Zapolski grave

In court Sutcliffe pleaded to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility as he was a tool of God's will. He had heard voices that ordered him to kill prostitutes while working as a gravedigger at Bingley Cemetery. He said the voices originated from a headstone of a deceased Polish man called Zapolski. The conversation went like this...

James Chadwin QC (for Defence) : "What was it that happened at Bingley cemetery that you particularly remember?"

Sutcliffe : "Something that I felt was very wonderful at the time. I heard what I believed then and believe now to have been God's voice. I was in the process of digging a grave. It was like a voice saying something, but the words were all imposed on top of each other. I could not make them out, it was like echoes. The voices were coming directly in front of me from the top of a gravestone, which was Polish. I remember the name on the grave to this day. It was a man called Zipolski. Stanislaw Zipolski." (Note: the name on the gravestone is really Bronislaw Zapolski.)

Chadwin: "Did you look at Mr Zapolski's grave?"

Sutcliffe: "Yes."

Mr Chadwin: "Why did you look particularly at this grave?"

Mr Sutcliffe: "Because that is where the sound was coming from. That is what made me walk closer to it."

Being a geek I went to see if I could find the Zapolski grave. The cemetery is expansive and there are old and new areas separated by trees. After forty minutes I found it and here’re some photographs. Sutcliffe was digging a grave to the left of this when he heard the voices telling him to rid the streets of prostitutes.

Entering Bingley Cemetery to see if I can find the Zapolski grave…

Here it is...

Pointing to the left on the grave. Sutcliffe was digging a grave to the left when God “spoke” to him…

The view from the grave…

Peter Sutcliffe with his hand on the wheel...

While there I spotted red flowers on a war grave. I’ve looked at thousands of these from both world wars but it’s rare the poor bones under the headstone are that of a woman. This one was just 20…