The Ripper dropped on Netflix this past Wednesday, leaving some U.S. audiences confused concerning who the movie is actually about.
Some American viewers thought this four-part documentary’s title belonged to Jack the Ripper when actually the gruesome series was named for the Yorkshire Ripper.
Due to this misconception, Newsweek covered the mixup, citing social media examples from Americans who confused the two notorious serial killers.
Jack the Ripper vs. the Yorkshire Ripper
Yes, both Rippers carried out their nasty deeds in the UK, and both committed gruesome acts of violence. However, the crimes were committed over a century apart.
Starting in 1888 and continuing through 1891, Jack the Ripper terrorized the impoverished Whitechapel and Spitalfields areas of East London, states the History Channel.
The first five brutal murders took place within a mile of each other in 1888.
Jack the Ripper targeted prostitutes, as did the Yorkshire Ripper.
The 1888 victims were named Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly. The victims’ bodies were discovered between August and November of that year.
Each victim, except Stride, had their throat cut and their stomach mutilated before being killed. Some also had their internal organs removed.
Despite the efforts of Scotland Yard, these murders were never solved. In addition, Jack the Ripper has never been identified.
History channel also notes, “Various theories about Jack the Ripper’s identity have been produced over the past several decades.”
A source for the channel also stated that accused parties included, “the famous Victorian painter Walter Sickert, a Polish migrant and even the grandson of Queen Victoria.”
The History Channel said that since the beginning of Jack’s killing spree, “more than 100 suspects have been named, contributing to widespread folklore and ghoulish entertainment surrounding the mystery.”
Who was the Yorkshire Ripper?
Meanwhile, unlike Jack the Ripper, the Yorkshire Ripper’s identity was discovered and he was ultimately caught.
He name was Peter William Sutcliffe.
His murders were carried out over a five year period between 1975 and 1980.
“The Yorkshire Ripper murders cast a dark shadow over the lives of women. The police seemed incapable of catching the killer. No one felt safe, and every man was a suspect,” Netflix dramatically said.
Unlike Jack the Ripper’s victims who were killed in London, Sutcliffe’s victims were killed in the North of England.
At first, the so-called Yorkshire Ripper murdered women and girls who lived in the low-income suburbs, but soon he moved on to killing sex workers who frequented seedy red-light districts, according to Esquire.
“Over the course of the five-year police investigation, Sutcliffe was brought in nine times by police for questioning without being arrested. He continued to kill after each police interview, and even after he had been arrested for drunk driving in 1980, which later led to strong criticism of the police’s handling of the case,” Esquire notes.
Finally, the killer was arrested for the final time after police discovered the car he was driving was using false plates.
Following that arrest, Sutcliff confessed to his heinous crimes. He said that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes.
In all, Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering thirteen women while attempting to murder seven more. He was sentenced to twenty concurrent life imprisonment sentences and was moved around during his incarceration, from one institution to another.
At one point, Sutcliffe was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia which led to his being transferred for a time from prison to a high-security psychiatric hospital.
He tried for an appeal in 2010 but the case was dismissed.
He was then remanded to what is known as “a whole life tariff,” meaning Sutcliffe would never be free again.
How did the Yorkshire Ripper die?
Ultimately, Peter Sutcliffe died from COVID-19 this year on November 13. At the time, he was 74-years-old.
“The Netflix documentary recounts the horrific crimes through interviews with investigators, survivors, journalists, and the families of the victims,” Esquire pointed out.
The Ripper is available for streaming on Netflix.