was worth noting that this gravestone actually does exist. But the gravestone is really for a man named Broniswab Zapolsky. Now it's important to remember that all of Sutcliffe's claims must be taken with a grain of salt. We can't be sure which of his stories are true or fabricated.

Especially since claiming insanity would free him of guilt for his future crimes. He certainly has motive to lie about being mentally insane. But if we do take the moment to believe his claim, it's understandable how Sutcliffe could interpret mysterious voices as voices from God, given his Catholic upbringing. In a recent study, Stanford anthropologist Tanya Lurman found that hallucinatory voices are shaped by people's cultural context. So someone with a very religious background, like Sutcliffe, might similarly be more likely to perceive the voice as they're hearing as messages from God. And as you might expect, hearing the voice of God was very empowering for Sutcliffe. It made him feel special, important. Even though he could not yet comprehend any specific instructions or words from the voice,

he did feel confident that he was chosen by God. For this reason, Sutcliffe didn't tell anyone about this experience, as he, quote, thought that if it was meant for everyone to hear, they would hear. I felt that I had been selected, end quote. After his encounter in the graveyard, Sutcliffe claims that he continued hearing voices and cryptic messages from what he assumed to be God. However, from the years 1965 to 1969, these voices remain vague without any specific instructions or violent commands. According to many sources, including DCL's Psychology 121, schizophrenia most commonly develops very gradually over the course of several years.

years, and the voices are often vague and unclear in the beginning, so this does fit well with Sutcliffe's supposed experiences. Beyond his claims of developing schizophrenia, there were several other factors that might have been uprooting his relatively calm life. Despite his passion for dead bodies in 1967, two years after he first allegedly heard voices, Sutcliffe was fired from his grave-dicking job for repetitive tardiness. He was tried. He was 21 at the time. We can only postulate how losing his job affected Sutcliffe. Not only did he seem to thoroughly enjoy spending his time with the deceased,

but the cemetery was also the place that he believed he had heard God's voice. However, 1967 brought good tidings as well as bad. It was also the year he met his future wife, Sonia. Sonia was a 16-year-old girl still in school at the time. However, with her jet black hair and trendy skin, style, Sutcliffe quickly fell for her. Given that Sutcliffe's friends described him as having a, quote, shy attitude to women, end quote, this relationship was especially meaningful for Sutcliffe. For the first five months, they dated during their free time on the weekends, and Sutcliffe claimed

they were very happy together. However, five months after they met, she moved on from grammar school and went to a technical college for higher level studies. Here, Sonia allegedly had an affair with another man. Sutcliffe's brother first alerted him of Sonia's alleged promiscuity. And Sutcliffe then decided to investigate for himself. Since he primarily saw Sonia only on the weekends, Sutcliffe figured that she must be having her affair after school during the weekdays. So one day, he left work early and stalked down Sonia.

In his own words, quote, I caught Sonia going down the road. I approached her, but she walked the other way, as if shocked to see me. So I knew what I heard was true, end quote. I can't share Sutcliffe's conviction that Sonia's surprise is enough evidence to prove she was having an affair. In this instance, Sutcliffe seemed rather hypersensitive and paranoid. In analyzing health guidance's characteristics of a controlling personality, Sutcliffe was clearly psychologically abusive and controlling as he stalked Sonia,

refused to trust her, and implicitly intimidated her with his persistency. And as he was paranoid about this affair, Sutcliffe continued psychologically abusing Sonia for six months, frequently questioning her about her whereabouts and affairs. After these six months, Sonia did admit she had some sort of relationship with another man, and Sutcliffe's controlling nature skyrocketed. He could not handle his lack of control over Sonia's whereabouts, especially as his schedule only allowed him to see Sonia once a week,

while her other partner could see her frequently. During this period of increased paranoia around 1968, Sutcliffe's depression worsened. Sutcliffe himself said, quote, I was so depressed, in fact, that this led to my first encounter with a sex worker, end quote. And in another instance, Sutcliffe also explained how we thought that, quote, by going with a sex worker, I thought it would level the score, end quote. This is, of course, important as Sutcliffe would eventually choose sex workers as his primary murder target. Sutcliffe claims that he never even had the desire to be with a sex worker until Sonia's affair.

Unfortunately, Sutcliffe would ferociously hate his first experience with a sex worker, which took place in mid-1969. Sutcliffe himself describes it best. Quote, so I got involved with my first prostitute. By this time I knew there were prostitutes operating out of Manningham Lane, Bradford, because I'd seen them blatantly along the road. I approached one, and she agreed to get into the car.

