A coroner today requested medical records on the Yorkshire Ripper for the six weeks prior to his death from Covid-19.
The resumed inquest into the death of Peter Sutcliffe, 74, heard that a Prison and Probation Ombudsman investigation into how he had died was ongoing.
Their full report is expected by the end of this month. And the senior assistant coroner for Co Durham and Darlington Crispin Oliver asked for the entire medical records of Sutcliffe, also known as Coonan, from October 1, 2020 to November 13 last year, the date of his death.
He said that Sutcliffe's next of kin, his ex-wife Sonia Woodward, had been informed that today's hearing was taking place in Crook, Co Durham but had elected not to attend in person.
He went on: "We are waiting for the Prison and Probation Ombudsman report and we expect that to be delivered by June 30. This, on the face of it, is a natural death but I shall require the inmate medical records in reasonable time from October 1, 2020 to November 13, the date Mr Coonan died last year.
"I will need the prison records and the hospital notes as well."
The date of the full inquest into Sutcliffe's death was delayed until Sept 22, with a hearing on July 7 this year in Crook to confirm the witnesses likely to attend.
Mr Oliver added: "Because it is a natural death, I am not expecting a long list of witnesses, but I will confirm the details on July 7. I don't anticipate witness availability will be problematic, but I will verify."
The inquest has heard that Sutcliffe knew he was going to die the day before he passed away from Covid-19. He was told that he was being transferred into palliative care just hours before his death at 1.45am on Nov. 13 last year.
Mr Oliver read out the statement of Dr Clive Bloxham, of Newcastle Laboratories, who carried out the post mortem on Sutcliffe in the city's Freeman Hospital.
In his statement, read by the coroner, Mr Bloxham said that Sutcliffe had been taken from University Hospital of North Durham from nearby Frankland jail with 'increasing breathlessness and increasing oxygen requirements' having tested positive for coronavirus on November 5 last year.
He added that chest X rays and blood samples had confirmed Covid-19. "On November 2, he had a pacemaker fitted for an episodic complete heart block. This was an uneventful procedure carried out without complication.
"On November 12, he was judged to be dying. He continued to deteriorate with increasing oxygen requirements and after full discussion with the patient, he was transferred to palliative care.
"He died on November 13 at 1.45am from severe heart disease with damage to the main arteries and cirrhosis of the liver."
His post mortem confirmed the background was severe ischemic heart disease and critical stenosis of all three main coronary arteries including old posterior myocardial infarction.
Sutcliffe, who used his mother's surname Coonan, was serving a whole life term for murdering 13 women in the late 1970s. He was arrested in 1981. The inquest is expected to re-open on July 7 at Crook.
