Peter Sutcliffe: Yorkshire Ripper linked to two Swedish murders

The 70-year-old serial killer's DNA could be compared with forensic evidence found at the scene

 

Henry Austin
Tuesday 30 May 2017 01:29 BST
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Peter Sutcliffe was moved to Broadmoor in 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia
Peter Sutcliffe was moved to Broadmoor in 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia

Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe - known as the Yorkshire Ripper - is being investigated by British police for the murder of two women in Sweden almost 40-years ago.

Gertie Jensen’s body was found on a Gothenburg building site in August 1980. She was 31-years-old. Just a fortnight later, 26-year-old Teresa Thörling was found dead in the entrance to a building in Malmo. The 26-year-old sex worker had severe head wounds.

Bo Lundqvist, a police cold-case investigator in Malmo, told the Kvällsposten newspaper that her murder bore Sutcliffe’s signature in terms of its “sexually charged brutality”.

He added that Sutcliffe’s name appeared on the manifest of a ferry between Malmo and Dragor in Denmark a day before the murder.

West Yorkshire police “want to know if there is forensic evidence and if anything can be discovered using modern technology”, Mr Lundqvist said.

Technology, which was unavailable at the time, could compare DNA evidence found at the scene with Sutcliffe’s.

The 70-year-old, is serving 20 life sentences for the murder of 13 women and the attempted murder of seven more during a seven-year spree before he was caught in 1981. He will never be released.

Mr Lundqvist would not disclose what forensic evidence available but the Malmo police have previously provided information on the matter.

A hair, that could be the killer’s was found on Teresa Thörlings body. This and other forensic traces found on have been preserved in a proper manner by Malmo police, he said.

Sutcliffe was moved to prison after three decades at Broadmoor psychiatric hospital last year, after a health tribunal has found he no longer needed treatment for any mental disorder.

He was transferred to Broadmoor in 1984 after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

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