Yorkshire Ripper: The Secret Murders

In 1981, Peter Sutcliffe, the 'Yorkshire Ripper', was convicted of thirteen murders and seven attempted murders. All his proven victims were women: most were prostitutes. Astonishingly, however, this is not the whole truth. Police and others with an interest in the case believe that there are many more victims of his that have not been accounted for. Investigators believe that there may be as many as 22 other victims who were killed by Peter Sutcliffe, but evidence of their murders was suppressed denying their families justice.

Episode 1

Exploring the missed chances of Peter Sutcliffe's early offending and presents evidence to show that his campaign of murder and mutilation may have started at least six years before his first acknowledged victim, with the killing of Mary Judge in Leeds in 1968. Among the secret murders explored are Judith Roberts, a schoolgirl killed in Staffordshire in 1972 and Carol Wilkinson, a bakery worker murdered in Bradford in 1977.

Episode 2

The pressure continues to build on West Yorkshire Police as they step up the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. On top of the crimes that police decide to include in the Ripper investigation, murders and attempted murders with a clear link to the killer are discarded and left unsolved. When a series of mysterious letters and tapes are received by senior detectives, the investigation is derailed even further, allowing the Ripper to go on killing.