We were on the way to her place, and I realized what a coarse and vulgar person she was. By this time, we were practically there, and I realized I didn't want anything to do with her. Before getting out of the car, I was trying to wriggle out of the situation, but I felt stupid as well. We went into the house,

and when she got into the bedroom, she started taking her clothes off. She had told me it was five pound, and when we were in the car, I gave her a 10-pound note. She had told me that when we got to her place, she would change it. But she started getting undressed,

and I asked her if she was going to change it. She said no. without looking at me. I said to her, we'll call it off then, because I was only too glad to call it off. She didn't want to call it off and said we could get the note changed at the garage where I picked her up. We went back to the garage by car, and she went inside, and there were two chaps in there. I don't know whether she did this regularly, but she wouldn't come back out. One of the men came banging on the car roof when I refused to go away, and the other escorted her away. There wasn't much I could do about it."

End quote. For reference, five pounds back in the 1970s was worth approximately 100 U.S. dollars today. So, in other words, Sutcliffe's extreme anger was all over the equivalent of a mere $100. According to Mental Helps Psychology of Anger by Dr. Harry Mills, anger is often a substitute emotion so people can avoid deeper pains. And most people, obviously, do not spend debt. decades of their lives still furious over the loss of $100. So this implies that this event triggered one of Sutcliffe's deeper insecurities.

Sutcliffe himself explained that, quote, it wasn't just the money. It was the fact that I felt annoyed because I wanted to resolve the situation with Sonia and hadn't done. It made me feel worse than ever, end quote. In other words, Sutcliffe failed to even get revenge on Sonia. He expected to feel rejuvenated and more confident after sleeping with a sex worker, but was instead left feeling swindled, powerless, and weak.

Sutcliffe's controlling nature could not handle the fact that there were two women in his life who lied to him. So he consequently grouped Sonia and this sex worker together and developed the sexist belief that all women are deceitful. This is an early example of Sutcliffe manufacturing his own hatred of women, as he chooses to ignore their perspective and see the worst in every woman he encounters. And that can be seen as he described the sex worker as coarse and vulgar, from only his first impression. He also admits how much this immediately bothered him. This demonstrates a pattern in which Sutcliffe harshly judges women upon first impression and then targets them.

Though Sutcliffe often blamed sex workers for his evil actions, it's important for us to remember that none of the blame lies with the sex workers. Rather, all of the blame remains with Sutcliffe, who is judgmental, obsessively controlling, and dangerously angry. He continues to blame the sex worker, as he describes how his shame and embarrassment only worsened when he saw the same woman in a pub three weeks later in the summer of 1969. Sutcliffe said, quote, I told her that I hadn't forgotten about the incident and that she She could put things right so that there would be no hard feelings. I was giving her the opportunity to put things right and give back the payment I had made to her.

She thought that this was a huge joke, and as luck would have it, she knew everybody in the place and went around telling them all about the incident. Before I knew what was happening, most of the people were having a good laugh, end quote. This story seems highly implausible. Why would an entire pub laugh at a sex worker swindling him? him, and why would the sex worker go around the place telling all of her friends this story in the first place? It's clear Sutcliffe greatly exaggerated this tale over the years, and this exaggeration is yet another example of how Sutcliffe manufactured his hatred of women. However, his telling of the

story brings to light how he found the experience to be further emasculating. A room filled with laughing people surely reminded him of the isolation and bullying he suffered throughout his childhood. Sutcliffe claims that this event worsened his depression and that the voices consequently became more prevalent and decisive. Soon after these events, he, quote, heard a voice which kept saying to go on with the mission and it had a purpose. It was to remove the sex workers to get rid of them, end quote. And so his descent into violence had begun. Sutcliffe now had a mission, a mission that would begin and end with destructive violence. On a night in September, 1969, Sutcliffe would take out the rage that had been building in him,

only five weeks after the alleged embarrassing incident in the club. We'll return to our story in just a moment from the Parkast Network. And now back to serial killers. infamous British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe claimed to face the early stages of schizophrenia in the late 1960s. In young adulthood, he heard vague and unclear voices that he assumed to be the voice of God. He did not act on these voices, not at first. As an act of revenge against his unfaithful girlfriend, Sutcliffe sought out a sex worker in 1969, but the experience embarrassed him and left him irrationally angry.

