Posted: Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:50 am
A modern 'Jack the Ripper'? Race against time in UK killings
December 13, 2006
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British police were racing against time on Wednesday to find the killer of five women, all thought to be prostitutes, before another person dies.
Five naked bodies have been found in and around the town of Ipswich, eastern England, in the last 11 days, striking fear into the community that a serial killer is on the loose.
Detectives have identified three of the dead women as prostitutes. Two other sex workers are missing and police fear the worst following the discovery of two more bodies on Tuesday.
Paula Clennell, 24, has not been seen since Saturday and Annette Nicholls, 29, has been missing for at least a week.
"The natural assumption (is) that these are the two missing women," said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull.
The bodies were discovered in the Nacton area to the east of Ipswich, close to where the naked body of another of the victims, Anneli Alderton, 24, was found in woodland on Sunday.
In a chilling twist, Clennell spoke to a television crew last week when the murder hunt was underway.
"It could happen to anyone," she told ITV news in comments reported in British newspapers on Wednesday. "It's made me a bit worried about getting into cars."
The rapid discovery of so many victims has terrified locals in the provincial town and raised fears that another "Ripper" targeting prostitutes is on the loose.
The most notorious such killer was the 19th-century murderer known as "Jack the Ripper", blamed for the deaths of five prostitutes in east London in 1888 but never found.
The most prolific was Peter Sutcliffe, called the "Yorkshire Ripper", who murdered 13 women, mainly prostitutes, in northern England from 1975 to 1980 before he was caught.
British criminologist Colin Wilson said the Ipswich killer had surpassed "Jack the Ripper" in the speed of his killings and warned that more victims would follow.
"The police will have to move at the speed of light because the Ipswich killer will already be planning his next attack," Wilson wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.
A massive police inquiry began on December 2 when the body of Gemma Adams, 25, was found in a stream in the west of the town. Police divers discovered 19-year-old Tania Nicol in the same stretch of water on December 8.
Officers are only officially linking these two murders but say there are similarities with the death of Alderton, who was found strangled.
Police have warned prostitutes to stay off the streets and women have been advised not to go out alone.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gull said he believed sex workers might have vital information that could help identify the murderer.
December 13, 2006
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British police were racing against time on Wednesday to find the killer of five women, all thought to be prostitutes, before another person dies.
Five naked bodies have been found in and around the town of Ipswich, eastern England, in the last 11 days, striking fear into the community that a serial killer is on the loose.
Detectives have identified three of the dead women as prostitutes. Two other sex workers are missing and police fear the worst following the discovery of two more bodies on Tuesday.
Paula Clennell, 24, has not been seen since Saturday and Annette Nicholls, 29, has been missing for at least a week.
"The natural assumption (is) that these are the two missing women," said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull.
The bodies were discovered in the Nacton area to the east of Ipswich, close to where the naked body of another of the victims, Anneli Alderton, 24, was found in woodland on Sunday.
In a chilling twist, Clennell spoke to a television crew last week when the murder hunt was underway.
"It could happen to anyone," she told ITV news in comments reported in British newspapers on Wednesday. "It's made me a bit worried about getting into cars."
The rapid discovery of so many victims has terrified locals in the provincial town and raised fears that another "Ripper" targeting prostitutes is on the loose.
The most notorious such killer was the 19th-century murderer known as "Jack the Ripper", blamed for the deaths of five prostitutes in east London in 1888 but never found.
The most prolific was Peter Sutcliffe, called the "Yorkshire Ripper", who murdered 13 women, mainly prostitutes, in northern England from 1975 to 1980 before he was caught.
British criminologist Colin Wilson said the Ipswich killer had surpassed "Jack the Ripper" in the speed of his killings and warned that more victims would follow.
"The police will have to move at the speed of light because the Ipswich killer will already be planning his next attack," Wilson wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.
A massive police inquiry began on December 2 when the body of Gemma Adams, 25, was found in a stream in the west of the town. Police divers discovered 19-year-old Tania Nicol in the same stretch of water on December 8.
Officers are only officially linking these two murders but say there are similarities with the death of Alderton, who was found strangled.
Police have warned prostitutes to stay off the streets and women have been advised not to go out alone.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gull said he believed sex workers might have vital information that could help identify the murderer.