Michael Green: forensic pathologist whose observations helped catch the “Yorkshire Ripper”

Within five weeks in 1975, Michael Green, then a senior lecturer in forensic in Leeds, examined two local women who had survived brutal attacks. Both had been hit on the head from behind with a hammer. Green warned the police that the same person had almost certainly carried out both attacks He was right. These were the first recorded assaults by Peter Sutcliffe, later dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper.

Within a few months Sutcliffe murdered two women, again attacking from behind with a hammer. Green was convinced a serial killer was at large, but because the second two women had been prostitutes, the police regarded their attacks as separate from the first two—a major error.

It wasn’t until 1978—after seven similar murders—that the police finally heeded Green’s advice. Sutcliffe subsequently confessed to 13 murders and seven attempted murders.