Peter Sutcliffe, the ‘Yorkshire ripper’, is dead. What is his legacy? He of course leaves behind the countless relatives and loved ones of his victims, whose lives have been torn apart and exist in a fog of pain and torment.
The women Sutcliffe killed had no dignity except in the minds of those that knew them. And thanks to the press reporting of the case, their last moments and the horrific, intimate details of their murders and defilement became embedded in true crime popular culture.
One thing that has changed since the 1970s is that Sutcliffe would not be able to get away with 13 murders now. CCTV and DNA evidence would hopefully have prevented him running rampage over long periods of time.
Perhaps as well the police are now more clued up when they interview suspects in such crimes.
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