He claims she so angered him that the voices returned, this time with a clear message to remove sex workers. Thus, we returned to a dark night in September of 1969. Sutcliffe was driving around the nearby Red Light District of Bradford with his friend Trevor Berzall. Trevor was from Bradford, and the two of them had been friends for the past three years. They frequently got drinks together and wandered around this. local red light district. Unfortunately, this night was different than most others. According to his friend Trevor,

Sutcliffe would frequently, quote, comment if he saw a particular young woman with big knockers on, end quote. And Trevor also said that Sutcliffe claimed to have slept with sex workers several times and sometimes didn't pay them. But after seeing one particular woman, Sutcliffe asked Trevor to stop the car. Sutcliffe took a sock out of his pocket, a sock with a heavy stone inside of it. Sutcliffe then exited the vehicle. Though that is all that Trevor could see, we know exactly what Sutcliffe did with that sock in stone.

Sutcliffe exited the car, asked her for the time, and then heartlessly hit her with the stone-filled sock as he attempted to kill her. Sutcliffe struck this innocent woman with such a hard blow that the sock ripped and and the stone fell out. Thankfully, she managed to survive this vicious attack, but she did suffer severe head injuries. After striking her and breaking his sock stone weapon, Sutcliffe dashed back to Trevor in the car so he could escape. This was Sutcliffe's first known act of physical violence,

and it was clearly not a carefully planned attack. Sutcliffe not only struck her in public, but he allowed several witnesses, Trevor and the victim herself, to see him. Decades later, Trevor would testify about this incident, revealing how Sutcliffe returned to the car and looked a bit excited. Nevertheless, Trevor unfortunately did not report this suspicious incident to police for over 10 years. If Trevor had responsibly reported Sutcliffe to the authorities, perhaps many of Sutcliffe's future atrocities could have been averted. Regardless, the details of this first attack demonstrate Sutcliffe's mindset about

violence. It was not a carefully constructed and foolproof attack. It seemed to give Sutcliffe a perverted adrenaline rush that was exciting for him. He chose a very personal close-up method of violence that communicates he wanted to closely witness his victim's pain, possibly to release his years of irrational anger. However, decades later, Sutcliffe claimed the contrary. Even though he admitted that he did try to kill this first victim, he also said, that he did not enjoy it. He claims that he hit her because, quote, it was what I had to do. It was my mission, because I've been told sex workers were the scum of the earth and had to be got rid of, end quote. And when asked who exactly told him this, Sutcliffe responded that it was,

quote, God, the same voice that I had been hearing for a matter of years, end quote. This is yet another instance in which Sutcliffe demonstrates his hatred of women and his destructive judgment that women who engaged in sex work were lesser. Steve Taylor, a lecturer in psychology at Leeds Metropolitan University, explains that such discrimination against women often stems from men's desire for power and control. We've already seen Sutcliffe proved to be psychologically abusive in how he tried to control Sonia, and we might understand his harmful desire for power by remembering his childhood, where he often felt weak and powerless under his abusive father. Only several weeks after his first act of violence in 1969, Sutcliffe tried another

attack. He wanted to violently strike another sex worker, again hoping to kill her. Since the sock and stone broke during his last attack, Sutcliffe decided to use a new weapon this time, a hammer. Sutcliffe was alone. as he waited in the private garden of a house in the Manningham area. He hid hammer in hand. His plan was to emerge from the hiding place upon seeing a sex worker and then beat her to death. Thankfully, the police saw Sutcliffe suspiciously hiding with a hammer and arrested him for suspicious behavior. While you might hope that this marks the end of Sutcliffe's violent story, you'd be very wrong.

As we'll see, the police were consistently incompetent in their treatment. of Sutcliffe. When the police interviewed Sutcliffe about why he was carrying a hammer, they asked Sutcliffe if he was the man to commit the first violent Sock and Stone attack against the sex worker. Sutcliffe shockingly admitted to attacking her, but lied in saying he only hit her with his hand. That, of course, should have been enough of a red flag. However, his first victim did not want to press charges, so the police ultimately dropped

the case and only gave Sutcliffe a stern lecture. Sutcliffe left these police interviews with only a single, tragically small charge, being equipped for theft. In other words, police charged him carrying the hammer with the intention of robbing someone, even though he brutally attacked a sex worker weeks earlier, and then brought a hammer to kill another victim. Sutcliffe faced no prison time, only a simple fine of 25 pounds, which equates to approximately 500 U.S. dollars today.

