Possible Leads In 'Suffolk Strangler' Case
Police on the trail of a serial killer in England were chasing down several possible leads Thursday morning, including clothing found in a river and the sighting of man who allegedly drove off with one of the women still officially considered missing.
Five women's bodies have been found in the small southeastern city of Ipswich — three positively identified as prostitutes who worked the red-light district in the city.
Two bodies have yet to be identified but one was thought to be that of Paula Clennell, 24, who was interviewed on television last week and said she was scared but determined to get back on the street because she needed money for heroin. Days later she vanished.
Another was thought to be Annette Nicholls, 29, a prostitute who was recently reported missing, according to Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull.
British media, sighting detectives working on the case, reported Thursday that clothes, possibly including a leather jacket and a sneaker, had been recovered from the River Orwell, which runs through the area. All of the girls were reportedly found naked, wearing nothing but jewelry.
Police were trying to figure out if any of the items, which also included a purse found in Ipswich town center, belonged to the slain women.
The bodies of Nicholls and Clennell were found Tuesday in rough terrain, but not too far from the side of a major road. Forensic investigators spent all of the daylight hours Wednesday gathering evidence from the sites — where the bodies were left to enable police to get as much as they could from the scenes.
As the sun fell, one of the bodies was taken to a hospital for a full autopsy and positive identification. Police were expected to name the fourth victim — likely Nicholls or Clennell — late Thursday morning.
Sky News reported Thursday that police had confirmed the fourth victim had died of "compressions to the neck," and her death was being treated as a murder.
The three bodies already identified include are those of Gemma Adams, 25, and Tania Nicol, 19, both found in a stream; and Anneli Alderton, who was found in a wooded area.
The Times newspaper of London reported that police believe all five women were strangled to death by the same killer or killers.
Police were also reported looking for a "chubby" man seen driving a blue BMW, who may be one of the last to see Alderton alive.
One of the her friends, another Ipswich sex worker, told The Times that she saw the Alderton get into the man's car and drive away the night she was last seen.
"All of a sudden this newish dark blue BMW slowed down and went into the public car park close to Anneli. Going into the car park is a signal the driver wants a girl. Anneli went over as she was the nearest. She sat in the passenger seat talking to him as he drove off," The Times quoted the woman as saying.
Gull confirmed Thursday that police were looking for the driver of the car, and said investigators also intended to speak with the woman who told The Times about the man, whom they had not yet interviewed.
Investigators were working their way through a list of potential suspects and investigating more than 4,000 calls made to the police hotline – a public response praised by Gull, who urged anyone else with information to call in, regardless of how trivial it may seem.
Authorities have pleaded with sex workers "to get off the streets as soon as possible," as the story grips the nation and evokes fears of a contemporary serial killer in the land of "Jack the Ripper".
MacVicar says the red-light district outside Ipswich was quiet Tuesday night but there was a palpable anxiety, and residents and the police alike are all braced for the discovery of another victim.
Town authorities have organized shuttle services to get women home from the local council offices, and the council's monthly newsletter was publishing a safety message to town's women: "Stick Together" — advising them not to walk outside alone at night.
"It's all we can think about," said Malcolm Moses, a taxi driver who used to drive prostitutes in the 1970s from the town's red light district to sailors in the port. "It doesn't matter to us if they're prostitutes. It's still somebody's daughter, somebody's sister, somebody's mother."
"It's terrifying, people are scared. Even I have to say I felt ill at ease and I'm not a nervous type of person," said Liz Harfant, 63, leader of the Ipswich borough council. "The first thing that goes through minds is, if working girls are not out in the street anymore, then who will be the next victim?"
Ipswich used to be a bustling port town in the 19th century. There were nearly 40 brothels in the red light district at the time, but these days the prostitutes ply their trade on a quiet ring road lined by red-brick houses in the shadow of the local soccer stadium.
The killings are reminiscent of the so-called Yorkshire Ripper, one of Britain's worst serial killers. Peter Sutcliffe admitted to killing 13 women, mostly prostitutes, in the 1970s. He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison.
His reign of terror recalled Jack the Ripper, the notorious Victorian serial killer who murdered at least five East London prostitutes in 1888. He was never caught and speculation about his identity continues.
One of Britain's most widely circulated papers, "News Of The World", has offered a 250,000 GBP reward (about $500,000) for any information leading to the arrest of the killer.
Police have said they suspected a serial killer, but were not ruling out multiple suspects. Police said there was also no indication women other than prostitutes were being targeted.
But criminologist Prof. David Wilson told Sky News "the danger is he kills again and again until he stops, or he might move outside of the target group, which, so far, are prostitutes, into other types of women."