Peter Sutcliffe dead – relieved son of victim says ‘who’d have thought coronavirus had a happy ending’
THE son of one the Yorkshire Ripper's 13 victims said he was glad Covid produced "one happy ending" after the monster died in hospital.
Evil Peter Sutcliffe, 74, died after refusing any treatment for the disease in the early hours of this morning.
The serial killer, who slaughtered 13 women and attempted to kil seven others in a five-year reign of terror, is thought to have spent his last moments alone.
Now the son of one his victims has praised the disease for snatching the life of the monster.
He told The Sun: "Good riddance. Who’d have thought that coronavirus could produce at least one happy ending?”
But in a final insult to the victims' families, the monster went to his grave without ever apologising for his gruesome crimes.
Ripper's bloody rampage
These are the victims targeted by Sutcliffe during his reign of terror:
July 5, 1975 Anna Rogulskyj, 36, in Keighley, West Yorkshire (SURVIVED)
August 8, 1975 Olive Smelt, 46, in Halifax, West Yorkshire (SURVIVED)
August 27, 1975 Tracey Browne, 14, in Silsden, West Yorkshire (SURVIVED)
October 30, 1975 Wilma McCann, 28, in Leeds
January 20, 1976 Emily Jackson, 42, in Leeds
May 9, 1976 Marcella Claxton, 20, in Roundhay Park, Leeds (SURVIVED)
February 5, 1977 Irene Richardson, 28, in Roundhay Park, Leeds
April 23, 1977 Tina Atkinson, 32, in Bradford
June 26, 1977 Jayne MacDonald, 16, in Leeds
July 10, 1977 Maureen Long, 42, in Bradford (SURVIVED)
October 1, 1977 Jean Jordan, 21, in Manchester
December 14, 1977 Marilyn Moore, 25, in Leeds (SURVIVED)
January 21, 1978 Yvonne Pearson, 22, in Bradford
January 31, 1978 Helen Rytka, 18, in Huddersfield
May 16, 1978 Vera Millward, 41, in Manchester
March 2, 1979 Ann Rooney, 22, in Leeds (SURVIVED)
April 4, 1979 Josephine Whitaker, 19, in Halifax
September 2, 1979 Barbara Leach, 20, in Bradford
August 8, 1980 Marguerite Walls, 47, in Farsley, Leeds
September 24, 1980, Upadhya Bandara, 34, Leeds (SURVIVED)
November 5, 1980 Theresa Sykes, 16, Huddersfield (SURVIVED)
November 17, 1980 Jacqueline Hill, 20, in Headingley, Leeds
The Sun revealed on November 7 how Sutcliffe had tested positive for coronavirus in prison. He was put in isolation and monitored closely.
But the Ripper's catalogue of health problems - and his own paranoia - meant he always feared the worst.
Sutcliffe had already spent five nights on a cardiac ward with suspected heart issues earlier this month before being discharged.
He had told prison pals he was convinced he would ultimately be killed by Covid - terrified his age, obesity, diabetes put him in the highest risk category.
And just two days after his positive test result, jail medics at top security HMP Frankland, in Co Durham, became alarmed at how quickly he was going downhill.
Sutcliffe instilled terror in the UK in the 1970s after embarking on a grisly five-year murder spree.
Towns and cities were left deserted at night as women were terrified to go out alone.
By the time of his arrest in 1981 - when he was about to kill again - 13 women were dead and another nine had suffered a vicious beating which changed them forever.
Sutcliffe blamed voices from God which instructed him to clear the streets of prostitutes.
But detectives, lawyers and the Old Bailey jury which convicted him of murder were convinced he was a cold-hearted sex killer.
In 1981, he was handed 20 life sentences and spent 32 years at Broadmoor high-security Hospital.
But in 2016, he was transferred to top security Frankland in Durham, also home to Soham killer Ian Huntley and Milly Dowler murderer Levi Bellfied.
While there his health continued to deteriorate until his suspected heart attack last month followed by his positive Covid test.
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A source said of his final moments: "No tears were shed.
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"His death was as pitiful as the vile life he had lived."
It is understood no formal cause of death has yet been established.
