Steven Wright (serial killer)

{{Infobox serial killer

| name = Steven Wright

| image = Wright2006.jpg

| birth_name = Steven Gerald James Wright

| alias = Suffolk Strangler

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1958|4|24}}

| birth_place = Erpingham, Norfolk, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| cause =

| conviction = 5 counts of murder

| sentence = Life imprisonment (whole life order)

| victims = 5+

| beginyear = 30 October

| endyear = 9 December 2006

| country = England

| states =

| mo =

| motive =

| apprehended = 19 December 2006

| imprisoned = HM Prison Long Lartin

}}

Steven Gerald James Wright (born 24 April 1958){{cite news|author=Sandra Laville and Esther Addley |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/dec/20/suffolkmurders.estheraddley |title=Girlfriend insists new suspect is innocent as forensic teams search their home |newspaper=Guardian |date= 20 December 2006|access-date=27 September 2010 | location=London}} is an English serial killer, also known as the Suffolk Strangler. He is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of five women who worked in Ipswich, Suffolk. The killings took place during the final months of 2006 and Wright was found guilty in February 2008 and given a whole life order.

Early life

Steven Wright was born in the Norfolk village of Erpingham, the second of four children of military policeman Conrad and veterinary nurse{{cite news |title = My anger is buried deep inside |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/21/suffolkmurders.ukcrime1 |date=21 February 2008 |access-date=23 February 2008 | location=London | first=Karen | last=McVeigh}} Patricia,{{cite web|author=Profile of a serial killer |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2008/02/21/steve_wright_guilty_profile_feature.shtml |title=BBC profile |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |date=20 June 2008 |access-date=27 September 2010}} on 24 April 1958. He has an older brother and two younger sisters. While Wright's father was on military service, the family had lived in both Malta and Singapore.{{cite news |title=Ipswich Killings Trials |work=East Anglian Daily Times |url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/ipswichkillings/people.aspx?person=SteveWright |date=25 February 2008 |access-date=25 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090705164920/https://www.eadt.co.uk/content/ipswichkillings/people.aspx/?person=SteveWright|archive-date=5 July 2009}} Wright's mother left the family in 1964 when he was aged 6; his father divorced his mother in 1978; both remarried. Wright and his siblings lived with their father, who fathered a son and a daughter with his second wife, Valerie.

Wright left school at the age of 16 in 1974 with no qualifications, and soon afterwards joined the Merchant Navy, becoming a chef on ferries sailing from Felixstowe, Suffolk.{{cn|date=April 2024}} In 1978, at age 20, he married Angela O'Donovan in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales. They had a son, Michael. The couple separated in 1987, and later divorced.{{cite news |first=Sean |last=O'Neil |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/he-was-rude-and-aggressive-but-no-ones-idea-of-a-killer-73n79w0g0k6 |title=He was rude and aggressive, but no-one's idea of a killer |newspaper=The Times |date=22 February 2008 |url-access=subscription}} Wright became a steward on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2, a lorry driver, a barman and, just prior to his arrest, a forklift truck driver. Former prostitute Lindi St Clair said that Wright attacked her in the 1980s.{{cite news |title=Wright 'attacked former prostitute' |website= BBC|date=27 February 2008 |access-date= 27 February 2008 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7265501.stm}} His second marriage was to Diane Cassell at Braintree, Essex, register office in August 1987. They divorced in July 1988 while he was a pub landlord in Norwich.

It was during this time that Wright also managed a pub in South London. He lost this post due to his gambling and heavy drinking. Wright was convicted in 2001 of theft, having stolen £80 to pay off his debts. This was his only criminal conviction prior to the murders.{{cite news|last=Allen |first=Nick |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579403/Steve-Wright-A-real-Jekyll-and-Hyde.html |title=Steve Wright: A real Jekyll and Hyde |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=21 February 2008 |access-date=27 September 2010}} Wright accrued large gambling debts, and was declared bankrupt in the late 1990s. He had twice tried to commit suicide, first by carbon monoxide poisoning in his car in 1994; secondly in 2000, by an overdose of pills.

Suffolk murders

Wright met Pamela Wright (no relation) in 2001 in Felixstowe, and they moved to a house in Ipswich together in 2004. Wright had always admitted that he hired prostitutes and had done so since he was in the Merchant Navy and continually throughout his life. In Ipswich, he conceded that he went to certain massage and sauna establishments that were actually brothels. During his trial, Wright stated he had gone to prostitutes on many occasions, including three of the murder victims. Wright began having sex with prostitutes again when his partner began working night shifts and their sex life became almost non-existent; he paid at least a dozen women for sex in the final three months of 2006.

