Suffolk serial killer Steve Wright pleads guilty to killing sixth murder victim in 1999
Suffolk serial killer Steve Wright pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall, his sixth murder victim.
Wright, now 67, was due to stand trial at the Old Bailey for the murder of the teenager, who disappeared more than 25 years ago.
But the killer, sometimes referred to as the ‘Suffolk strangler’, significantly changed his allegation on Monday and finally admitted to the abduction and murder of Victoria “by force or fraud” on September 19, 1999.
He also pleaded guilty to the attempted abduction of Emily Doherty, then 22, in Felixstowe the previous day.
One of Britain’s most notorious murderers has accepted responsibility for any crime he committed for the first time, despite calls from his family to confess.
Wright, bald and bespectacled, appeared in the Old Bailey dock wearing a navy blue and gray jumper and spoke only to confirm his name and make a request.
Mr Justice Bennathan said he would sentence the killer on Friday to give Ms Hall’s family a chance to attend and present victim impact statements.
Former merchant seaman Wright, who is being held at Category A HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, is currently serving a life sentence for murdering five women, seven years after Victoria’s murder.
The guilty plea came after Mr Justice Bennathan ruled that jurors at the scheduled trial could be notified of the murder conviction. Arguing that there were similarities between the murders, prosecutors stated that all six women died by drowning, were left in similar places and had the same physical type.
The prosecution also argued that the trial should include evidence from a sex worker whom Wright knew well and who claimed to know the area linked to Victoria’s murder.
Victoria, from Trimley St Mary in Suffolk, had left home on the evening of September 18, 1999, to spend the night with a friend at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe.
But the sixth child, who was hoping to study sociology at university in Roehampton, Surrey, disappeared after saying goodnight to his friend.
Five days later his body was found in a ditch at Creeting St Peter, about 40 kilometers from where he was last seen.
A year after his murder, his parents, Graham and Lorinda Hall, appealed for help in catching his killer. Sadly, Mrs Hall died last December before her daughter’s killer could be brought to justice.
Following the criminal complaint, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that after 26 years, justice had finally been served for the teenager.
Specialist prosecutor Samantha Woolley, who prosecuted the case against Wright, said: “Our meticulous work with Suffolk Police, supporting the reopened investigation over the last six years and working hard to bring this case to court, has resulted in Wright pleading guilty.
“This outcome should make clear that time is no obstacle to a successful prosecution; no matter how many decades pass, we will doggedly seek justice for the victims of crimes not committed recently.
“Our thoughts are with Victoria’s family and everyone who loves and cares about her at this incredibly difficult time. We are also keeping Emily Doherty, her family and everyone affected by this tragic event in our thoughts.”
Wright’s crimes terrorized Ipswich as police caught the serial killer who targeted five women in a matter of weeks in 2006.
Tania Nicol, 19, disappeared from Ipswich’s red light district on October 30 that year, followed almost two weeks later by Gemma Adams, 25, triggering a major investigation.
Miss Adams’ body was found in a stream in Hintlesham on 2 December and then on 8 December Miss Nicol’s remains were found in a pond in Copdock.
The remains of 24-year-old Anneli Alderton were found in woods in Nacton two days later, prompting calls for sex workers in the town to stay off the streets.
On December 12, the bodies of Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29, were also found near woods in Levington.
Two of his victims, all sex workers in Ipswich’s red light district, were posed in a cross shape with their arms outstretched. According to pathologists, they had all been strangled or strangled.
During a hearing at Ipswich Crown Court in 2008, prosecutors said Wright “systematically selected and murdered” women after wandering the streets around his home.
Wright was seen wandering around the red light district around the time the women disappeared. DNA and fibers were found on the women, linked to their clothes, home and car.
Wright, a former steward of the QE2, admitted picking up women for sex on the nights they disappeared but denied any involvement in their deaths.
After he was convicted of five murders, relatives of the victims and Wright’s father, Conrad, said he should be executed.
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