My ex’s new husband is jealous of me, says the Yorkshire Ripper
THE Yorkshire Ripper has complained that he misses his ex-wife and claims her second husband is ‘jealous’ of their friendship, it was reported yesterday.
Peter Sutcliffe and his wife Sonia remained in touch after he was convicted of murdering 13 women in 1981.
The lorry driver had begun his reign of terror soon after marrying in 1975, slipping out of his marital home to kill with a hammer and sharpened screwdrivers, then returning to wash his blood- drenched clothes in the kitchen sink.
Despite his appalling crimes, his 65-year- old wife – who has been photographed in public for the first time in seven years – continued to visit him. They did not divorce until 1994.
Even though she has remarried, she remains in the detached Bradford house she shared with Sut- cliffe – and still co- owns the £165,000 property with him.
But a source claims Sutcliffe, 69, is upset that her visits have become less regular over the 31 years he has been in high-security Broadmoor Hospital.
The serial killer blames her second husband, hairdresser Michael Woodward, 55, whom she met when he cut her hair.
The source told the Sun on Sunday: ‘ Sonia still goes to see him [ Sutcliffe] occasionally although Peter has complained it is less often.
‘He thinks her husband Michael can’t accept they are still friends after all this time. He calls him jealous and insecure and blames him for coming between them.’
After remarrying, Sonia moved into Mr Woodward’s flat in a converted mill in Saltaire, Bradford, for only a few years.
During that period her Czechborn mother Maria Szurma remained in the Sutcliffes’ former marital home in the Heaton area of the city. But after her mother died, Sonia returned to the house.
A source reportedly said: ‘Sonia insists it is her home and would also lose money if she left.
‘Michael does not like to go there, which is understandable, and instead Sonia goes to visit him. It is a very odd set-up.’
Sonia is well aware that although she co-owns the house with her exhusband, the Lord Chancellor has registered an interest in the property since 1983.
If it were sold, the serial killer’s half of the proceeds would be taken to repay the legal aid used to fund his failed defence at the Old Bailey – in which it was claimed he was insane, and not criminally responsible for his actions.
The Sutcliffes bought the pebble-dash house for £16,000 in 1977. When Sutcliffe was on trial a police officer said the property was ‘sterile and lacked the touches that women usually give a house’.
Former teacher Sonia was photographed last week while she was out shopping. The wedding ring from her second marriage was clearly visible.
An onlooker told the Sun on Sunday: ‘Sonia keeps her head down when out and does not chat to her neighbours.’
Sutcliffe, who is serving 20 life sentences for the brutal killings, claimed he had been on a mission to attack prostitutes.
But he attacked any lone woman he came across during a murderous spree that left women across the North scared to go out at night.
He was finally caught by chance when with a prostitute – and officers found he had tried to dispose of a gruesome set of weapons.
It soon emerged that he had repeatedly been raised as a suspect, but police failed to join up the dots. Detectives were also attacked for being diverted away from Yorkshire suspects by a hoaxer who send in a taunting tape recording to the police, speaking in a Geordie accent.
‘She still goes to see him’