Between 30 October and 10 December 2006, Wright murdered five women in Ipswich. Forensic evidence led to his arrest on 19 December: tiny flecks of blood were found on the back seats of Wright's Ford Mondeo and partially matched the DNA profile of murder victim Paula Clennell.{{Cite news|url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/flecks_of_blood_found_in_wright_s_car_1_186659|title=Flecks of blood found in Wright's car|work=edp24.co.uk|date=31 January 2008|access-date=6 July 2015}}

Wright was found guilty of all five murders on 21 February 2008. At Ipswich Crown Court the following day, Mr Justice Gross sentenced Wright to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released.{{cite news| title =Suffolk strangler Steve Wright jailed for 'whole life term' | first=Philippe|last=Naughton | newspaper=The Times | date =22 February 2008 | url =http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3415510.ece | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20081007151248/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3415510.ece | url-status =dead | archive-date =7 October 2008 | location=London}} On 19 March 2008, Wright appealed his convictions,{{cite news|url=http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/families_anger_at_wright_appeal_bid_1_198892?usurv=skip|title=Families' Anger at Wright Appeal Bid|access-date=24 February 2017|newspaper=Ipswich Star|date=19 March 2008}} but on 2 February 2009, it was announced that Wright had decided to drop the appeal.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/7864669.stm |title=Serial killer drops appeal case |work=BBC News |date=2 February 2009 |access-date=27 September 2010}}

Possible links to other crimes

On 3 June 2024 Wright was charged with the murder of 17-year-old school girl Victoria Hall in 1999, after police opened a cold case review.{{Cite news |title=Steve Wright charged with 1999 murder of Victoria Hall |last=Heywood |first=Harriet |date=2024-05-22 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-69049369 |access-date=2024-11-01|publisher=BBC News}}{{Cite news |title=Steve Wright in court charged with 1999 murder |last=O'Brien |first=Zoie |date=2024-06-03 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjll1g42ew3o |access-date=2024-11-01 |last2=Cunningham |first2=Alice|publisher=BBC News}}{{Cite news |title=Steve Wright appears at court over 1999 killing |last=O'Brien |first=Zoie |date=2024-09-02 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgd370e18wo |access-date=2024-11-01|publisher=BBC News}}

Wright is still being investigated in connection with other unsolved murders and disappearances. Experts have highlighted how it is unlikely for any serial killer to start killing at such a late stage and that serial killers almost always start killing before their mid 30s; Wright was 48 years old when the 2006 murders were committed.{{cite web |author1=Real Crime |author1-link=Real Crime |title=Real Crime: The Suffolk Strangler |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=822w5QZiz3k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/822w5QZiz3k |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|publisher=ITV |format=TV Documentary |date=2008}}{{cbignore}} This indicates that Wright likely killed before in his life, and psychologists told police after the murders that it was 'highly likely' that he had done so.{{cite news |first1=Gordon|last1=Rayner|first2=Nick|last2=Allen|title=Police confirm killer is suspect in more deaths |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/police-confirm-killer-is-suspect-in-more-deaths-26425199.html |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=The Independent |date=22 February 2008}}

Wright is one of a number of high-profile murderers or sex offenders to have been identified as possible suspects in the Suzy Lamplugh murder case; he had worked with Lamplugh on Queen Elizabeth 2 during the early 1980s. Lamplugh went missing in London in July 1986, and was legally declared dead in 1994, but her body has never been found.{{cite news | last = Batty | first = Dave | title = Police investigate 'link' between Wright and Suzy Lamplugh | work = The Guardian | location=London, England|date = 22 February 2008 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/22/suffolkmurders.law | access-date = 22 February 2008 }} However, the Metropolitan Police have stated that this is not a strong line of enquiry.{{cite news | title = Wright 'not linked to Suzy death' | work = BBC News | date = 14 May 2008 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7401250.stm | access-date = 14 May 2008 }} In 2002, the police named John Cannan as the man they believed killed Lamplugh.{{cite news |first=Sandra|last=Lanville|title=Police name man who 'killed Suzy Lamplugh' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1412332/Police-name-man-who-killed-Suzy-Lamplugh.html |access-date=30 May 2015 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=6 November 2002}}

Cleveland Police have not ruled out a link between Wright and the murder of Vicky Glass, a factory worker in Teesside, who vanished from Middlesbrough in September 2000, and whose naked body was later found in a brook on the North York Moors.{{cite news|first1=Esther|last1=Addley|first2=Karen|last2=McVeigh|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/feb/22/suffolkmurders.ukcrime|title=Motive still unknown as serial killer faces rest of life in prison|newspaper=The Guardian|date=22 February 2008}}

In 2019 Wright was linked by an ex-police officer to the murder of Jeanette Kempton in 1989.{{cite news |last1=Bristow |first1=Tom |title=Ex-police officer links Jeanette Kempton cold case to Steve Wright |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/jeanette-kempton-murder-linked-to-steve-wright-1366784 |access-date=29 October 2021 |work=Eastern Daily Press |date=8 March 2019}} Kempton had vanished from Brixton, near where Wright lived at the time, and was later found dead many miles away in a rural location in Suffolk.

