"How Say You?"

A confessed killer answers

"I don't want to miss this. This is one I for the history books," said a woman who waited all night outside London's Central Criminal Court. The attraction for curiosity seekers was Peter Sutcliffe, 34, a softspoken, bearded truck driver from the West Yorkshire mill town of Bradford, who seemed an unlikely focus for the notoriety surrounding the "Yorkshire Ripper" murder cases.

Even though the historic Old Bailey has echoed in the past to the oaths of rogues like Captain James Kidd, the pirate, and the epigrams of Oscar Wilde, few words could have commanded as much attention as Sutcliffe's responses last week to a simple question asked 20 times: "How say you, Peter Sutcliffe, are you guilty or not guilty?"

Sutcliffe pleaded guilty to seven counts of attempted murder. Then, as his wife looked on with distress from a nearby seat and grim-faced relatives of the victims strained to hear, he was questioned about 13 counts of murder. Occasionally stumbling nervously over his words, he responded: "Not guilty to murder, but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility." Thus in less than ten minutes, the chilling admission was heard in a tangled case of multiple murder that had claimed the lives of 13 Yorkshire and Lancashire women since 1975. Before the suspect was arrested last January, more than $8 million had been spent and 300,000 people questioned in what became the largest man hunt in British history. Displayed on a table in the courtroom was a gruesome assortment of exhibits: hammers, screwdrivers, knives, a hacksaw and a thin, short rope.

Despite Sutcliffe's admission of guilt on the seven charges of attempted murder and 13 of manslaughter, his trial was far from over. Expressing "grave anxiety," the judge, Sir Leslie Boreham, asked the attorney general and chief prosecutor, Sir Michael Havers, to explain "in greater detail than usual" the background of Sutcliffe's "diminished responsibility" plea—a British variant of "temporary insanity." After reports about the defendant's mental state were read, Justice Boreham finally responded: "It would be more appropriate if this case were dealt with by a jury."

He adjourned the court until this week, when a jury will be impaneled and, after hearing evidence, asked to decide the merits of Sutcliffe's diminished responsibility plea.

Should the manslaughter plea be accepted, Justice Boreham would still have the power to sentence Sutcliffe to any prison term, possibly including life. He could also order hospitalization. Whether Sutcliffe goes to prison or to a prison hospital, it is certain he will not have to face execution. Except in cases involving treason, Britain abolished capital punishment in 1965.