THE Yorkshire Ripper only has "weeks to live" and is haunted by his victims' faces, it's been claimed.
Peter Sutcliffe, 73, is suffering from breathing difficulties, high blood pressure and diabetes, according to reports.
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The serial killer is also said to be nearly blind and is taking a range of drugs and needs frequent medical checkups.
His age and ill health mean the murderer spends most of his time in his cell.
Other prisoners read to him but he's said to be a lonely figure at Frankland Prison, often seen wandering the landings muttering to himself, according to an unnamed official.
It's also said he struggles to sleep, complaining about having nightmares and being haunted by his victims' faces.
One prison source told The Daily Star Sunday: "Sutcliffe's life expectancy is relatively short. He could be dead in a matter of weeks.
"He is in the final stages of life and his own death is now something he is preoccupied with.
"He has reached that stage where every time he gets ill he never fully recovers and so is on a steady decline."
Sun Exclusive: Audio of phone call by Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe
SUTCLIFFE 'HEARTBROKEN'
YORKSHIRE Ripper Peter Sutcliffe is “heartbroken” because he will not see ex-wife Sonia before he dies, Michael Hamilton writes.
Sutcliffe, 73, said he had accepted remarried Sonia was unlikely to visit him again in jail.
And he blamed her husband Michael Woodward — who he claimed would not “let” her see him — and The Sun on Sunday for his ex severing ties.
Sutcliffe bleated to a friend: “She won’t come because of that Michael. He won’t let her. I am heartbroken by it.
“She’s also worried about the press, and fears they will reveal it if she visits like the Sun on Sunday did last time. If they’d lay off her she’d be fine.”
In December 2015 The Sun on Sunday pictured Sonia, 68, going to visit Sutcliffe at Broadmoor, Berks.
Sutcliffe is now in Frankland Prison, Co Durham.
A source said: "He is gutted — but most people are amazed she is in touch with him at all. He has other visitors but none of them match up to Sonia.”
She still owns the house she shared with Sutcliffe in Bradford when he murdered 13 women and tried to kill seven. He got 20 life terms.
The couple married in 1974 and divorced in 1994. She wed Michael in 1997.
A senior Ministry of Justice source added: "There is always a feeding frenzy every time the MoJ mentions Sutcliffe so there will be no official comment until he's dead."
Sutcliffe's health has been declining for the last 18 months.
He underwent eye surgery last year to have cataracts removed and was reportedly having respiratory problems a few months ago.
The Ripper, who was convicted in 1981 of murdering 13 women and attempting to kill seven more, was moved from Broadmoor Hospital to Frankland and lost his fight to stay in Broadmoor.
He was sent to the secure psychiatric facility in Berkshire in 1983 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
But a health tribunal subsequently ruled he no longer needs treatment for the disorder.
Sutcliffe, from Bradford, killed women in West Yorkshire and Manchester between 1975 and 1980.
He worked as a lorry driver during his murderous spree, usually beating his victims to death with a hammer before mutilating their bodies.
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During his trial, Sutcliffe said God had ordered him to kill his victims.
The former grave digger said the voice came to him from the headstone of a man in the cemetery where he worked.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "The MoJ does not comment on individual prisoners."
The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story - How did police investigation into serial killer Peter Sutcliffe go so wrong?
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