Fresh Suspect Held Over Prostitute Killings
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday December 20, 2006
POLICE yesterday arrested a second man on suspicion of having murdered five prostitutes in Ipswich, a day after arresting a 37-year-old supermarket worker, Tom Stephens, in one of the largest manhunts in British history. The second man, aged 48, was arrested at 5am in what may be his home just two streets from Ipswich's red light district, where the five women worked in order to buy heroin. The bodies of all five were found naked in countryside. All appear to have been strangled or suffocated. Police had until 7pm to charge Mr Stephens, a former special constable who is being interviewed at an undisclosed police station. But they can apply for further time to question him. As searches of his home in the village of Trimley St Martin continued yesterday, police in white forensics suits began working outside the Ipswich property where the second suspect was arrested. The case of the "Suffolk Strangler", which has drawn in 500 police, appeared to have been solved with the arrest with Mr Stephens, who in an interview with the Sunday Mirror the day before had tearfully admitted to having had sex with some of the women but denied killing them. A former Ipswich sex worker, Jackie Goldsmith, was adamant that Mr Stephens, a regular client of prostitutes in the red light district, could not have killed the women. "It's not him. No way. He's just Tom. He would rather help them than kill him," she told The Guardian. She said she last saw Mr Stephens on Friday night, when he visited her flat to talk about the murders. "He just wanted to chat because he was upset and pretty down. He had all of their numbers. Most of the girls who were working would have known Tom. The girls trusted him." What is more, none of the women appear to have been sexually assaulted, whereas Ms Goldsmith said Mr Stephens was "after sex. He's all for sex." There was a large police presence in London Road, Ipswich, amid media reports that this was where the second man lived. This has not been confirmed by police. Scenes-of-crime officers were seen working outside a property behind a police cordon that had been set up in the street. London Road is considered to be the heart of the Ipswich red light area. Mr Gull said the 37-year-old man arrested yesterday remained in police custody. The naked bodies of the five women were found near villages south of the town over a 10-day period earlier this month. They were Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29. Autopsies revealed Ms Alderton was strangled and Ms Clennell died as a result of compression to the neck. Police, who were awaiting the results of toxicology tests, said the cause of death of the other three women was unclear. Mr Stephens told the Sunday Mirror he was a friend of all the women but denied any involvement in their deaths. He said "I know that I'm innocent" and claimed the women "trusted me so much". He described himself as "sad and lonely" and said he had made "compromises on my morals" to visit the red light district. The Suffolk deaths are Britain's worst serial killings of prostitutes since the case of Peter Sutcliffe, dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper. In 1981 he was jailed for life for killing 13 women, some of them prostitutes, between 1975 and 1980. The case has led to debate about Britain's policy on prostitution. The Government has published proposals to allow mini-brothels of two or three prostitutes working together in a private house, although no decisions have been made on the plans.
© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald
