DETECTIVE Dick Holland worked on the second Ripper attack - months before Peter Sutcliffe first claimed a life.
And he was there right at the end in charge of the day-to-day running of the Ripper squad when Sutcliffe's reign of terror was finally brought to an end.
The former detective superintendent - who is now a 73-year-old great-grandfather - was born in Moldgreen and has remained in the town he loves all his life - rejecting chances to move to further his police career in the early days.
He joined the former Huddersfield Borough Police in 1953 after two years national service with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps - now known as the Royal Logistics Corps.
He went into the CID in 1958.
His first connection with the Ripper was when he was a detective chief inspector in charge of Halifax CID and probed the hammer attack on Olive Smelt in Halifax in August 1975.
She had slight score marks across her stomach caused by a sharp weapon.
As Sutcliffe's killing spree intensified, the injuries he inflicted on his victim's torsos became more severe and sickened hardened detectives.
It was a while before the Ripper's killing pattern emerged and Mr Holland only worked full-time on the inquiry when Sutcliffe killed his first non-prostitute, 16-year-old Jayne McDonald in Leeds in June 1977.
Before that murder it had been decided at a high level that if the killer struck again, Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield would take command of the inquiry.
He brought Det Supt Holland in as his second in command.
His main task was to try to cross-match all the masses of information that was coming in, trying to identify suspects and create photofits.
Mr Holland, a father-of-four, was divorced from his first wife in the 1970s.
His second, Sylvia, died eight years ago and he now lives in Fenay Bridge with his third wife, Christabel.
