Steve Wright "Suffolk Strangler", GB
British prostitute killer gets life without parole
A married British man who murdered five young women in 2006 was sentenced on Friday to life in jail without the chance of remission.
Forklift truck driver Steve Wright, 49, asphyxiated the women, all drug addicts aged under 30 who worked as prostitutes in the town of Ipswich, northeast of London.
Wright, who had sex with four of the five women, left two of the bodies in a crucifix position with arms outstretched.
"It is right you should spend your whole life in prison," judge Peter Gross told Ipswich Crown Court. "This was a targeted campaign of murder."
Drugs and prostitution had exposed them to risk but neither, he added, had killed them.
"You did -- you are responsible for their deaths," he told an expressionless Wright. "You killed them, stripped them and left them in rural or semi-rural locations.
"Why you did it may never be known but as the jury have concluded, disbelieving your denials, murder them you did. As a result, there is only one sentence -- that of life imprisonment."
Wright consistently denied the allegations even though his DNA was found on three of the victims and bloodstains from two of them were found on his jacket at his home.
After Wright's conviction on Thursday, the families of two of the dead women called for the return of the death penalty. Wright's father told newspapers he had disowned his son and wanted him to die for his crimes.
Wright, labelled the "Suffolk Strangler" by the media, had murdered the five women while his 63-year-old partner Pamela was working night shifts. Their bodies were found in the space of just 10 days around the city.
After two days of deliberations, the jury of nine men and three women found Wright guilty on Thursday of murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.
The court had heard that in the three months before his Dec. 19, 2006 arrest, Wright, the son of an RAF policeman, had sex with a dozen prostitutes.
Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull of Suffolk Police said the "appalling crimes left a community, a county and a nation in a state of profound shock".
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Suffolk killer makes appeal bid
Suffolk serial killer Steve Wright has lodged an application for an appeal.
Wright, 49, was jailed for life last month after he was found guilty of the murders of five women, who all worked as prostitutes in Ipswich.
Wright's application for leave to appeal against the convictions has been sent to the Court of Appeal, Ipswich Crown Court said.
Brian Adams, the father of victim Gemma Adams, accused Wright of wasting time and money.
Appeal 'incredible'
He said: "How much longer will he be allowed to continue wasting taxpayers' money?
"Judging by the overwhelming evidence against him and the speed with which the jury made up their minds about his guilt, it's just incredible that he would be allowed to make an appeal.
"It's about time he came clean and stopped wasting everyone's time."
Wright was sentenced after a six-week trial at Ipswich Crown Court where jurors unanimously found him guilty of all five murders.
The bodies of Ms Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls were found over a 10-day period near the town in 2006.
The naked bodies of the women, aged between 19 and 29, were found in December 2006.
Wright was given a whole life sentence and told he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
The BBC has seen the letter Wright sent to request an appeal in which he makes numerous points he claims are grounds for an appeal.
Wright alleges that the trial should not have been held in Ipswich, that his defence team did not represent him well, and that much of the evidence against him does not add up.
He also accuses the police of not adequately investigating other potential suspects.
"The prosecution alleged I had drugged all five women and then strangled them and yet there wasn't a shred of evidence found on myself, home or car relating to drugs.
"All five women were stripped naked of clothing/jewellery/phones/bags and no evidence was found in my house or car," he wrote.
Following the verdict some of the victims' families called for the death penalty to be reintroduced as punishment for Wright.
After the appeal was announced Wright's half-brother Keith Wright said: "...I can't see where he can get new evidence now.
"I don't want him to put everybody through it again if he is just trying to get out of it."
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