Unfortunately, there is a long history of police and prosecutors ignoring crimes against sex workers. This is why we've seen so many different serial killers target sex workers. They can feel confident that their violent crimes against these women will be treated less seriously than crimes against other women. Nevertheless, this encounter with the police did precede a lull in Sutcliffe's attacks. From this attack in 1969, up until July of 1975, six years later, Sutcliffe supposedly never engaged with any sex workers, nor did he attack any of them. We do know that it is common for serial killers to take breaks in between their attacks. And to fully analyze why Sutcliffe did eventually return to attacking sex workers, let's better understand exactly what happened during this period, between 1969.

in 1975. Perhaps the most significant event that precipitated Sutcliffe's anger and hatred toward women occurred in 1970 when he was 23 years old. Sutcliffe's father, John, who was similarly controlling and psychologically abusive as Sutcliffe, became paranoid that his wife Kathleen was having an affair. It's important to note that we don't have evidence that Kathleen ever did have an affair. Nevertheless, John created an elaborate plan. in which she would pose as Kathleen's secret lover and lure Kathleen into a hotel room.

He thought that if he caught his wife at this hotel room, then this would be proof that she was trying to cheat on him. Unfortunately, John enacted this plan all in front of 23-year-old Sutcliffe. With Sutcliffe watching, John caught Kathleen as she arrived at the hotel, attempting to sleep with another man. John then grabbed Kathleen's purse and showed Sutcliffe her skimpy lingerie intended for the affair. Sutcliffe observed in shock as his father berated his mother, humiliating and abusing her. It's understandable that this entirely inappropriate event would disturb Sutcliffe. John demonstrated to his son that his controlling behavior was acceptable and even successful. We, of course, can see how John's behavior.

was abusive and destructive, but Sutcliffe learned the opposite lesson this day. We might say he joined his father on the dark side of fully mistrusting and hating women. And although it has not been proven that Kathleen ever even did follow through with having the affair, his father's display was enough to convince Sutcliffe that his mother was not the perfect woman that he previously believed her to be. Rather than trying to understand his mom's perspective, Sutcliffe decided that all women only pretend to be nice, that all women, even the most beloved women in his life, cheat on their husbands, and can't be trusted. This disturbed mindset undoubtedly precipitated his future, escalating violence toward women. The other significant event of

these years between Sutcliffe's violent attacks involved his relationship with another important woman in his life, Sonia. earlier affair, they eventually worked through that rough patch as she promised to never see her lover again. But then, the relationship took another turn in early 1972, as Sonia, about 21 years old, was diagnosed with schizophrenia herself. If we believe that Sutcliffe had spent years suffering from schizophrenia, this is quite a coincidence that his girlfriend would face the same mental illness. While this coincidence is of course possible, only 1% of people have schizophrenia, so it is extremely rare for two people in a relationship to both learn that they have the illness. After Sonia faced a nervous breakdown, she received extensive treatment for about two to three months. And despite occasional relapses, Sutcliffe and Sonia continued to make their relationship work.

In 1974, when Sutcliffe was 28 and Sonia was 23, the couple finally got married. After a honeymoon in Paris, everything between them seemed relatively happy for the time being. But less than one year after that honeymoon in 1975, Sutcliffe would return to his violent behavior. He'd begin his mass killing spree that would result in the tragic deaths of 13 women. Sutcliffe developed into a deeply disturbed man with a horrifically sexist and controlling attitude toward women that manifested in a brutal way. Though he claims to deal with schizophrenic voices,

we still can't be quite sure whether or not this is fabricated. Even if he did truly hear voices, it's not yet clear how much these voices influenced his violence. In next week's episode, we'll take a deeper look into his first brutal murder and the many more attacks that followed. We'll also study Sutcliffe's quickly developing ammo and his gruesome weapons of choice. Unfortunately, we have many disturbingly violent murders to dissect. And only then can we fully analyze how this terrible man remained undetected for so many years. Finally, we'll be able to arrive at a conclusion. Just how mentally sane is this

infamous serial killer. As we've dissected Sutcliffe's story, we've seen his careful manipulations at play. He created a narrative in which he was the perpetual victim. He placed blame on everyone but himself, and he tried to induce pity regarding his motorcycle accident and relationship issues. But how else is he manipulating everyone around him? Is his schizophrenia all a brilliantly crafted lie? Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. If you want to listen to any previous episodes of serial killers, you can find them on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Tune-in, Google Play, and Spotify, or on our website, Parchast.com.

Spelled P-A-R-C-A-S-T.com. If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review or tell us what you think on social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram as at Parcast. and Twitter at Parcast Network. It seems simple, but it really helps our show. Have a killer week. Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler,

is a production of Cutler media and is part of the Parcast Network. It is produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Kenny Hobbs, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro and Paul Mahler. Additional production assistance by Carly Madden and Maggie Admire. Serial Killers is written by Ryan Elkins, and stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson. Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors,

where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce, and the truth gets buried under brush and silence. I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping day, and there was a full of blood. Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers.

Season 2 is out now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the iHart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you want to hear something spooky? Some Monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves.

Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spot of... or wherever you get your podcasts.