In July 2021 Wright was arrested, at HM Prison Long Lartin, on suspicion of murdering Victoria Hall, a 17-year-old who was murdered on her way home from a Suffolk nightclub in 1999. Her body was found in a ditch five days after she was last seen alive in Felixstowe. Suffolk police reopened their investigation in 2019 after receiving fresh witness information. They announced that Wright had been “released under investigation, pending further inquiries”.{{Cite news|last=Evans|first=Martin|date=2021-07-29|title=Exclusive: Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright arrested over unsolved murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/07/29/exclusive-suffolk-strangler-steve-wright-arrested-unsolved-murder/|access-date=2021-07-30|issn=0307-1235}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/suffolk-strangler-steve-wright-arrested-21183344|title = Suffolk Strangler 'arrested over unsolved murder'|date = 30 July 2021}} Only two months after this police announced a re-investigation by a historical crimes unit into Vicky Glass's murder in order to pursue "new lines of enquiry".{{Cite web|date=24 September 2021|title=Police to re-examine unsolved UK murder case after 21 years|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/sep/24/police-to-re-examine-unsolved-uk-case-after-21-years-vicky-glass|access-date=24 September 2021|website=The Guardian}} On 7 December 2023, he was rearrested in connection with the murder of Victoria Hall,{{Cite news |date=2023-12-07 |title=Serial killer Steve Wright arrested over 1999 murder of Victoria Hall |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-67649142 |access-date=2023-12-07}} and on 22 May 2024 was charged with her murder, as well as the attempted kidnapping of another woman.{{Cite news |date=2024-05-22 |title=Steve Wright charged with 1999 murder of Victoria Hall |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-69049369 |access-date=2024-05-22}} On 26 February he appeared via video link from HMP Long Lartin at the Old Bailey for a hearing in the Victoria Hall case.{{Cite news |title=Steve Wright appears in court over Trimley St Mary murder |last=Amos |first=Johnny |date=2025-02-26 |url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/24965298.steve-wright-appears-court-trimley-st-mary-murder/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |work=East Anglian Daily Times}}{{Cite news |title=Man in court over kidnap and murder of teenage girl 25 years ago |last=Pennink |first=Emily |date=2025-02-26 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/steve-wright-suffolk-old-bailey-justice-ipswich-b2704990.html |access-date=2025-03-27 |work=The Independent}} He has yet to enter a plea on a second kidnapping charge. The trial date was set for 2 February 2026. Victoria Hall was from Trimley St Mary and had gone with a friend to a nightclub in Felixstowe on 18 September 1999. She was last seen alive in the early hours of the following morning - her body was found in Creeting St Peter five days later.

=Previous East Anglia murders=

{{See also|List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom (1990–present)}}

Wright has also been linked to the murders of other sex workers in Ipswich and in Norwich in Norfolk. When investigating the five murders committed by Wright in Ipswich in late 2006, criminologist David Wilson, who was involved in the case, stated that he felt that the murders were far too practised for someone murdering for the first time.{{cite web |first=David|last=Wilson |author1-link=David Wilson (criminologist) |title=Killers Behind Bars, The Untold Story: The Suffolk Strangler |url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ndepx |publisher=Channel 5 |format=TV documentary |date=12 June 2012}} There was a cluster of sex worker murders in Norwich in the years before the 2006 murders, which remain unsolved. Wright used to live and work in the city, and frequently returned to the city in the years after he left, usually travelling from Ipswich to Norwich once a month.{{cite news |title='More likely than not' Wright killed others |url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-30349937.html |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=Irish Examiner |date=21 February 2008}} He ran a pub in the middle of the red light district of Norwich, similar to how he lived in the centre of the red light district of Ipswich at the time of the 2006 murders.

