Mauvepink commented, in part:

"convict Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, for killing 13 women - mainly prostitutes - and trying to murder seven more. "

The "mainly prostitutes" gives an insight into his M.O., in that it suggests his target population, maybe his motivation, or perhaps his means of access to victims. Any of those pieces of information may give a leg up in the hunt for the perpetrator, although in this case he had evidently been caught and convicted.

and further:

When they report loss of life in a war zone they never say "Three men - mostly soldiers - were killed

In a war zone, those killed are normally assumed to be military. If the distinction is relevant, they would probably report that "(A number of) men, some of whom were civilians, were killed."

Dave Oesterreich