U.K. Man Convicted Of Prostitute Murders

A jury convicted a former pub manager Thursday of killing five women who worked as prostitutes in an English town.

Steve Wright showed no emotion as the jury at Ipswich Crown Court found him guilty of murdering Gemma Adams, 25; Tania Nicol, 19; Anneli Alderton, 24; Paula Clennell, 24; and Annette Nicholls, 29.

Wright, 49, faces life in jail for the murders, which made headlines in Britain more than a year ago. He is due to be sentenced Friday.

The women's naked bodies were found in isolated areas of Ipswich, in eastern England, over a 10-day period in December 2006.

Wright had admitted visiting prostitutes and knowing the dead women but denied killing them. But prosecutors said blood, fibers and other forensic evidence linked him to the crimes.

The prosecution said Wright "systematically selected and murdered" all five women over a six-and-a-half-week period, reports the BBC.

Suffolk police began an inquiry after Nicol, 19, vanished in late October 2006.

The killings terrified the town, and stories about the deaths were splashed across British newspapers and television screens for weeks. They also prompted a manhunt involving more than 500 police officers from more than 30 forces.

He left two of the bodies in a cruciform position with arms outstretched, reports the London Globe and Mail.

Prosecution spokesman Robert Sadd said "we will probably never know why" Wright killed the women.

Wright, labelled the "Suffolk Strangler" by the media, had undertaken his campaign of violence while his partner Pamela - who was unaware of his trysts with prostitutes - was working night shifts, reports the Globe and Mail.

Five other women have been killed or vanished in East Anglia in the past 16 years, although detectives have never publicly linked Wright to any of the killings, reports the U.K. Times.