Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Another Ripper in England

This one's actually strangling his victims, but the same principle applies: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16171063/
This article provides little information about the killer's methods (dubbed the "Suffolk Strangler"), except that he's murdering prostitutes, just like two other infamous UK murderers: the still-unidentified Jack the Ripper (sorry Patricial Cornwall, not buying it) and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, who terrorized Northern England in the late 1970s while maintaining the cover of a devoted husband and father.
That the UK police are publicizing and devoting such resources to solving the murders of prostitutes is surprising. As many serial killers and violent offenders know, law enforcement officials are reluctant to investigate the murders of "undesireables" like prostitutes or poor minorities. The reason these killers target prostitutes is not ethical, though Sutcliffe claimed he was on a mission from God, but opportunistic. These killers hate women, all women, and prostitutes are the most available victims. Their work depends on going off with strange men, and likely, police won't pay too much attention if they turn up dead. America's most prolific serial killer, Gary Leon Ridgeway (the "Green River Killer") was loose for almost 20 years, during which time he murdered roughly 50 women, most of whom were prostitutes from an infamous stretch of highway in the Pacific Northwest.
Five women have already died at the hands of the Suffolk Strangler, Jack the Ripper's total body count. And if this killer is anything like others of his breed (I'm assuming the killer is a man), he won't stop killing until he's caught. And you can expect me to keep track of this case, as I have previously with the John Mark Karr/JonBenet debacle and the Amish school shooting.

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