Steve Wright (serial killer)

Infobox Serial Killer
name=Steve Wright


caption=Steven Gerald James Wright
birthname=
alias=Suffolk Strangler, Ipswich Ripper
birth=April 24, 1958 (aged 50)
location=Erpingham, Norfolk, United Kingdom
death=
cause=
victims= 5
country= England
states=
beginyear=November 2006
endyear= December 2006
apprehended=19 December 2006
penalty=Life imprisonment - with recommendation of a Whole life tariff

Steven Gerald James Wright (born April 24, 1958) is an English serial killer. He is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of five women who worked as prostitutes at Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The killings took place in late 2006, and Wright was found guilty in February 2008.

Biography

Early life

Wright was born in the Norfolk village of Erpingham, one of four children, including one brother, of a military policeman and a veterinary nurse. cite news
title = My anger is buried deep inside
work = Guardian.co.uk
publisher = guardian.co.uk
date = 2008-02-21
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/21/suffolkmurders.ukcrime1
accessdate = 2008-02-23 ] While Wright's father was on military service, the family had lived in both Malta and Singapore.cite news
title = Ipswich Killings Trials
work = EADT24
publisher = East Anglian Daily Times
date = 2008-02-25
url = http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/ipswichkillings/people.aspx?person=SteveWright
accessdate = 2008-02-25 ] Wright's parents split during the 1960s and both later remarried. Wright lived with his father, who fathered two more children with his second wife.

Steve Wright left school in 1974 and soon afterwards he joined the Merchant Navy, becoming a chef on ferries sailing from Felixstowe, Suffolk. In 1979, he married and had a son called Michael who was born in 1983. The couple separated in 1987 and Wright later became a steward on the QE2, a lorry driver, a barman, and just prior to his arrest, a fork-lift truck driver. Former prostitute Lindi St Clair has claimed that she was attacked by Steve Wright in the 1980s. [cite news|title=Wright 'attacked ex-prostitute'| Publisher = BBC| date=2008-02-27| url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7265501.stm | accessdate= 2008-02-27 ] His second marriage lasted less than one year while he was a pub landlord in Norwich. He became a father again with another partner in 1992, whilst managing a public house in South London. This post was lost due to his gambling and heavy drinking (he was also convicted of theft, stealing £80). It is known that throughout these times Wright built up large debts largely through gambling, and has recently been declared bankrupt. Wright had twice tried to commit suicide, first by carbon monoxide poisoning and then, in 2000, by an overdose of pills.

The Suffolk murders

Wright met Pamela Wright (the shared surname is a coincidence) in 2001 in Felixstowe, and they moved to the house in Ipswich together in 2004.. Wright had always admitted that he had used prostitutes, and had done since he was in the Merchant Navy, and continuously throughout his life. In Ipswich he admitted he went to certain massage and sauna establishments that were actually brothels. Throughout his trial he had stated that he had used prostitutes on many occasions, including three of the victims, and when his partner began working night shifts their sex life became almost non-existent; he returned to prostitutes who were based on the nearby streets, procuring a dozen in the final three months of 2006.

Wright was found guilty of all five murders on 21 February 2008. On the following day, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and the judge recommended that he should never be released.

It was announced on 19 March 2008 that Wright would be appealing against his convictions. [ [http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=7851359 MSN news] ]

Possible links to other crimes

Wright is still being investigated in connection with other murders and disappearances, including the Suzy Lamplugh case; he had worked with Lamplugh on the QE2 cruise liner during the early 1980s. Lamplugh was last seen alive in 1986 and was legally declared dead in 1994, but her body has never been found.cite news | last = Batty | first = Dave | coauthors = and agencies | title = Police investigate 'link' between Wright and Suzy Lamplugh | work = The Guardian | publisher = Guardian Media Group | date = 2008-02-22 | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/feb/22/suffolkmurders.law | accessdate = 2008-02-22 ] However, the Metropolitan Police have stated that this is not a strong line of enquiry. [cite news | last = | first = | coauthors = | title = Wright 'not linked to Suzy death' | work = BBC News | publisher = BBC | date = 2008-05-14 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7401250.stm | accessdate = 2008-05-14 ]

References

[http://info.itvlocal.com/Ipswichserialkiller.shtml Ipswich serial killer Steve Wright] ITV Local