LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – A British serial killer, dubbed the “Suffolk Strangler” by the media after he killed five young women, pleaded guilty on Monday to an earlier murder of a teenager committed more than 25 years ago.
Steve Wright, who is already serving a life sentence with no prospect of parole for a 2006 killing spree, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court where he admitted kidnapping and murdering 17-year-old Victoria Hall in 1999.
Wright, 67, also pleaded guilty to the attempted kidnap of a 22-year-old woman the day before Hall’s murder. He will be sentenced on Friday.
“Victoria’s family have waited over 26 years for this day and I am so very pleased that we have been able to deliver justice for Victoria and they now know who is responsible for Victoria’s murder,” said Assistant Chief Constable Alice Scott, of Suffolk Constabulary.
Hall disappeared from the coastal town of Felixstowe in eastern England while walking home in the early hours from a nightclub. Her naked body was found in a stream 25 miles (40 km) away five days later.
Wright was convicted in 2008 of the murder of five women who worked as prostitutes in the town of Ipswich, northeast of London in Suffolk.
The naked bodies of Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls were discovered scattered around Ipswich over a 10-day period in late 2006, causing panic in the town and the surrounding area.
Wright’s killing spree was compared with that of the 19th-century serial killer “Jack the Ripper”, who targeted prostitutes in the east end of London.
He asphyxiated the women and left two of their bodies in a crucifix position with arms outstretched.
He was given a whole-life order, meaning he could never be released from prison, for what the sentencing judge described as “a targeted campaign of murder”.
Wright had consistently denied the earlier allegations, even though his DNA was found on three of the victims and bloodstains from two of them were found on his jacket at his home.
His guilty pleas on Monday mark the first time he has ever admitted any offences.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Michael Holden and Sharon Singleton)
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