Today in History: English serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, aka Yorkshire Ripper, was arrested on this day in 1981. He was responsible for 13 confirmed deaths and a few other injuries. His was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history and the West Yorkshire Police were criticized for their failure to catch Sutcliffe despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of their five-year investigation.
It is often used as an excuse that the police couldn't catch Sutcliffe quicker because they lacked the technology that law enforcement now has. However, even today, a staggering number of violent crimes go unsolved. "According to the most recent FBI 'Crime in the United States' report, only 45 percent of violent crimes lead to arrest and prosecution. That is, less than half of violent crimes result in what is known as a 'clearance' of the crime. Property crime clearances are much worse. Only 17 percent of burglaries, arsons, and car thefts are 'cleared.'" Source
Perhaps the low clearance rates in violent crime is due the fact that other crimes are more lucrative, especially where asset forfeiture is involved.
There have been quite a few bad men dubbed "Ripper" since the original Jack the Ripper in 1888. There's the Russian Rostov Ripper who killed 52 people between 1978 and 1990. Joel the Ripper (Joel Rifkin) killed 17 people. Then there's the Blackout Ripper who killed 4 women in 1942. Between 2001 and 2008 we had the Hollywood Ripper in Southern California. Greece had the Athens Ripper between 1992 and 1995. Michigan had the Ypsilanti Ripper (Co-ed Killer) between 1967 and 1969. Texas had the Dallas Ripper in the early 90's. Long Island, NY had the Craigslist Ripper recently who may have killed up to 17 women. The Atlanta Ripper terrorized Atlanta in the early 1900's and was never caught.
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