Wright has been linked to the unsolved murders of:

Natalie Pearman, Norwich, November 1992 (a link was disproven with DNA by 2017)In 2017, police announced that they had a full DNA profile of the murderer and solving the case was simply a case of matching it to an individual, meaning Steve Wright could be ruled out of the attack.
Amanda Duncan, Ipswich, July 1993{{cite news |last1=Moreton |first1=Cole |title=Prostitute murders: The tragedy of the cases still unsolved |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/prostitute-murders-the-tragedy-of-the-cases-still-unsolved-786412.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/prostitute-murders-the-tragedy-of-the-cases-still-unsolved-786412.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=30 May 2021 |work=The Independent |date=24 February 2008}}
Kellie Pratt, Norwich, June 2000{{cite news |last1=Kirby |first1=Terry |title=Ipswich suspects may be linked |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/ipswich-suspects-may-be-linked-26352258.html |access-date=30 May 2021 |work=Independent.ie |date=21 December 2006}}
Michelle Bettles, Norwich, March 2002 (a link was disproven with DNA by 2022)

In June 2012, Wilson said that the killer of Norwich sex worker Michelle Bettles was likely Wright. The police responded to the suggested links between Bettles's case and Wright by saying that they had found no evidence linking Wright to the crime.{{cite web|first=Emma|last=Knights|url=http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/police_dismiss_theory_that_suffolk_strangler_steve_wright_could_be_linked_to_murder_of_norwich_prostitute_1_1407205|title=Police dismiss theory that Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright could be linked to murder of Norwich prostitute|work=Norwich Evening News|date=20 December 2014 |access-date=16 November 2015}} It was revealed in 2019 that police had already made an arrest in April 2003 of a man whose DNA matched samples from Bettles' body, and this man admitted having picked her up for sex on 26 March 2002, two days before she was last seen.{{cite news |last1=Bristow |first1=Tom |title=Michelle Bettles' parents: 'Dig deeper into our girl's murder' |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/michelle-bettles-murder-parents-interview-norwich-prostitute-death-1368426 |access-date=17 September 2021 |work=Eastern Daily Press |date=9 April 2019}} The man claimed that he was at home with a migraine on the night she was killed, but phone records show him making a large number of calls that evening although police failed to locate from where the calls were made. On 28 March 2022, police announced they had recovered further DNA profiles in Bettles' murder case, indicating Wright can be ruled out of the murder with forensic evidence.{{cite news |title=Michelle Bettles: DNA profiles found in Norwich murder case |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-60900485 |access-date=28 March 2022 |work=BBC News |date=28 March 2022}}

Wright had previously also been linked by criminal experts to the unsolved murder of Norwich sex worker Natalie Pearman in November 1992.{{cite web |first=Donal |last=MacIntyre |title=Donal MacIntyre: Unsolved -The Case of Natalie Pearman |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veT34bz45nM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/veT34bz45nM |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|publisher=CBS Reality |format=TV Documentary |date=25 October 2015}}{{cbignore}}{{dl|date=February 2022}} Pearman was last seen at night soliciting clients outside the Ferry Boat Inn pub, the pub that was owned and run by Wright and that was located in the heart of the city's red light district. The police cross-referenced the DNA found on Pearman's body in 1992 to Wright's, but the results were "inconclusive". However, in 2017, police announced that they had a full DNA profile of the attacker and that solving the case was simply a matter of matching the DNA to an individual, meaning that Wright could be ruled out of the murder.{{cite news |title=Natalie Pearman case: DNA could solve 1992 murder |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-41989345 |access-date=17 September 2021 |work=BBC News |date=20 November 2017}}

Ipswich sex worker Amanda Duncan vanished after talking to a man in a car on Portman Road in the town in 1993, a road on which Wright was known to acquire his prostitutes,{{cite news |last1=Wilkin |first1=Chris |title=Ipswich murders: Accused used prostitutes for 25 years |url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/2027734.ipswich-murders-accused-used-prostitutes-for-25-years/ |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=Daily Gazette |date=7 February 2008}} and from where some of his victims were known to have disappeared in 2006.{{cite news |title=Timeline: the Suffolk murders |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/jan/16/ukcrime2 |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=16 January 2008}}{{cite news |title=Mother's disappearance remains a mystery 27 years on |url=https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/amanda-duncan-woodbridge-mum-missing-investigation-2886248 |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=Ipswich Star |date=19 July 2020}}{{cite journal |title=Amanda Duncan |url=http://www.unsolved-murders.co.uk/murder-content.php?title=Amanda%20Duncan&key=1891#browse |journal=Unsolvedmurders.co.uk |date = 3 July 1993|volume = 1891|issue = 1993|access-date=31 May 2021|last1 = Murders|first1 = Unsolved}}

After Wright's murders in 2006, the police re-opened and re-examined these four cold cases to establish whether Wright could be responsible, and questioned Wright about them.{{cite news |title=Police 'suspect Steve Wright of more murders' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579512/Police-suspect-Steve-Wright-of-more-murders.html |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=21 February 2008}}{{cite news |last1=Fresco |first1=Adam |title=Steve Wright faces questioning over other crimes |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/steve-wright-faces-questioning-over-other-crimes-j5nxljfsgpd |access-date=31 May 2021 |work=The Times |date=3 March 2008}} Family members of the victims stated they believed he could be linked and called for the police to investigate this further and charge him for them.