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Cast That's fifteen percent off

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at burrow.com/a Cast. This

1:34

episode contains distressing themes

1:36

and descriptions of violence.

1:40

This podcast is intended for a

1:42

mature audience. Listen,

1:44

a caution is advised. Five

1:52

young women vanished off the streets of

1:54

Ipswich during a five-week period in late

1:56

2013. Working

2:00

in one of the oldest professions

2:02

put the missing women at risk.

2:05

The secrecy required to operate in

2:08

the red light district meant there

2:10

were no witnesses. As

2:13

darkness descends upon Ipswich every

2:15

night, so does a heightened

2:17

sense of fear, which is not apparent in

2:19

the daylight. I don't feel very safe

2:22

at the moment, hence why I'm on the bus. I don't want

2:24

to walk out in the dark at night on

2:26

my own. Detectives have spent a day

2:28

trying to cast more light into the

2:30

shadowy world of Ipswich's red light district

2:33

to try to answer the question, who

2:35

murdered five prostitutes? Is there a serial

2:37

murderer on the loose in East Anglia?

2:41

Welcome to Season 8 Episode 44

2:44

of They Walk Among Us, a

2:47

podcast dedicated to UK

2:49

true crime. This

2:52

is part one of a two-part

2:54

case. The second

2:56

instalment will be available in

2:58

four days. This

3:02

is the final case of Season 8.

3:11

At around 9pm on November 1st

3:13

2006, Kerry

3:16

Nicholl reported her 19-year-old

3:18

daughter Tanya missing. Kerry

3:21

had last seen Tanya two days

3:23

earlier when she left their home

3:25

on Wulverstone Close in Ipswich just

3:28

after 10.30pm. Tanya

3:32

told her mother she planned to get

3:34

the bus from Belmont Road into the

3:36

town centre to meet friends. She

3:39

pulled on a black jacket before

3:42

heading out the door in blue

3:44

jeans and sparkly pink high heels.

3:48

Kerry was naturally concerned about

3:50

her daughter's well-being. Their

3:53

relationship had been strained for several

3:55

years. She

3:57

knew Tanya had struggled with drug use.

4:00

and Kerry even helped Tanya seek

4:02

treatment for her addiction in the

4:04

past. In

4:07

2003 at 16, Tanya

4:09

Nichol was legally allowed to leave the

4:12

family home. Moving

4:14

away from her mother and younger

4:16

brother posed problems when she found

4:19

herself living in a hostel where

4:21

she was introduced to heroin. At

4:25

17 she moved again, this

4:27

time to her own property provided

4:29

by the council. At

4:32

this point Tanya's mother Kerry believed her

4:34

daughter was on the right track. Tanya

4:38

had a job and seemed to be

4:40

managing on her own. Kerry

4:43

got the impression that Tanya was doing

4:45

well even though they didn't see

4:47

each other often. However

4:49

a year later things had changed

4:52

and Tanya had returned to live

4:54

at home. There were

4:56

some noticeable changes to her appearance.

5:00

The teenager had lost a lot of

5:02

weight and her skin was blemished and

5:04

sour, the appearance

5:06

commonly indicative of heavy drug

5:09

use. Although

5:11

Kerry had her suspicions that Tanya was

5:14

using drugs again, she

5:16

was fearful of pushing her daughter

5:18

away so she didn't confront her

5:20

often. On

5:22

one occasion Kerry found used syringes

5:24

in Tanya's room. She

5:27

mentioned the discovery to Tanya who

5:29

brushed it off saying the syringes

5:31

belonged to a friend. When

5:35

Tanya left home on October 30th, Kerry

5:37

who was on high alert called her

5:39

daughter 15 minutes after she walked out

5:42

the front door to

5:44

ensure that she safely got a bus.

5:48

Kerry's method of communication was a quick phone

5:50

call or text and she worked the night

5:52

shift as a carer. Generally

5:56

Tanya was good at keeping in touch

5:58

despite what was happening in the room.

