For five years, police forces across northern England searched for a killer.
Women were being attacked and murdered.
The crimes created fear across Yorkshire and beyond.
The newspapers gave the unknown offender a name:
The Yorkshire Ripper.
But behind that name was an investigation that would become one of the largest ever conducted by a British police force.
Thousands of witnesses were interviewed.
Hundreds of thousands of investigative enquiries were carried out.
Suspects were questioned.
Evidence was collected.
And still, the killer remained free.
Then, in January 1981, a routine police encounter changed everything.
A man was stopped in Sheffield.
His name was Peter Sutcliffe.
At first, the officers did not know that they had just encountered the man they had been searching for.
But evidence discovered that night would eventually connect Sutcliffe to the murders.
The investigation was finally over.
Or at least, the search for the killer was.
What followed was one of Britain's most closely watched criminal trials.
This is the story of the Yorkshire Ripper investigation.


DISCLAIMER
This episode concerns real murders, attempted murders and other violent crimes.
It is presented for documentary and educational purposes and is based on publicly available police records, historical investigations, court reporting and other documented sources.
The script is independently written and does not reproduce the wording or structure of another documentary, book, article or podcast.
Descriptions of violence have been kept non-graphic and limited to information necessary to understand the investigation.
Peter Sutcliffe was convicted in 1981 of 13 murders and seven attempted murders. This episode does not attribute additional crimes to him as established facts unless supported by a conviction or clearly identified official finding.
The episode also discusses documented criticisms and mistakes within the investigation. These are presented as findings from subsequent reviews and historical records rather than as unsupported accusations.
The focus is on the investigation, the victims, the evidence and the legal process.
Listener discretion is advised.