Wendy Sewell

*This article includes details of sexual abuse, sexual assault, and/or rape. Discretion is advised.*

## Wendy Sewell

### Cause of death

Beating

**Wendy Sewell** (c. 1941 - 12 September 1973) was a young woman who is suspected to have been murdered by Peter Sutcliffe in Bakewell, England, on 12 September 1973. If Sutcliffe murdered her, Wendy would be his first murder victim.

## Background

Wendy was born sometime in or around 1941. She was working as a legal secretary at the time of her murder.

## Disappearance

Wendy was last seen alive mere minutes before being attacked, entering the Bakewell Cemetery at approximately 12:50 p.m. that day.

## Discovery

Wendy was found brutally attacked in the cemetery by 17-year-old Stephen Downing soon after the last sighting of her. Wendy was still conscious and was able to get up off the ground but she tripped, her head hitting a gravestone. She was brought into the intensive care unit of the hospital but died two days later.

She was found to have suffered seven strikes to the head from the handle of a pickaxe, and as a part of her attack, she had been sexually assaulted.

## Aftermath

After the initial shock of the attack, police began to suspect the person who found Wendy, Stephen Downing, of her murder. He was arrested when he asked police if he could wash blood off his hands. He told police he had blood on him because when he found Wendy still alive, she shook her head, causing blood to splash on him.

Police questioned Downing for nine hours without a solicitor present, despite Downing having learning difficulties and having a reading age of eleven at the time of the murder. He confessed to the attack on Wendy, but as Wendy was still in hospital, he was charged with assault. When it was learned Wendy had died, the charge was elevated to murder.

At some point before the charge was elevated to murder, Downing retracted his confession, saying he was at home at the time. The trial commenced in February 1974. Downing pled not guilty to murder, but he admitted to sexually assaulting Wendy as she lay on the ground. A forensic scientist responded by presenting evidence that the blood found on Downing could only appear on the person who murdered Wendy.

When asked about the origin of the murder weapon, the pickaxe handle, Downing said he used it before the murder to break up firewood. When asked why he retracted his statement, Downing said he only confessed to assault as he thought Wendy was seriously injured and would live. After only an hour of deliberations, Downing was found guilty of Wendy's murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Downing appealed his conviction in October 1974, but it was denied. In 1994, Downing's family sought the help of a newspaper company to help them campaign for Downing's release. This caused Wendy to be viewed in a promiscuous light and was soon dubbed "The Bakewell Tart."

Downing was released under appeal in 2001 and had his conviction quashed the following year. Since then, no one has been named a suspect in Wendy's murder, and Downing remains the only suspect.

### Peter Sutcliffe as a suspect

In 2015, authors Chris Clark and Tim Tate published a book titled "Yorkshire Ripper: The Secret Murders," which claimed that numerous other women were victims of Peter Sutcliffe, a man who murdered at least thirteen women between the years of 1975 and 1980 in England. One of the murders Clark and Tate claimed could have been committed by Sutcliffe was Wendy's.

These claims were heavily disputed by police, as they claimed the only man who could not be ruled out as a suspect in Wendy's murder was Downing.

On 13 November 2020, Sutcliffe died in prison. He had a private funeral, and his body was cremated.