Profile Suffolk 'ripper'

[watson]

Well I know this is a really new case, going on now, and it is in the UK, but I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more about it soon.
But from what we've seen to date, I'll venture to make an early profile of this serial killer.
The suspect is most likely a white(since all victms were white) male, age indeterminate, but on the younger side of the scale (because of the frequency of his cimes). Sexual gratification is a major component of the crimes (since all victims nude, all in sex trade). Cause of death for sure in 1 case and probably all is...asphixia by hands on manual strangulation (further indicating the sex/personal nature of the crimes). The suspect is not particularly intelligent or worried about the bodies, as he doesn't 'hide' them but just throws them out near the road when he's 'finished'. He's not from the area (the frequency of his crimes indicates he'd have been known long before if he was), but recently moved there, or travels there regularly. Given the location the suspect could be a foreigner.
If I were the police I'd look for....a non threatening appearing, white or foreign male, age 25-45, in good physical shape, who frequents the prostitute area of Ipswich, murders for his own perverted gratification, generally hates women, and sees his victims as 'trash' to be used and disposed of, who recently moved to the area or travels there. He'd be of average or below average intelligence, employed using hands or body, and mobile, such as delivery man, truck driver, landscaper, laborer. If he was from the UK or from the USA he'd have a past criminal history (you just don't start your criminal career by murdering 5 young women in 2 months), for crimes of violence, sexual assault, murder, attempted murder, however if he is from elsewhere in Europe he may not have a comparable record. All the above of course pre-supposes police checked for any recently released convicted murders or violent sex offenders in the area.

[musological]

It is quite early to get a real picture of this man, and a lot depends on whether you believe the police statements that the victims were not sexually assaulted or otherwise violently assualted - (besides asphyxiated that is) - or beaten. For this profile I'll go out on a limb and assume that they are holding back information of physical\sexual molestation, but that it is not 'standard' intercourse/rape, but more a 'signature'.

The unsub (sorry, bad humour) - suspect is a white male aged 30 - 50. He works in a 'middle-class' job, office, paperwork, bureaucracy, etc, and drives a respectable looking car. He appears unthreatening but is not particularly attractive nor confident, and does not command 'the respect of his peers' in his work or social lives. He does not have the charm nor confidence to 'hand-pick' his victims, and is chosing prostitutes at least in part for access and not just for some deeper psychological motive. He feels often overlooked, both by women and men alike, hence the brazen dumping of the bodies - designed to attract both police and media attention. He is intelligent and organised, with some knowledge of forensic procedures - he strips the clothes for this reason which he will dispose of by burning*, but I also believe he will keep a personal article from each victim. He most probably lives locally, in a house with a *garden rather than a flat (apartment), which affords him privacy, and time to spend with his victims. He does not have a history of violent crime, and quite likely has no criminal record. He also has no history of frequenting prostitutes and is likely incapable of performing sexually - impotent. He has a personal history of being dominated (emotionally, not kinky like) by women, and perhaps grew up with a single mother who was very domineering, and is likely now deceased. He has until recently been in a long term relationship, probably married with kids, but this has ended, quite possibly in part due his partner's infidelity, but also at her wish. I believe that it is the combination of losing his family as Christmas approaches that has acted as a trigger. He will escalate, and I believe will degenerate into a disorganised 'spree' killer as Christmas nears, killing more rapidly and dumping the bodies more openly. He will not stop until he is caught, though it is likely with the intense law and media attention, he will go further afield for his victims, for a time. He feels a need to be involved with the investigation and will save all newspaper articles he finds about the case. I believe he will also contact the police in some way, and has quite likely already phoned the hotline anonymously with a 'red-herring'.

Anyway, that's the end of my guesswork. It will be interesting to see what some of you guys come up with.

[Senojbor]

The police are baffled as to why there are no marks on the bodies thus indicating that the victims may well have been drugged before they were killed.

