The man who hoaxed police into thinking he was the Yorkshire Ripper has died aged 63 after years of alcohol abuse.
John Humble, dubbed Wearside Jack, derailed the inquiry in the 1970s, leaving Peter Sutcliffe to keep killing, the Mirror reports.
A friend said: “He drank to forget.”
Humble sent detectives a two-minute message and three letters that distracted the police inquiry in 1978 and 1979, leaving Sutcliffe to kill at least three others.
Humble, an alcoholic, lived alone under an assumed name in a flat.
Neighbours only found out who was when they watched a TV documentary about the Ripper.
Humble, from Sunderland, was 23 in June 1979 when he sent the tape to West Yorkshire police Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield, who led the inquiry.
The voice said: “I’m Jack. I see you are still having no luck catching me.
“I have the greatest respect for you George, but Lord!, you are no nearer catching me now than four years ago when I started. I reckon your boys are letting you down, George. They can’t be much good can they?”
“At the rate I’m going I should be in the book of records... I’ll keep on going for quite a while yet. I can’t see meself being nicked just yet...
“Well, it’s been nice chatting to you, George. Yours, Jack the Ripper.”
Oldfield launched a £1million publicity campaign to find the man with the Wearside accent and questioned 40,000 men. Sutcliffe was among those who had been questioned, but was released several times.
When Humble realised police were taking him him seriously, he phoned to say it was a con. But they didn't believe him.
Days later, Sutcliffe killed Barbara Leach, a 20-year-old student, in Bradford. Humble's con began in 1978 when he wrote to the Daily Mirror and police.
Humble evaded justice until 2005 when a cold case review by West Yorkshire Police matched his DNA - taken after a drunk and disorderly conviction in 1991 - was matched to one of the letters.
He was jailed for eight years for perverting the course of justice. Following his release he was given a new identity and it is understood he died last month.
