Suffolk Strangler: Suspected of Killing Five Prostitutes

Ipswich (Suffolk County, 70 miles northeast of London), an eastern England town of 120,000 people is usually relaxed, has set its residents on edge due to a Yorkshire Ripper / Jack the Ripper serial killing of five prostitutes in and around their town in the past two weeks. Detectives warned local prostitutes to stay off the streets.

Victims' Information

All of the women, ranging in age from 19 to 29, are believed to be prostitutes in Ipswich. The bodies all were dumped after being killed elsewhere.

Chronology of Body Discovery

December 2: Gemma Adams, 25, a prostitute. She was last seen leaving for an evening in Ipswich on November 15. Woolverstone Close, Ipswich on October 10. Her naked body is found in a brook at Thorpes Hill, Hintlesham, a few miles west of Ipswich.

December 8: Tania Nicol, 19, a prostitute. Her naked body is discovered in a stream near Copdock Mill, in western Ipswich, a few miles from where Adams was found. She was last seen leaving her home at Woolverstone Close, Ipswich on October 10.

December 10: Anneli Alderton, 24, a prostitute. Body is discovered asphyxiated, strangled, not sexually assaulted. She was last seen traveling on the 5:53 p.m. train from Harwich to Colchester on December 3.

December 11: Detectives say Paula Clennell, 24, a prostitute was last seen December 9. Annette Nicholls, 29, a prostitute was last seen December 4 or earlier.

December 12: Investigators found two more bodies, not be identified pending autopsies, on Tuesday lying near Levington, Suffolk. Clennell and Nicholls suspected to be the victims.

Additional Notes

Initial tests on Adams and Nicol, whose deaths the police are linking, indicate they were not killed in the same way.

Alderton was not sexually assaulted. It cannot be determined whether or not Adams or Nicol sexually assaulted because they were found in water and deteriorated the evidence.

On December 6, Clennell told reporters that Adams' murder had made her fear for her safety. She went on to say that although she was afraid to work the streets, she would continue to work because she needs the money.

Rate of Killing, Comparison to Past Killers