Steve Wright, known as the Suffolk Strangler, has confessed to the murder of Victoria Hall, a 17-year-old girl who went missing over 25 years ago.
The 67-year-old serial killer has also accepted responsibility for attempting to kidnap Emily Doherty, then 22 years old, in Felixstowe the day before Victoria Hall’s disappearance.
Back in 2008, Steve Wright, a former steward on the QE2 cruise ship, received a rare whole life order for the brutal killings of five prostitutes in Ipswich. This made him one of the most infamous criminals in the country.
Despite overwhelming evidence against him, Steve Wright, in a letter he wrote to Anthony Bond from prison shortly after his conviction, continued to assert his innocence, displaying a lack of remorse and empathy for the victims’ families.
Reflecting on that letter now, the extent of his deceit and callousness towards the victims’ loved ones is even more chilling to comprehend.
Nearly two decades ago, the brutal murders of five young women working in Ipswich’s red-light district shocked the nation. The bodies of Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell, and Annette Nicholls were discovered in isolated locations near Suffolk within a ten-day period in December 2006, all having been strangled or suffocated.
During that period, I was a journalist in Ipswich and covered the trial of the then 49-year-old Steve Wright. Prosecutors alleged that he methodically chose and murdered these women after stalking areas near his residence.
Evidence including DNA and fibers linked to Wright’s clothing, home, and vehicle were found on the victims, further implicating him in the crimes.
Following his incarceration, Wright sent me a lengthy letter from Long Lartin high-security prison in Worcestershire, sparking outrage among the families of the victims.
In his letter, Wright audaciously claimed innocence, blaming the “real killer” who he alleged was still at large, causing immense pain and anger among the families of the victims.
With Wright’s recent confession to Victoria Hall’s murder, his previous denials and manipulative statements have come into sharper focus, particularly a paragraph from his letter denying any violent tendencies or involvement in taking lives.
Brian Clennell, Paula’s father, expressed disbelief at Wright’s claims of innocence given the overwhelming evidence against him, emphasizing the pain and loss inflicted on the victims’ families.
Now that Wright has acknowledged being a killer, the families of the other victims hope he will finally admit to their murders as well.