The Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright terrorised the UK in the mid-2000s, claiming multiple victims.
The convicted serial killer brutally murdered five innocent women before finally being caught by police.
His story is told in Channel 5 true-crime documentary, The Suffolk Strangler.
But what led him down such a dark path, and where is he now?
The Suffolk Strangler victims
Steve murdered five women in total: Tania Nicol, 19; Gemma Adams, 25; Anneli Alderton, 24; Annette Nicholls, 29; and Paula Clennell, 24.
On October 30, 2006, Tania vanished from Ipswich’s red-light district. Two weeks after Tania’s disappearance Gemma was reported missing, and police immediately kicked off a massive manhunt.
After weeks of the police coming up empty-handed, Tania and Gemma’s bodies were both found in woodland near Ipswich in December.
However, the bloodshed was far from over.
Subsequently, the bodies of Anneli, Paula and Annette were all found in woodland near Levington, a seemingly quiet and picturesque village in Suffolk.
The women didn’t know each other. However, they had one thing in common; they were all sex workers who had been driven into life working on the streets due to drug addiction problems.
Speaking after her tragic daughter’s death, Paula’s mother explained: “Heroin destroyed her life. I begged her to get help. However, she’d lost all hope. She was so desperate for heroin that she went on the streets.”
Last month (July), Steve hit headlines again after he was arrested for the murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall.
Victoria went missing on September 19, 1999, and her body was found five days later.
What drove Steve Wright to murder?
Steve grew up as the son of a military policeman and a veterinary nurse.
He had a relatively simple life and worked as a lorry driver and a barman.
However, Steve had a dark side.
Steve’s former neighbour claimed that the killer would become violent towards his second wife, Diane Cassell.
She told The Telegraph that he was a “Jekyll and Hyde” character, adding: “He used to strangle Diane right in front of us.”
He was known for having sex with prostitutes and had been paying for sex since the 1980s.
Steve began to become more erratic after his arrest in 2001 for theft.
He had built up mounting gambling debts. As a result, his anger and frustration with his life quickly spiralled into murder.
What happened to Steve’s wife, Pam Wright?
Steve and Pam first met at their local bingo hall in early 2000.
“He was just a nice, quiet, kind guy,” she said.
At the time of the murders, their relationship was crumbling because they barely saw each other. Pam was being forced to work night shifts to make enough money.
Steve would drive his wife to work before going off to find his next victim.
After his arrest, Steve refused to be honest with his wife about the murders.
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“I just, no, no way, I couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t a violent person,” she said. “This is my life sentence, I’ll never know the truth… I do honestly think there’s a lot more to the story.”
“I just didn’t want to wake up, I drank ridiculously and I was on anti-depressants. Anything just to go to sleep and not think about it.”
How was Steve caught and where is he now?
Steve confessed to having sex with the women but has maintained his claims that he didn’t murder them.
However, a jury eventually found him guilty of all five murders in 2008.
As a result, he was served with a life sentence and he is currently living at top security HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire.
Steve’s father, Conrad, said in 2015 that he feels responsible for his son’s actions.
“When someone gets found guilty and you don’t make a complaint or start crying out for help, you tend to think there must be some truth in it,” he told the BBC.
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“You feel sort of responsible in a way – you brought the boy on to the Earth – and if it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t have been there, and if he weren’t here, they wouldn’t be killed, would they?”
However, he also confessed that he worried that his son had an accomplice.
“I have seen all the sites where the bodies of those poor girls were found and it seems impossible he did it alone.”
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