Anakaren Espinoza
Death Investigations – CJUS 455F
Instructor: Fuller
December 1, 2014
Serial Killer Peter Sutcliffe There are different definitions upon what makes a serial killer and actually killer. The basic definition of a serial killer is an individual “who murder three or more people over a period of more than thirty days, with a “cooling off” period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification” (Serial Killer). Other sources define this term as “a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone or, including the vital characteristics, a minimum of at least two murders” (Serial Killer). However, “the FBI states that motives for serial murder include "anger, thrill, financial gain, and attention seeking" (Serial Killer). In addition, sometimes serial killers are confused for mass murderers; however they are not the same. An individual can be classified as a mass murder when the individual “[commits] multiple murders at one time; nor are they spree killers, who commit murders in two or more locations with virtually no break in between”( Serial Killer). Sutcliffe was born in Bingley in West Riding of Yorkshire, he was the first born out of six. John and Katherine Sutcliffe were his parents. Since Peter Sutcliffe’s fathers were well – liked and friendly, both his parents believed that he would grow up to be just like his father. However, growing up for Peter he was “shy, introverted, quiet and preferred reading [than] to play sports” (Peter William Sutcliffe, a.k.a. "The Yorkshire Ripper", is a British serial killer). Moreover, Peter had a closer relationship with his mother that he did with his father, because of this John believed that Peter was having an affair with his own mother. “In secondary school, he was often bullied, driving him to truancy” (Peter William Sutcliffe, a.k.a. "The Yorkshire Ripper", is a British serial killer Minds). During his later years in secondary school, he attempted to fit in within his peer, for instance he took up bodybuilding which gave him noticeable results. Even though he engaged in some sport activities; “he didn’t show much interest in girls, of whom he was very shy” (Peter William Sutcliffe, a.k.a. "The Yorkshire Ripper", is a British serial killer). He had a fear of being conspicuous; he never really showed that he was good at anything that was school related. At the age of fifteen he left school and spent two years doing various jobs. “He then got an engineering apprenticeship, but dropped out after a few weeks” (Peter William Sutcliffe, a.k.a. "The Yorkshire Ripper", is a British serial killer). For a brief period of time Peter worked in a factory shortly after “he [then] took a job as a gravedigger at the Bingley Cemetery” (Peter William Sutcliffe, a.k.a. "The Yorkshire Ripper", is a British serial killer). However, as usual he was fired from the job as well, because he had the tendency of showing up late, and would at often times take belongings from the corpses and viewed them as trophies. He would also talk about necrophilia with coworkers. Finally he 1975, he found a job as a long distance truck driver, which for him was a steady employment. In 1975, Sutcliffe also committed his first known crime, and he was eventually called The Yorkshire Ripper.
At the age of 20, Peter approached Sonia Szurma, the daughter of Czech immigrants, they then later married in August of 1974 and tried to conceive a child numerous amounts of times all in which ended in miscarriages. They later found out that they would never be able to have a baby. Those who knew Sutcliffe saw him as ordinarily normal; however he had a dark side that he was hiding. Sutcliff and his brother – in – law Robin Holland, “would regularly visit the red light district and solicit prostitutes” (Peter William Sutcliffe, a.k.a. "The Yorkshire Ripper", is a British serial killer).