[watson]

Yes I agree it's early to be doing profiles in this case, some would say way premature because we don't have all, or maybe most of the data yet, but doing profiles on the internet and only as hobby we can always change them as the facts mature. So far I'd still stick with what I said. It's interesting you think the guy is 'white collar'. Because of the 'manual' strangulation (with bare hands) and only because of that, I'd predict 'blue collar' somoene use to using his hands and getting them 'dirty'. I'd expect a white collar middle class type to use some instrument even if only a belt, coat hanger etc. (But we can't so far be sure of the method of death in most of the deaths).
Again interesting you think he's local (and he might be) normally I'd think so too. I could see a local guy with no record, having fantasized about these types of crimes for a long while, snapping and doing one, finding he liked it, and then later doing another etc., but that would be a slow progression. This guy seems to have done it 5 times in only 2 months, that's no progression at all, he's jumped right to a very frequent killer and that IMO indicates... practice over time. So, I'd still say he's got to be new to the area, or did similar crimes long ago and was locked away till recently.
Anyway, such a series of crimes in 2006 in the security conscious UK sure stands out.

[watson]

The police are baffled as to why there are no marks on the bodies thus indicating that the victims may well have been drugged before they were killed.
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Interesting point, we may learn more facts on this in the future, but I'd say it's possible he over powered them and strangled them without leaving other marks or wounds. However, if it's true there's 'no' marks (even on necks?), then drugs could be a good bet, which would really change the profile in this case.

[torch1974]

Watson,

I'm interested your hypothesis. Though it seems evidence may point in a different direction? You said that the suspect is not from the area, however the first three victims were dumped in areas which suggest local knowledge. These areas are off the beaten track, yet can be reached easily by car. Would a foreigner know this? Also there is no evidence of a sexual assault, this implies that the killer is either very careful or gets his kick from the kill, or maybe the guy is incapable of a sexual act?

There are other unsolved murders of Women in Suffolk and Norfolk (Norfolk borders Suffolk) going back several years. One victim was a 16 year old schoolgirl named Natalie Pearman, strangled in Norwich, (in Norfolk) 1992. Mandy Duncan, 26, vanished from Ipswich, 1993, while working as a prostitute.
Kellie Pratt, disappeared in Norwich, 2000, again while working as a prostitute. Michelle Bettles strangled 2002, last seen working as a prostitute in Norwich. The last two have not been found. Coincidence? or has a serial killer been stalking the Women of East Anglia for the last 14 years?

Now for a update, a retired pathologist was just speaking on Sky news and was asked why there was no evidence of strangulation on several of the victims, he said that there is a was of strangling a person without leaving marks, however he refused to go into any details. I did manage to Google the technique on the Internet!, apparently if you use a choke/sleeper hold you can choke someone to death without leaving any marks. This hold is used by Police to control suspects during an arrest and has led to the death of suspects in the past.

[watson]

Hello Torch and others,
Yes, it's early in the case and the evidence could go in a whole different direction, or it could just keep building in 1 direction.
Torch to get to some of your points.....I'd say the earlier murders in the area have 'probably' nothing to do with the current series, unless 1 or 2 of the earlier crimes were 'starter' crimes for this guy, he then got incarcerated for some other reason, spent 10 or so years in prison, returned to the area and has now resumed his interrupted murder career with gusto.
Yep I'd agree there is ways to 'strangle' somone without leaving marks, suffocation is one, another by squeezing off blood flow to the brain (as you mention), or maybe there isn't evidence of strangling in the others cases because the bodies were too badly decomposed? This might also explain the lack of evidence of sexual assault, bodies too long in water or too decomposed?
Also an update......some media continue to suggest the victims were 'wined and dined and drugged' explaining lack of fighting and marks on the bodies. It's still early, but I'll go out on a limb and say in my opinion this is very extremely unlikely because....you don't need to use drugs or fine dining to get a prostitute to go with you or be alone with you, so why would the killer bother?
Also with a killer that goes to all the effort of seducing and drugging his victims, you'd expect he would keep the victims much longer, weeks, months etc. That isn't the case here. Although we don't have the info on the estimated times of death v. the last time the victims were seen, it seems he picks them up while their 'working' uses them for his purposes, murders them, and fairly or quickly 'disposes' of them. It seems like a real impulsive 'smash and grab' and move on sort of thing, not at all a planning, seduction, drug, sort of thing.

[torch1974]

A 37 year old supermarket worker was arrested by police in Ipswich investigating the Suffolk Murders. Tom Stephens has been arrested on suspicion of murdering five Women. Police say the arrest is "significant".

