Strangler: Man charged

13 April 2012

Police investigating the killing of five prostitutes revealed that they had charged a man with all their murders.

He is 48-year-old Steve Wright, a forklift truck driver from Ipswich.

He will face magistrates accused of killing and dumping all five bodies in a murder spree which shocked Britain.

Twice-married Wright, a former steward on the QE2, was arrested on Tuesday morning at his home in the red light area of Ipswich.

He was questioned for just under three days over the death of Gemma Adams,

Tania Nicol, three-months-pregnant Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls.

Tom Stephens, the 37-year-old supermarket worker who was arrested the day before Wright, was released on police bail.

The police officer leading the murder hunt, Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull, said that since the arrests there have been 'significant ongoing inquiries and interviews during the period that these men have been in custody'.

He added: 'As a result, the 37-year-old man was released on police bail, pending further inquiries. The second man, Steve Wright, from Ipswich, has been charged with the murder of all five women.'

Michael Crimp, senior prosecutor for Suffolk Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'We will continue to keep this case under constant review as it develops.'

He reminded the media of Wright's right to a 'fair trial before a jury'.

The operation to catch the red-light killer has stretched one of Britain's smallest forces to the limit.

More than 500 officers have been drafted in, many from around the country - to help the investigation. Police have sifted through more than 10,000 calls from the public and have viewed thousands of hours of CCTV footage.

The huge inquiry has also shone a light on the seedy underbelly of Ipswich's vice trade where up to 30 or 40 women regularly sell their bodies to pay for their drug fix.

The women's families, who have been left devastated by the case, were last night informed of the decision to charge by specially trained family liaison officers.

The grim saga of the Suffolk Strangler began on November 7 when police said they were 'extremely concerned' about the disappearance of 19-year-old prostitute Tania Nicol, who had last been seen leaving her home on October 30.

Just over a week later Gemma Adams, 25, vanished from Ipswich's red-light district in the early morning.

Her naked body was found just over two weeks later in a brook at Hintlesham, just outside Ipswich, by a passer-by.

On December 3 a major murder inquiry was launched as fears grew for the safety of Tania Nicol and police warned the town's prostitutes to 'look out for each other'.

Within a week, police divers found Miss Nicol's naked body in an area of water at Copdock Mills, near Ipswich, and said there were ' striking similarities' between the two deaths.

The discovery of a third dead woman in woodland near Nacton on December 10, that of vice girl Anneli Alderton, 24, from Essex, confirmed fears a serial killer was on the loose.

Concern also began growing for the wellbeing of two other missing street workers - Paula Clennell, 24 and Annette Nicholls, 29, both of Ipswich - as the message went out for prostitutes to stay off the streets.

Rewards totalling more than £300,000 were offered for information leading to the killer's capture.

On December 12 detectives found the naked bodies of the two missing women near Levington, a village five miles from Ipswich.

Police said that initital results from a post-mortem examination on Miss Alderton's body showed that she had been strangled, and later tests on Paula Clennell's body also implied strangulation.

It was later revealed that Anneli Alderton was three months pregnant when she died.

Following more than 10,000 calls from the public, police arrested 37-year-old Tom Stephens at his home in Trimley, near Felixstowe on Monday morning.

At 5am on Tuesday morning, Steve Wright was arrested at his home in London Road, which lies in the heart of Ipswich's red light district.

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