British serial killer Steve Wright has pleaded guilty to the murder of a teenage girl committed more than 25 years ago, bringing long awaited answers to a case that haunted police and the victim’s family for decades.
Wright, known as the “Suffolk Strangler” after his conviction for killing five women in 2006, admitted on Monday to kidnapping and murdering 17 year old Victoria Hall in 1999. The plea was entered at London’s Old Bailey, where the 67 year old also confessed to attempting to abduct another woman a day before Hall’s killing.
The admission marks a major breakthrough in one of Britain’s longest running unsolved murder cases and closes a chapter that stretched across a quarter of a century.
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Court records show that Wright is already serving a full life sentence with no possibility of release for the murder of five women in Ipswich, northeast of London. Those killings took place over a ten day period in late 2006 and triggered widespread fear across the region.
At Monday’s hearing, prosecutors confirmed that Wright pleaded guilty to both the murder of Hall and the attempted kidnapping of a 22 year old woman. He is due to be sentenced on Friday.
Suffolk Constabulary said the new conviction followed years of forensic work and renewed investigative efforts that linked Wright to Hall’s disappearance and death.
Reacting to the guilty plea, Assistant Chief Constable Alice Scott of Suffolk Constabulary said the outcome brought long delayed closure for the victim’s family.
She said the family had waited more than 26 years for answers and now finally knew who was responsible for Victoria Hall’s murder. Scott said the police force was pleased to have delivered justice after decades of uncertainty.
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Hall vanished in 1999 while walking home in Suffolk. Her murder remained unsolved until new evidence emerged linking Wright to the crime.
Wright was convicted in 2008 of murdering five women who were working as prostitutes in Ipswich. The victims were Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell, and Annette Nicholls.
Their bodies were found in and around the town over a short period, prompting a major national investigation and comparisons in the media to historic serial murder cases in Britain.
Authorities have said Wright’s latest guilty plea confirms suspicions long held by investigators that his criminal history extended beyond the 2006 killings.
Sentencing on the latest convictions is expected to formally conclude one of the most disturbing criminal cases in recent British history.
