Between October and December 2006, five women who worked in prostitution in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, were murdered; Steve Wright was convicted of all five killings in February 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole-life order.
SteveWright house — Credit: Blammermouth at English Wikipedia (Original text: Blammermouth) · CC BY 3.0
Between late October and mid-December 2006, five women were murdered in and around Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The victims — Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell — were aged between 19 and 29. All were women who worked in prostitution in the town, and each had been reported missing before her body was discovered.
Tania Nicol, 19, was the first to disappear, last seen on 30 October 2006. Gemma Adams, 25, went missing on 14 November. Her body was the first to be found, discovered in a brook near Hintlesham on 2 December. Tania Nicol's body was recovered near Copdock on 8 December. The disappearances and discoveries then followed in quick succession. Anneli Alderton, 24, last seen on 3 December, was found in woodland near Nacton on 10 December. The bodies of Annette Nicholls, 29, and Paula Clennell, 24, were found close together near Levington on 12 December. Post-mortem examinations established that Alderton and Clennell had died of asphyxiation; a definite cause of death could not be established for the other three women. In each case the body had been left away from where the woman was last seen.
The scale and speed of the killings prompted a large investigation by Suffolk Constabulary, codenamed Operation Sumac, which drew in officers from around forty other police forces and generated thousands of calls from the public. The deaths caused widespread alarm across Ipswich during December 2006.
Steven Gerald James Wright, a forklift truck driver aged 48, was arrested on 19 December 2006 and charged two days later with all five murders. At his trial at Ipswich Crown Court, which began in January 2008, Wright pleaded not guilty. He acknowledged that he had met the women but denied killing them. The prosecution presented DNA and fibre evidence linking him to the victims, including traces recovered from his car and home.
On 21 February 2008, Wright was convicted of all five murders. The following day he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole-life order, meaning that he would never be released; the sentencing judge described a substantial degree of premeditation and planning. Wright later brought an appeal against his convictions, which he subsequently abandoned.
The murders had a lasting effect on Ipswich and on wider public discussion about the safety of women who work in prostitution. Years afterward, advances in DNA analysis linked Wright to a separate earlier case, for which he was also later held to account, but his conviction for the five Ipswich murders has stood since 2008.
Paula Clennell, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Tania Nicol, Annette Nicholls
Date
2006
Location
Ipswich, Suffolk, England
Case status
solved
Case timeline
2006-10-30
Tania Nicol was last seen; she was the first of the five women to go missing.
2006-11-14
Gemma Adams went missing.
2006-12-02
Gemma Adams's body was discovered in a brook near Hintlesham, the first of the five to be found.
2006-12-03
Anneli Alderton was last seen.
2006-12-08
Tania Nicol's body was discovered near Copdock; Annette Nicholls was last seen around this time.
2006-12-10
Anneli Alderton's body was found in woodland near Nacton; Paula Clennell was last seen.
2006-12-12
The bodies of Annette Nicholls and Paula Clennell were found near Levington.
2006-12-19
Steven (Steve) Wright was arrested on suspicion of the murders.
2006-12-21
Wright was charged with all five murders.
2008-01
Wright's trial began at Ipswich Crown Court; he pleaded not guilty.
2008-02-21
Wright was convicted of all five murders.
2008-02-22
Wright was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole-life order.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
The Casual Criminalist / 1 hr 23 min
The Shocking Case of the Suffolk Strangler
People
Steven Gerald James Wright
CONVICTED
Forklift truck driver, born 24 April 1958; arrested on 19 December 2006 and charged with all five murders. Convicted on 21 February 2008 and sentenced the following day to life imprisonment with a whole-life order.
Paula Clennell
VICTIM
One of the five women murdered; aged 24, last seen on 10 December 2006, her body found near Levington on 12 December 2006; a post-mortem found she died of asphyxiation.
Gemma Adams
VICTIM
One of the five women murdered; aged 25, went missing on 14 November 2006, her body discovered near Hintlesham on 2 December 2006.
Anneli Alderton
VICTIM
One of the five women murdered; aged 24, last seen on 3 December 2006, her body found in woodland near Nacton on 10 December 2006; a post-mortem found she died of asphyxiation.
Tania Nicol
VICTIM
One of the five women murdered; aged 19, last seen on 30 October 2006, her body discovered near Copdock on 8 December 2006.
Annette Nicholls
VICTIM
One of the five women murdered; aged 29, last seen around 8 December 2006, her body found near Levington on 12 December 2006.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
archival location
Nacton village
Credit: Blammermouth at English Wikipedia (Original text: Blammermouth (talk)) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
archival location
SteveWright house
Credit: Blammermouth at English Wikipedia (Original text: Blammermouth) · CC BY 3.0 · Source
Between October and December 2006, five women who worked in prostitution in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, were murdered; Steve Wright was convicted of all five killings in February 2008 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole-life order.
Where did the murders happen?
Ipswich, Suffolk, England.
Who was convicted?
Steven Gerald James Wright (Forklift truck driver, born 24 April 1958; arrested on 19 December 2006 and charged with all five murders. Convicted on 21 February 2008 and sentenced the following day to life imprisonment with a whole-life order.).
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