26/03/01 - Net closes on Ripper
tape hoaxer
Daily Record
THE hoaxer who helped Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe
stay free could soon be caught after 22 years.
Detectives were convinced a chilling cassette tape they
were sent in 1979 came from the Ripper. The man on it,
nicknamed Wearside Jack because of his accent, became
their prime suspect.
But the tape was a fake, and it led police on a wild
goose chase while Sutcliffe remained at large for two
more years.
He killed three women between the tape's emergence
and his arrest for murdering 13 women. He was interviewed
nine times by police but freed time and again because
his voice did not match the cassette.
It's understood officers have now been given the name
of the man thought to be responsible for the tape. He
is aged 59 and living in a hostel for the homeless in
London.
A file on the man, who lived on Wearside for a time, has
been passed to prosecutors. He was quizzed by police in
the 70s but there was not enough evidence to charge him. |
