Stuart Kind, 78; Forensic Scientist Helped in ‘Ripper’ Case

Stuart Kind, 78, the forensic scientist who helped police crack the long unsolved “Yorkshire Ripper” case in Britain by plotting the murderer’s path of violence, died April 19 at his home in northeast England. He had been ill with cancer.

The Yorkshire Ripper had killed 13 women in Britain in the 1970s when police sought help from Kind. He did what later became known as a “geographical profile” of the killings, mapping the dates and times. From this, Kind determined that the murderer lived between the towns of Shipley and Bingley in West Yorkshire -- far from where police had been searching.

Within two weeks, truck driver Peter Sutcliffe, who lived in the town of Sheffield, exactly between the two towns, was arrested. He later was convicted of the slayings.

Kind had used techniques he learned as a navigator in the Royal Air Force in World War II. The success of his work on the Yorkshire Ripper case led to a report recommending widespread changes in criminal investigations, including the broader use of computers.

In 1958, Kind established the forerunner of the Forensic Science Society, which helped professionalize forensic research. He was the author of a 1999 autobiography, “The Sceptical Witness,” and wrote or co-wrote two books on crime investigation.