Steve Wright, known as the Suffolk Strangler, has confessed to the murder of Victoria Hall, a 17-year-old who went missing over 25 years ago. Additionally, the 67-year-old serial killer has pleaded guilty to attempting to kidnap Emily Doherty, then 22, in Felixstowe the day before Hall’s disappearance.
Back in 2008, Wright, a former steward on the QE2 cruise ship, received a rare whole life order for brutally murdering five Ipswich prostitutes, establishing him as one of the most infamous criminals in the country.
Despite overwhelming evidence against him, Wright maintained his innocence in a letter sent to Anthony Bond shortly after being incarcerated. His lack of remorse and blatant lies in that letter are particularly chilling in retrospect.
The shocking murders of five young sex workers from Ipswich in 2006 shook the nation to its core. The victims, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell, and Annette Nicholls, were all found strangled or suffocated in remote locations near Suffolk within a ten-day period.
During that time, as a reporter in Ipswich, I covered Wright’s trial where prosecutors detailed how he methodically selected and killed the women after stalking the streets near his residence. Forensic evidence such as DNA and fibers linked to Wright’s clothes, home, and vehicle were crucial in connecting him to the crimes.
Following his imprisonment, Wright penned a letter from Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire, sparking outrage among the victims’ families. In the letter, he bizarrely claimed innocence and suggested that the real killer was still at large, despite his own admission of guilt in Victoria Hall’s case.
The families of Wright’s other victims are now hoping for closure as he has finally confessed to one murder. The letter’s contents, filled with self-serving justifications, only serve to further highlight the depravity of his crimes.