Horror crimes of ‘Midlands Ripper’ Alun Kyte who cops say ‘murdered 20 prostitutes’ in spree worse than Peter Sutcliffe
AN "evil' murderer nicknamed the 'Midlands Ripper' is suspected of murdering more women than Peter Sutcliffe.
Former lorry driver Alun Kyte, 58, could have slain over 20 sex workers in the late 1980s and 1990s, police believe.
Kyte was jailed for life in August 2000 for the murders of sex workers, Samo Paull, 20, and 30-year-old Tracy Turner.
Detectives linked him to the deaths years later after a breakthrough with a routine DNA sample.
Kyte's sickening crimes were brought back into the spotlight this week after the twisted killer, now 58, was found guilty of several historic offences from the 1980s.
Kyte abused a nine-year-old boy and threatened his family to ensure he did not speak out, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
The killer was convicted of four counts of indecency with a child, three of attempting to choke, two of indecent assault on a male, and two other serious sexual offences.
He will be sentenced later this month.
MIDLANDS RIPPER
After Kyte was jailed for life more than 20 years ago, senior officers said that he could be responsible for a spate of other unsolved killings.
Leicestershire assistant chief constable David Colman said at the time: "Alun Kyte is an evil man who has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain committing crimes.
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"I do not believe that we have uncovered the full extent of his criminality and, in particular, there is every reason to believe he may have been responsible for other serious attacks on women."
Kyte was also given the nickname the 'Midlands Ripper' due to the chilling echoes his crimes had to serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.
Alun Kyte is an evil man who has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain committing crimes.
David Colman
Sutcliffe, dubbed the 'Yorkshire Ripper', killed 13 women during a murder spree across the north of England between 1975 and 1980.
The murderer, whose crimes shocked the country, was eventually caught and given a whole-life term - but died in 2020 from Covid.
After Kyte was jailed cops investigated whether he had links to a string of unsolved murders across the country, reported.
The crimes included the murder of Liverpool woman Julie Finlay, 23, whose body was found in a field near the Raynford bypass in August 1994.
The Observer also reported that Kyte could be linked to the 1997 murder of Glasgow prostitute Tracy Wylde, the 1992 murder of Natalie Pearman, and the death of Sheffield woman Dawn Shields.
There was a possible connection to the murder of Gloucester prostitute Carol Clark in 1993 and murder of sex worker Yvonne Coley in 1984.
TWISTED LONER
Kyte, who grew up in Stoke on Trent, was a loner who hung around motorway service stations and used fraud and petty crime such as shoplifting to fund his lifestyle.
At one point he masqueraded as a newspaper reporter and asked questions about crimes he had committed.
After the murder of Ms Paull, Central Television broadcast a reconstruction of the crime to try and catch the killer.
Shortly after the programme went out Kyte abducted Ms Turner.
The programme is thought to have infuriated Kyte and may have motivated the attack on Ms Turner.
But cops were finally able to catch up with him after he was jailed for eight years for raping a woman at knife-point in a Weston-super-Mare hostel.
A DNA sample was taken after he was arrested and it later linked him to the body of Tracy Turner.
When detectives interviewed him they chose not reveal the DNA evidence against, testing out his alibi. When Kyte started to change his story they realised they had their man.
In 2013 Kyte lost an appeal against his minimum-term sentence of 25 years.
The court heard that Kyte, then 43, had admitted to murdering Tracey Turner but denied any involvement in the Samo Paull case.
Peter Sutcliffe led West Yorkshire police on a 'cat and mouse' type chase in the 1980s. He was interviewed several times by officers but always had an alibi.
He continued to kill as political pressure mounted on the force to catch the 'Yorkshire Ripper.'
He finally admitted to the crimes in January 1981 ending one of the country's biggest ever manhunts.
Sutcliffe, whose crimes shocked the country, received a whole-life term and died in 2020 from Covid.
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