He has a MySpace page:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=85784962

Glad he's not listed as one of my "friends" :)

Watson,

If this is the guy it be interesting to see if he fights the charges or comes clean. The guy seems to be a fitness freak, and Hong Kong Phoey is his hero!! Maybe the guys into martial arts, that would explain the sleeper hold.

[watson]

A 37 year old supermarket worker was arrested by police in Ipswich investigating the Suffolk Murders. Tom Stephens has been arrested on suspicion of murdering five Women. Police say the arrest is "significant".

He has a MySpace page:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=85784962

Glad he's not listed as one of my "friends" :)

Watson,

If this is the guy it be interesting to see if he fights the charges or comes clean. The guy seems to be a fitness freak, and Hong Kong Phoey is his hero!! Maybe the guys into martial arts, that would explain the sleeper hold.
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Yes, a suspect already under lock n key. The police in the UK are nothing if not efficent, and UK police generally don't announce and admit to an arrest before they have their chess pieces in place, unlike some USA jurisdictions (Mary Lacy and her recent premature and false arrest in the JonBenet Ramsey case comes to mind) that tend to shoot from the hip.
It will be interesting to learn more about this guy, and see how well (or not) he fits with the very early profiles in this thread. So far IMO it's noteworthy that he lives in the port town that the highway from Ipswich leads to, also that he claims to have known all 5 victims, on his own inserted himself into the investigation and media coverage as guilty types often do, is a 'grocery' worker with odd hours ( I wonder if his job involves delivery).
Still, if he did do it, how do we explain going from no criminal record (at least so far none has been announced as far as I know) to 5 seperate murders in only about 2 months?

[torch1974]

"Still, if he did do it, how do we explain going from no criminal record (at least so far none has been announced as far as I know) to 5 separate murders in only about 2 months?
"

Watson,

Sky news have reported that Tom Stephens was a part time taxi driver. They are also linking him to another murder which took place near his home in 1999.
Here is the Suffolk Police appeal about that murder:

"Seventeen-year-old Victoria (Vicky) Hall went missing at about 2.30am on Sunday, September 19, 1999, as she walked towards her home in Faulkeners Way, Trimley St Mary.

She was returning from a night out in Felixstowe, with her friend Gemma Algar, during which they had visited the Bandbox Nightclub and then a local kebab shop.

The girls went their separate ways at the junction of High Road / Faulkeners Way, Trimley St Mary. People later reported hearing screams in the area.

A murder enquiry was launched after Vicky’s naked body was found, about 25 miles away , in a stream near Creeting St Peter (near Stowmarket) at 7.30pm on Friday, September 24, 1999, by a man walking his dog.

At its height, there were some 100 police officers working on the investigation. Over 3100 calls (messages) were received from the public and the police followed up nearly 12,000 lines of enquiry.
Vicky was 5ft 1ins tall, petite, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

When she was last seen, she was wearing a short black dress with ‘shoestring’ straps, a brown jacket, platformed/high-heeled black sandals and was carrying a small half-moon shaped black purse. None of this clothing has ever been found.

Detective Superintendent Roy Lambert said: "Victoria’s murder sparked off one of the biggest investigations undertaken by Suffolk Police.

The public support we received was extraordinary and I would like to thank the thousands of people who offered their help and information."

"Any new information or leads which come in will be fully investigated so I would appeal to anyone out there who may know anything about this incident to contact the police."

So she was last seen in Trimley St Mary, Stephens village. Coincidence? maybe, however the MO is very similar. How many murderers of women are there in East Anglia?

I guess all will be revealed in due course........ hopefully.

[torch1974]

The BBC did a interview with Stephens in which he talks about his relationships with the dead Women.

Listen to it here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6189409.stm

Watson,

He might have a criminal record, this won't be released until the trial.

[torch1974]

Another suspect arrested. A 48 year old man was arrested at his Ipswich home at 0500 GMT on suspicion of murdering five Women. The first man Tom Stephens remains in custody.

Do both men know each other? Or do the police think that only one of them is the murderer? Are the police just having a good hard look at all their main suspects?

