07/02/2008

Prostitute Killer Suspect Gives Evidence

A man accused of the murder of five women in Suffolk has started to give evidence at his trial.

Steve Wright, 49, is expected to take up to three days presenting his account after the defence opened its case at Ipswich Crown Court.

Wright, 49, of Ipswich, Suffolk, denies murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

The remains of the five women, who all worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, were found in isolated spots near the town during a 10-day period in December 2006, Ipswich Crown Court has heard.

Jurors heard how Mr Wright had once given evidence in court as a prosecution witness and had had problems.

Defence barrister Timothy Langdale QC asked Wright about the moment he was arrested on suspicion of the five murders in December 19 2006.

Jurors had been told Wright felt "unsteady on his feet" and asked if he could sit down before he fell.

Mr Langdale asked: "Does that indicate you feeling as if you were about to faint?" Wright answered: "Yes, it was." Mr Langdale asked if a similar incident had happened in the past. Wright said: "Yes it has. When I become under stress."

Wright told the jury that he was convicted of stealing £80 in 2003 from a bar that he was working in at the time.

Prosecutor Simon Spence said that as a consequence of that conviction, a sample of Wright's DNA was placed on a police database.

On December 17 2006, samples collected from sites where the bodies of some of the murdered prostitutes were found to match Wright's DNA.

The trial continues.

(GC)


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The trial of a former pub landlord charged with the murder of five women in Suffolk has begun. Steve Wright, 49, is accused of murdering Anneli Alderton, 24, Gemma Adams, 25, Paula Clennell, 24, Annette Nicholls, 29 and Tania Nicol, 19. He has denied the charges. A jury was sworn in in the case at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday.
08 February 2008
Wright 'Singularly Unfortunate' In Picking Up Prostitutes
The man accused of the murder of five prostitutes in Ipswich has told a court that he could have picked up all of the women on the nights that they disappeared. Steve Wright, 49, told Ipswich Crown Court that he may have had sex with four of the women on the nights that they vanished, but denied having any involvement in their deaths.
16 January 2008
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The bodies of two of the five women murdered in Suffolk at the end of 2006 were found deliberately posed in a crucifix shape, Ipswich Crown Court has heard. The prosecution case against Steve Wright, 49, of London Road, Ipswich, who is accused of murdering five prostitutes in Ipswich in late 2006, is beginning today.