26/03/01 - Found... Hoaxer
who let ripper kill again
STEPHEN WHITE
The Mirror
DETECTIVES are poised to arrest Wearside Jack, the hoaxer
who posed as Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe.
The 59-year-old man, believed to be living in a London
shelter for the homeless, sent detectives letters and
two tapes during the hunt for the Ripper.
Sutcliffe, 54 - now serving life for murdering 13 women
- described the tapes as "divine intervention"
which left him free to carry on killing while detectives
followed a false trail. The hoaxer was nicknamed Wearside
Jack after analysts narrowed hisaccent down to a small
area of Sunderland.
He was named to police by a viewer who saw the recent
ITV drama about the Ripper.
Wearside Jack is suspected over the 1975 murder in
Preston of Joan Harrison who was originally thought
to be a victim of the Ripper.
Experts are now re-examining the tapes using the latest
technology.
They hope to enhance background noise and pick up any
other previous recordings on the cassettes.
The tapes were sent to George Oldfield, Assistant Chief
Constable of West Yorkshire, who has since died.
The hoaxer taunted: "I'm Jack. I see you have
no luck in catching me."
Lorry driver Sutcliffe was interviewed nine times by
police but his voice did not match that of the man on
the tape.
It is thought the hoaxer did live in Sunderland for
a period and was seen drinking in a pub in Preston at
the same time as Joan Harrison on the night she disappeared.
Her killer has never been caught. The man was interviewed
by police in the 1970s but there was insufficient evidence
to charge him. |
