Ripper's pen pal slammed for £12k sale of letters

A FORMER pen pal of the Yorkshire Ripper has been slammed as “appalling” for trying to sell nearly 300 of the serial killer’s letters for £12,000.

- Mark Branagan and Jon Austin

PETER SUTCLIFFE HORROR

Karen McDonald visited Peter Sutcliffe two dozen times, and he sent her at least seven Valentine cards between 2007 and his death, aged 74, in November 2020.

The killer, jailed for life in 1981 for murdering 13 women and attempting to kill seven others during a six-year reign of terror, even kept a picture of her on his cell wall at Broadmoor Maximum Security Hospital. Among the tasteless haul were five birthday cards and five Christmas cards.

They were offered for sale on Facebook as part of a 12-year hoard of correspondence between the killer and Ms McDonald, who he referred to as “my sweetie” and “my dear friend”.

He signed off his cards and letters to her with rows of kisses and saucy emojis.

Former Met Police detective Peter Bleksley said: “It’s macabre and sick. More importantly, it is appallingly disrespectful to all of his victims and their families, and very distressing to those left behind who are the real ones serving a life sentence.

“I would hope that platforms such as Facebook would ban the sale of such distasteful items.”

In one Christmas card, Sutcliffe wrote: “Well, hello Karen. Hope this finds you well and in good Christmas spirit. Just wanted to thank you for the lovely card, very much appreciated and has taken pride of place next to your picture on my wall. So here’s wishing a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2018.”