13 differences between Jack the Ripper and the Yorkshire Ripper

9. Some women survived the Yorkshire Ripper’s attacks

If anyone survived Jack the Ripper, no one came forward to confess that.

10 women survived Sutcliffe, though police didn’t realize that at first. In fact, they didn’t believe there was a connection between the women and the serial killer, which I’ll address next.

However, first here are the women who survived the Yorkshire Ripper: an anonymous woman (1969), Anna Rogulskyj (1975), Olive Smelt (1975), Tracy Browne (1975), Marcella Claxton (1976), Marilyn Moore (1977), Upadhya Bandara (1980), Maureen “Mo” Lea (1980) and Theresa Sykes (1980).

Several of them appear in The Ripper documentary and share their stories.

8. Not all of the Yorkshire Ripper’s victims were prostitutes

All of Jack the Ripper’s victims were prostitutes, and at first, police and the public believed that’s something he and the Yorkshire Ripper shared in common.

That’s also among the reasons the police working the Yorkshire Ripper’s murder botched the investigation. Several of his victims had reputations as ladies of the night, but not all.

Many of the survivors were also not prostitutes. They were “innocents,” as the police put it. Because they were regular women who didn’t fit the “prostitute target” stereotype, the police ignored them and any important information or evidence they may have been able to relate.