Who is Peter Sutcliffe’s ex-wife Sonia and where is she now?
PETER Sutcliffe’s reign of terror between 1975 and 1980 led to one of the biggest manhunts of the 20th century.
During this time, Sutcliffe, also known as the Yorkshire Ripper was married to his then-wife, Sonia - here’s everything you need to know.
Who is Peter Sutcliffe's ex-wife Sonia?
Sonia was born on August 10, 1950, and grew up in Bradford, seven miles from Peter Sutcliffe’s home in Bingley.
Her parents were Ukrainian and Polish-born refugees who had fled Czechoslovakia for Britain after the war.
Sonia met Sutcliffe at the age of 15 and the pair began dating.
Sutcliffe said: “The time I met Sonia was around the best time of my life.
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“I know what makes her tick and we have a similar humour. I loved her from the start, more or less.”
When did Sonia marry Peter Sutcliffe?
Peter Sutcliffe proposed to Sonia in 1968 at the Midland Hotel in Bingley.
On her 24th birthday in August 1974, Sonia and Sutcliffe wed in the Baptist Church in the nearby village of Clayton - a year before his first murder.
They then travelled to Paris for their honeymoon, before returning to live with her parents as they saved for their own home.
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Years later they moved into their own home in Garden Lane - and by this time Sutcliffe had murdered five women and left four others for dead.
While police were hunting the Yorkshire Ripper, an innocent Sonia inadvertently gave Sutcliffe an alibi - confirming her husband rarely left in the evening and if he did, she would be with him.
By the time he was arrested in 1981, he had murdered 13 women and tried to kill seven more.
While at Dewsbury police station, Sonia visited Sutcliffe where he told her: ‘’It’s me. I’m the Yorkshire Ripper.’’
After being sentenced to 20 life terms in 1981, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010, Sonia remained loyal to Sutcliffe, travelling thousands of miles over the years, visiting him at Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, then at Broadmoor in Berkshire.
The pair later divorced in 1994, but Sonia still supported him and was his next of kin when he died aged 74 in November 2020.
Sutcliffe once said: “She stuck with me for many, many years, before she even thought of a separation, and all credit to her. Then even after that, when I suggested she find somebody else, she still keeps coming to see me.
“She really must have loved me a lot. Most women would have just washed their hands of somebody but she knew me so well, my personality and that, she couldn’t let go.
“No one could have asked for a more loyal wife than Sonia and as a friend she still is as loyal and I’m very proud of her. She’s an angel.”
There was never any evidence or hint that Sonia had any knowledge of Sutcliffe’s crimes prior to his arrest.
Once speaking of his ex-wife, Sutcliffe said: “I was never covered in blood, people used to say Sonia must know something because of all the blood, but there wasn’t any, what a load of rubbish.
“She’s perfectly as white as snow.”
Where is Sonia Sutcliffe now?
As of September 2023, little is known about Sonia’s life.
In April 2018, Sonia was pictured arm-in-arm with her second husband, hairdresser Michael Woodward.
The couple wed in a low-key ceremony in 1997 but have spent most of their marriage living apart.
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In December 2021, Sutcliffe’s ex-wife was said to have been granted permission to sell his old home.
She bought the property with Sutcliffe in 1977.