[watson]

[QUOTE=torch1974;8791343]Another suspect arrested. A 48 year old man was arrested at his Ipswich home at 0500 GMT on suspicion of murdering five Women. The first man Tom Stephens remains in custody.

Do both men know each other? Or do the police think that only one of them is the murderer? Are the police just having a good hard look at all their main suspects?
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I think this goes to it is early in the case (as far as the public are concerned) and to the current UK being very security conscious. Is there ANY indication in the evidence (as known) of 2 killers working as partners??? I'd say...NO...a need to have more than 1 person overpower the victims.....no, a need to have more than one control...or hold them...again...no, and no.
I'd say if there really are 2 killers then all 5 recent murders should not have been linked to one killer, but 2 independent killers in the same area dumping bodies in the same way, in the same time, choosing from among the same victims....the mind boggles.

[torch1974]

So Tom Stephens is innocent....though he does seem to be bad luck to Women.

Now that the police have charged 48 year old Stephen Wright, we won't hear much till the trial, in order not to prejudice the case.

It seems that 48 is a unusual age to become a serial killer? I wonder if other murders may be linked to him in the future!.

[watson]

Just thought I'd stop back in here and do an update on the 'Suffolk Strangler' serial killer case going on now. As we now know I guess UK police make mistakes too, arresting Tom Stephens as a suspect 12-17-06 and then releasing him by 12-21-06, after (they believe) catching the right guy 12-19-06, and charging him with 5 murders 12-21.
So what do we know about the accused Suffolk strangler....Stephen Wright, age 48, truck driver, fork lift driver, factory worker. Twice married and divorced, no children. Frequents area prostitutes, reportedly sometimes dressed as a woman, or naked, not a popular customers with the local hookers. Used to live Norwhich, before moving to Ipswich 1999? Operated pub, Nowrwhich in the 80's frequented by prostitutes, prior worked as stewerd or chef on cruise ships. Other prostitutes and young women are known to have been murdered or disapeared after proximity to him in the past.....1 from the cruise ship right after he left, 2 from Norwhich near his pub, 1 in 1999 in Ipswhich (after?) he moved there.
Evidence police have against him, police won't say as yet.
So how'd people do on their profiles above, seems like they got the right guy to me, of course evidence will tell.

[Simply Sam]

Hi Threads,
Whats with the name? Im new to this site. Just being nosey and have inside knowledge of the case you were posting messages on. Am really interested in the case myself and am trying to find out where his case will be heard cos I want to go. Let me explain. My name is Samantha Nicholls, Annette was my niece by marriage but as I was a prostitute myself a good few years ago I knew most of the girls, their routines, lifestyles, the way their minds worked and even the way they thought. As for the 2 fellas arrested, Tom worked at the Tescos my auntie worked at and by all acccounts was a right wierdo but I guess we've worked that out anyway. I don't know Steve but do know from doing the job that you get a lot of fellas, with no life, bored and end up befriending the girls, driving them round to score drugs and generally being used by the girls cos believe me they would get nothing in return and the girls would think nothing of asking for a lift to be taken here there and everywhere, while they score then as soon as they did they would want dropping off as soon as possible and all for nothing. Most of the guys that did this sort of thing were older fellas with no life so its strange that Steve had a girlfriend. Thinking about the case, Ive sussed out they the girls would have literally worked outside his front door so he probably befriended them by offering some warmth in winter or maybe even the use of his rooms, who knows. I hope it will all become clear because this guy, if it was him, took the best girls off the street. I know a lot of girls who work out there and he chose all the clean, pretty, well dressed and younger girls when he couldve took ones that probably wouldnt have been missed for weeks but then those girls are the ones who've been doing it many years and woulodve ended up killing him probably. Not long to go before the trial starts, watch this space.
Sam

A 37 year old supermarket worker was arrested by police in Ipswich investigating the Suffolk Murders. Tom Stephens has been arrested on suspicion of murdering five Women. Police say the arrest is "significant".

He has a MySpace page:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=85784962

Glad he's not listed as one of my "friends" :)

Watson,

If this is the guy it be interesting to see if he fights the charges or comes clean. The guy seems to be a fitness freak, and Hong Kong Phoey is his hero!! Maybe the guys into martial arts, that would explain the sleeper hold.