John Humble got a sinister kick when he sent police officers investigating the Yorkshire Ripper an anonymous two-minute tape confessing to be the twisted serial killer
Peter Sutcliffe's sick murders triggered one of the biggest manhunts the country has seen however the years-long investigation to find the serial killer went down a rabbit hole thanks to hoax letters and a confession tape from John Humble, aka Wearside Jack
Who was Wearside Jack? The Mirror looks back at the true story of John Humble, who plagued the minds of detectives working on the Yorkshire Ripper case for 27 years
In the third episode of new series “The Ripper” on Netflix, the true crime documentary looks into one of the biggest criminal hoaxes in history – that of Wearside Jack. Wearside Jack pretended to be the Yorkshire Ripper, and sent police down a rabbit hole of investigations which allowed the real killer to continue and evade justice.
But who was Wearside Jack and what was he like before the hoax case? Here is everything we know about John Samuel Humble, aka Wearside Jack, and where he is now.
Wearside Jack
Who was Wearside Jack?
Wearside Jack was the nickname given to the man behind the Yorkshire Ripper hoax. Between 1978 and 1979 John Samuel Humble pretended to be the Yorkshire Ripper and taunted police with phone calls, letters and audio recordings. It’s one of the most notorious hoaxes in criminal history, having cost £1million to the Ripper investigation and three innocent lives.