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<\/p>\nPeter Sutcliffe admitted 11 murders but some believe he carried out many more<\/p>\n
10:43, 23 Apr 2026<\/p>\n
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Wendy Jenkins<\/p>\n
It must have been terrifying to be a woman out alone in 1979, years before Peter Sutcliffe would be caught and tried for his bloody trail of horrific crimes.<\/p>\n
Sutcliffe, who was convicted of murdering 13 women but is thought to have viciously killed many more, was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper though his crimes are thought to have spanned the country. While the murder of Wendy Jenkins, found dead in St Paul’s in 1979, has never been solved, some believe she was one of Sutcliffe’s many, many victims.<\/p>\n
Sadly, little is publicly known about Wendy, who was just 32 when she was killed. She lived in Eccelstone House, Barton Hill and had been a sex worker at the time of her death because Wendy had been short on cash. Wendy’s friends and family remembered her as a “nice” girl who “didn’t deserve to die like this” but always with some disclaimer. Always some caveat of “whatever Wendy was”, or “no matter what she did to earn money”, she didn’t deserve what she got.<\/p>\n
Now, trying to remember her nearly 50 years later, this is all which can be remembered about who she was. Wendy was a nice girl and a sex worker and she may have been murdered by one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers.<\/p>\n
She lived with her step-father Reg Hoskins, who previously told BristolLive Wendy and her mum had gone to visit friends in St Paul’s when a “terrible argument” erupted with a man.<\/p>\n
“I never saw Wendy again,” Reg told the Post. “Whatever Wendy was she didn\u2019t deserve to die like this. \u201cShe may have gone with men but she never brought any home here \u2013 she knew I wouldn\u2019t have stood for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A local woman who lived in the same building as Wendy later remembered her, saying: “I was only 11 but she lived in the same flats as my family. I remember she was always nice to me and no matter what she did to earn money she didn\u2019t deserve to die like that. I hope one day the killer is caught to give her and her family some peace.”<\/p>\n
The investigation spanned the region, with police interviewing Wendy’s friends and ex-boyfriends across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Devon and even to London.<\/p>\n
On August 27, the day before her body was found, Wendy was seen drinking at a pub in Grosvenor Road before heading to a nightclub in Ashley Road. She reportedly left the club alone at around 11.30pm that night and was last seen alive at around 5.30am on August 28, reportedly talking to a well-dressed man in his 30s.<\/p>\n
At around 8.30am the following day, Wendy’s body was found.<\/p>\n
She was found stabbed and with severe head injuries, including a partially smashed skull in a sandpit at a building site in Backfields. It wasn’t clear how long Wendy’s body had been left there when she was found by labourer Denis Winterfield. Another labourer, Richard Blankford, 20, found what turned out to be a major clue in the investigation.<\/p>\n
He discovered a handbag, shoes, a coat and nylons in an alley on the side of one of the new warehouses and left the property in a hole \u2013 covering it with rubble. \u201cI thought nothing more of it at the time,\u201d he told the Bristol Post at the time of the discovery. \u201cNow it all seems to fit into place.\u201d<\/p>\n
The clothes were thought to belong to Wendy.<\/p>\n
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Wendy Jenkins<\/p>\n
Cefyn James told the Bristol Post how he heard screams while at his home in City Road and saw a white Volvo in Backfields Lane only 100 yards from where Wendy was found. Another witness claimed he saw Wendy speaking to a “tidily dressed” man in his 30s on the corner of Drummond Road and City Road at around 5.30am on the Monday, shortly before police believe Wendy was killed.<\/p>\n
He was described by police at the time as \u201ccoloured\u201d and about 5ft 8in tall with shortish hair.<\/p>\n
Even just days after Wendy’s body was found in 1979, reports theorized she could have been the victim of the Yorkshire Ripper, whose identity was then unknown. The Bristol Evening Post and the Western Daily Press suggested as much in 1979.<\/p>\n
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Wendy Jenkins was last seen alive talking to a “well-dressed” man on the corner of Drummond Road and City Road in St Paul’s<\/p>\n
In 1996, the media suggested the death of a woman in St Paul’s was being investigated by West Yorkshire’s then Chief Constable Keith Hellawell as part of the enquiry, though archival reports do not explicitly identify Wendy.<\/p>\n
A 1990s TV documentary suggested Sutcliffe was responsible for an additional 20 deaths. He was convicted in 1981 of 13 murders.<\/p>\n
Police at the time said Wendy’s death lacked the Yorkshire Ripper characteristic mutilations. It was strongly believed her murderer was local to Bristol. But in 2023, former intelligence officer Chris Clark said he believed Wendy was quickly covered over with sand because the killer was interrupted before he could go further, which could explain why her death lacked the same Ripper characteristics.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cA shovel of sand was thrown over her in a quick bid to hide the body.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris suggested evidence marks Sutcliffe responsible for 45 murders, including Wendy.<\/p>\n
He says: \u201cThe tragedy for the families of the other 32 victims, as well as the multiple other attacks he carried out, is that they will never be remembered in this way or get their day in court.\u201d<\/p>\n
West Yorkshire dismissed the link as there were no post-death mutilations but Chris believes the hasty cover-up suggests that the killer was disturbed before he could go any further. He says: \u201cA shovel of sand was thrown over her in a quick bid to hide the body.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a recent statement, Avon and Somerset Police said: “Investigators in our Major Crime Review Team (MCRT) never give up on unsolved murder cases, which are never closed.<\/p>\n
“The team will review files for any potential further lines of enquiry and liaise with forensic experts to see whether advances in technology offer new opportunities to re-examine exhibits.<\/p>\n
“Having recently solved a case dating back to the sixties, the team is even more determined to do all it can with every case it holds.<\/p>\n
“People’s circumstances, priorities, and loyalties change, and this can lead to them coming forward with information which may not have been disclosed to police at the time.<\/p>\n
“Wendy Jenkins was just 32 when she died. If you know anything which could help to bring her killer to justice, please contact MCRT officers by calling 101.<\/p>\n