‘A screwdriver.’
Noble: ‘How many times?’
‘Quite a few.’
Alderman: ‘Fifty-two times.’
‘That many?’
Alderman: ‘That many.’
Noble: ‘Ka Su Peng?’
‘She went behind some trees to urinate and then said we should start the ball rolling on the grass. I hit her once on the head with the hammer, but I just couldn’t bring myself to hit her again. For some reason I just let her walk away and I went back to the car and drove home.’
Noble: ‘Marie Watts?’
‘I used the hammer and a Stanley knife on her. As she was crouching down urinating on the grass I hit her on the head at least two or three times. I lifted up her clothes and slashed her abdomen and throat.’
Noble: ‘Rachel Johnson?’
‘She took a long time to die, that’s all I can remember.’
Alderman: ‘You remember how many times you stabbed her, Peter?’
‘No.’
‘Twenty-three times.’
Noble: ‘Elizabeth McQueen?’
‘I went back to cut off her head, make that one more mysterious.’
Noble: ‘Kathy Kelly?’
‘She was dirty and just talked about sex and so I hit her but she still wouldn’t shut up so I stuffed some filling from a sofa in her mouth. But then a dog started barking and I had to leave her.’
Noble: ‘Tracey Livingston?’
‘She was another one I heard using foul language. It was obvious why I picked her up. No decent woman would have been using language like that at the top of her voice in the street. When I had killed her, I picked her up under the arms and hoisted her up on to the bed.’
Noble: ‘Candy Simon?’
‘She undid my trousers and seemed prepared to start sexual intercourse straight away in the front of the car. It was very awkward for me to find a way to get her out of the car. For about five minutes I was trying to decide which method to use to kill her. She was beginning to arouse me sexually. I got out of the car with the excuse that I needed to urinate and managed to persuade her to get out of the car so that we could have sex in the back. As she was getting in I realised that this was my chance but the hammer caught on the edge of the car door frame and only gave her a light tap. She said, there’s no need for that, you don’t even have to pay. I expected her to immediately shout for help. She was obviously scared but just said, what was it? I said, just a small sample of one of these and I hit her on the head hard. She just crumpled making a loud moaning noise and then I realised what I had done was in full view of two taxi drivers who had appeared and were talking nearby. So I dragged her by the hair to the end of the woodyard. She stopped moaning but was not dead. Her eyes were open and she held up her hands to ward off blows. I jumped on top of her and covered her mouth with my hand. It seemed like an eternity and she was still struggling. I told her that if she kept quiet she would be all right. As she had got me aroused a moment previous, I had no alternative but to go ahead with the act of sex as the only means of keeping her quiet. It didn’t take long. She kept staring at me. She didn’t put much into it. Then the taxi drivers left and I went back for the hammer but she got to her feet and ran for the road. This was when I hit her heavy blows to the back of the head. I dragged her to the front of the car and threw her belongings over the wall. But she was still obviously alive so I took a knife from the car and stabbed her several times through the heart and lungs. I think it was the kitchen knife. It’s in the cutlery drawer at home.’
Noble: ‘Doreen Pickles?’
‘I had the urge to kill any woman. The urge inside me to kill girls was practically uncontrollable and it still dominates my actions. Following Pickles the urge inside me remained dormant, but then the feeling came welling up. I had the urge to kill any woman. It sounds a bit evil now. There I was walking along with a big hammer and a big Philips screwdriver in my pocket ready for the inevitable but I have been taken over completely by this urge to kill and I cannot fight it.’
Noble: ‘Noorjahan Davit?’
‘She was walking slowly like a prostitute and wearing tight jeans and I hit her on the head with a hammer. I dragged her down the road and her shoes were making a scraping noise. I apologised to her and took her shoes off and put them over the wall with her handbag. Then I stabbed her.’
Noble: ‘Joanne Thornton?’
‘It had been a long time since the last one. I realised she was not a prostitute. I had to try and convince her she was safe with me and I said, you can’t trust anyone these days. I used the Philips screwdriver, the big one.’
Alderman: ‘You put it up her, didn’t you? In her vagina?’
‘I think I waggled it about two or three times, yes.’
Alderman: ‘This one, this one here with the sharpened point?’
‘Yes. I used it on Joanne Thornton and on Dawn Williams.’
Noble: ‘Tell us about Dawn Williams?’
‘I took her to the back of the house before I stabbed her, that’s all. Before doing it, with any of them I had to go through a terrible stage each time. I was in absolute turmoil. I was doing everything I could to fight it off, and I kept asking why it should be me, until I eventually reached the stage where it was as if I was primed to do it.’
Alderman: ‘Twenty-eight times?’
‘I honestly can’t remember.’
‘I’m telling you, you stabbed her twenty-eight times.’
‘I believe you.’
Noble: ‘Tessa Smith?’
‘I attacked her because she was the first person I saw. I think something clicked because she had on a straight skirt with a slit in it.’
Noble: ‘Prudence Banks?’
‘I changed my methods here because the press and the media had attached a stigma to me. I had been known for some time as the Yorkshire Ripper and I didn’t like it. It isn’t me. It didn’t ring true. I had been on my way to Leeds to kill a prostitute when I saw Prudence Banks. It was just unfortunate for her that she happened to be walking by. I don’t like the method of strangulation. It takes them even longer to die.’
Noble: ‘Laureen Bell?’
‘The last one I did. I sat in the car eating some Kentucky Fried Chicken, then I saw Miss Bell. I decided she was a likely victim. I drove just past her and parked up and waited for her to pass. I got out of the car and followed about three yards behind her. As she drew level with an opening I took the hammer out of my pocket and struck her on the head. By this time I was in a world of my own, out of touch with reality. I dragged her on to some waste ground. A car appeared and I threw myself to the ground, but the car passed by. I can’t imagine why I was not seen. She was moving about, so I hit her again. Then I dragged her further on to the waste ground as a girl was passing by. I pulled most of her clothes off. I had the screwdriver with the yellow handle and I stabbed her in the lungs. Her eyes were open and she seemed to be looking at me with an accusing stare. This shook me up a bit so I stabbed her in the eye. I just put it to her lid and with the handle in my palm I just jerked it in.’
Sixteen hours of this in the dark room -
The dark room on our side of the glass -
Our side of the mirror -
Drowning, we’re drowning here -
Drowning in here in his bloody sea -
The bloody tide in -
His bloody tide high -
The things he’s said, the things he’s done -
Sixteen hours in the dark room -
