Surviving victim of ‘Suffolk strangler’ claims murdered women could be alive if police had taken her seriously
Steve Wright, the only surviving victim of the “Suffolk strangler”, has claimed the other women he murdered could still be alive if police had taken him seriously.
The serial killer tried to kidnap Emily Doherty, then 22, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, in 1999, then murdered five more women in the Ipswich area in 2006.
On Friday, the 67-year-old man will be found guilty of murdering his sixth victim, teenager Victoria Hall, after he dramatically changed his plea and admitted the 17-year-old was abducted and murdered on September 19, 1999.
It was just one day before Wright attempted to kidnap Miss Doherty.
HE said Sky News: “What happened to everyone is devastating, absolutely devastating. You can’t help but think that if they had taken me seriously, Vicky might have survived, but if they had found her sooner, the other five women would still be here.”
Miss Doherty said she had been out for the night and had to repeatedly run away from Wright along the High Road East in Felixstowe in the early hours of Saturday, September 18, 1999, until someone helped her.
The police were later called, but she accused officers of treating her like a “silly little girl” and failing to carry out a full investigation even after Ms Hall’s body was later discovered.
Recalling that terrible night in her first interview with the media, Ms Doherty told the broadcaster: “A car was going back and forth next to me, wandering around. It had parked up and I thought the driver was urinating. He was just standing next to the car. He saw me and I saw him. The car door was open and the engine was running.”
“I ran, jumped over the wall, knocked on someone’s door and said ‘let me in.’ No one answered.”
He said the car turned onto Park Avenue as he tried to escape.
He continued: “I got on all fours to look around a wall to see if he was still there. Suddenly, he was literally there. He stepped on me. He said ‘okay’ in a low and sleazy way. I knew at that moment that my life was in danger. I just knew.”
“The adrenaline kicked in. I started running down the driveway. I found a big stick and stood there comfortably for about 10 minutes. I thought if he came here I’d beat him with it.”
He described hearing the car moving back and forth until it became quiet and believed he was safe.
But when he got back to the road he realized she was still there and began frantically knocking on doors until someone finally answered.
He said: “He was laughing at me in the car. Finally a couple let me in. I said: ‘Please let me in, I’m being followed.’ They called 999. “This whole bullshit, awful, awful thing lasted about 40 minutes.”
But Ms Doherty said she felt even worse after the way police later handled her report.
He told Sky News: “The police came but they didn’t believe me at all. ‘Come on, how much did you drink tonight?’ they said. I had to ask them for a lift home. “I got in the car with the police and they said, ‘I think you should tell us what happened then.'”
He said he only had one or two beers that night. He also said he gave officers part of the license plate. And he accused the police of refusing his offer to testify later that day.
She told the broadcaster: “They said it wouldn’t be necessary. Forget it. I felt like they didn’t really take me seriously at all. They treated me like a stupid little girl.”
Mrs. Doherty left for India the next day. Meanwhile, a manhunt was on to find Miss Hall’s killer, and when Miss Doherty called home there was a message telling her to call the police urgently.
He said that he gave a statement by phone, but suggestions to send an officer to create an e-fit image of the suspect were not taken into consideration.
“That was the last I heard about it,” Ms. Doherty said. “I suffer greatly from survivor’s guilt… It’s a burden I carry. There’s the guilt of not having your voice heard. I’m sick to my stomach with pain.”
Miss Hall, of Trimley St Mary in Suffolk, had left home on the evening of September 18, 1999, for a night out at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe with her friend Gemma Algar.
When Ms Hall’s family woke up that morning and realized she had not returned home, the police were called and a missing persons investigation was launched.
Five days later his body was found in a ditch at Creeting St Peter, about 40 kilometers from where he was last seen.
Five years later, with Wright still at large, Ipswich locals suffered six weeks of terror as detectives searched for the serial killer in their midst.
On 30 October 2006, 19-year-old Tania Nicol disappeared from Ipswich’s red light district and was followed nearly two weeks later by 25-year-old Gemma Adams, prompting a major investigation.
Miss Adams’ body was found in a stream in Hintlesham on 2 December and then on 8 December Miss Nicol’s body was found in a pond in Copdock.
Two days later, the body of 24-year-old Anneli Alderton was found in woods in Nacton, 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 found near woods in Levington.
Wright, formerly of Ipswich, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 after being found guilty of five murders.
On Monday he confessed to any murder for the first time. He will be sentenced by Mr Justice Bennathan at the Old Bailey on Friday for the murder of Miss Hall. Wright also pleaded guilty to attempting to kidnap Ms Doherty.
Suffolk Police told Sky News it was “unable to comment on any of the evidentiary matters prior to sentencing”.
power told Independent He said he would make a statement about this after the sentence.