6:00

her personal life. Night

6:03

turned today and Tanya still

6:06

had not come home or been in

6:08

touch. Alarm

6:10

bells weren't ringing yet as

6:12

Kerry assumed that Tanya had stayed out

6:14

with a friend although something

6:16

was playing on her mind. When

6:19

Kerry tried to call her daughter, it

6:22

went straight to voicemail. On

6:27

the evening of October 31st, there

6:30

was a knock at the door. It

6:32

wasn't Tanya but a group of children

6:35

playing trick or treat. It

6:38

occurred to Kerry that Tanya might have returned

6:40

home and was sleeping in her bed, but

6:43

when Kerry opened the bedroom door and

6:45

found Tanya's bed empty, she

6:47

started to worry. Kerry

6:50

called a few of Tanya's friends to ask

6:52

if they had seen her, but

6:55

no one had. After

6:57

failing to contact Tanya or anyone that

6:59

knew where she was, Kerry

7:02

contacted the police and reported her

7:04

daughter missing. Tanya

7:07

Nichols was described as being 5

7:10

feet 2 inches tall, biracial

7:12

with shoulder-length brown hair and

7:15

a marked complexion. Detective

7:18

Superintendent Andy Henwood was assigned

7:21

to the missing person case

7:23

and it didn't take long for

7:25

investigators to uncover that Tanya was

7:28

leading a double life. Under

7:31

the assumed name of Chantel,

7:33

she had worked at a

7:35

massage parlor in town called

7:37

Cleopatra's. Tanya's

7:39

former employer said she had to let

7:41

Tanya go when she saw

7:43

how bad her drug addiction was. With

7:47

no other way to fund her habit, Tanya

7:50

began operating as a sex worker

7:53

in Ipswich's Red Light District. A

7:56

combination of her drug dependence and

7:58

her occupation her at high

8:01

risk. Even so the

8:03

police knew that it was not unusual

8:05

for women in Tanya's position to purposefully

8:07

disappear for a few days if they

8:10

built up a drug bed. Nevertheless

8:13

other sex workers in the area

8:15

told investigators that Tanya wasn't the

8:17

type of person to take what

8:19

she couldn't pay for. Officers

8:23

checked CCTV along Tanya's route

8:25

into the town centre and

8:27

came across footage of her

8:30

outside a garage near Hanford

8:32

Road at 11.02pm. 40 minutes

8:35

later her phone was switched off

8:38

and had not reconnected to the

8:40

network since. Nicki

8:43

Tottman, a friend of Tanya's said

8:45

that it was out of character

8:47

for her not to contact her

8:49

family, especially her mother. Nicki

8:51

said, she is a

8:54

very sweet quiet type of girl and

8:56

when I first met her she seemed

8:58

timid and she stayed like that. She

9:01

doesn't like to cause arguments and is

9:03

a really lovely girl. It

9:06

didn't sink in that she had gone missing at

9:08

first and the other night

9:10

I cried because she is so sweet.

9:13

She is a lovely person and I

9:15

don't see why anyone would intentionally hurt

9:17

her. She wouldn't have

9:20

caused anyone any harm or upset

9:22

anyone. I saw her a

9:24

week or so before she went missing and

9:27

she was really happy then and I said

9:29

I would catch up with her soon. That

9:32

was the last I saw of her. I

9:34

really don't know what could have happened to her. She

9:37

could have been snatched. She could have got

9:39

into a car with someone she knew. I

9:43

don't know. Sex

9:46

workers were questioned about Tanya Nichols

9:48

clients and whether there was anyone

9:51

who seemed suspicious in the weeks

9:53

before she went missing. One

9:56

woman, Paula Clannell gave a statement to

9:58

the police on November. 13

10:01

and explained that she knew Tanya in passing

10:04

and they would sometimes share a cigarette when

10:06

they saw each other on the street. Paula

10:10

told the investigators about a man

10:12

named Tom who would often collect

10:14

Tanya and drive her into town

10:16

so she could work. Other

10:19

witnesses reported seeing Tanya on the

10:21

night she went missing, speaking

10:23

to the driver of a

10:25

dark-colored car. Just

10:31

over two weeks after Tanya

10:33

Nickel disappeared on November 15th

10:35

in the early hours, a

10:37

similar missing persons report came

10:39

in. 25-year-old

10:42

Gemma Adams was reported missing

10:44

by her boyfriend John Simpson

10:47

after failing to return home by

10:49

2am. I

10:51

took her off just at

10:53

the Freemasons and like

10:56

I said I've entered your work

10:58

stuff down to London yet but

11:00

it's been terrible. I

11:02

feel like it's a terrible of, I feel like half

11:04

of me is missing. I really do.

11:08

Gemma and John had been together

11:10

for 10 years, having met while

11:12

she was a student at Kesgrave

11:14

High School. Unfortunately

11:17

the couple both discovered heroin

11:19

and became addicted. Gemma

11:23

Adams was estranged from her family.

11:26

She had also lost her job

11:28

at a motor insurance firm due

11:30

to her drug dependence so sex

11:32

work provided the money she needed

11:34

to fund her habit. She

11:37

had been a familiar face in the red

11:39

light district of Ipswich for two years. However

11:43

her situation was unusual as she was

11:45

one of the very few sex workers

11:47

with a boyfriend who usually kept an

11:49

eye on her. John

11:52

had walked Gemma to Bramford Road at

11:55

10pm that night and arranged

11:57

as always to see her back at their

11:59

fire. at 2am. Gemma

12:03

was white and stood five feet

12:05

two inches tall with long blonde

12:07

hair, a slim frame and

12:09

blemish skin. The

12:12

last time John had seen his

12:14

girlfriend he recalled her wearing a

12:17

black waist-length waterproof hooded jacket, light

12:20

blue jeans with studded pockets, a

12:22

red top and white and chrome

12:25

trainers. Gemma

12:27

had multiple ear piercings and wore

12:29

gold earrings, silver rings on

12:31

both hands and a black watch on

12:33

her left wrist. She

12:35

had also been carrying a small black

12:38

handbag. When

12:40

officers spoke to Gemma's colleagues on the

12:42

street some claimed they

12:44

had last seen her outside

12:46

the BMW garage on West

12:49

End Road shortly after 1am.

12:52

A few hours after Gemma was

12:54

reported missing a Suffolk police constable

12:57

went to her parents home in

12:59

Kesgrave to ask if they had

13:01

seen her. Like

13:03

Tanya Nichols parents and the parents

13:05

of many other sex workers Brian

13:08

and Gail Adams had no idea

13:11

that their daughter had been involved

13:13

in prostitution. Once

13:17

it was established that Gemma had

13:20

not gone home to her parents

13:22

detectives organized search efforts throughout the

13:24

red light district in Ipswich. Other

13:28

witnesses confirmed that they had last seen

13:30

Gemma getting into a car on Hanford

13:32

Road at about 1.15am. Gemma

13:36

who was trying to get clean by

13:38

going on a methadone program had

13:41

picked up her prescription on

13:43

November 14th but she failed to

13:45

pick it up the following day. Nine

13:49

sex offenders living in the area were

13:51

questioned and drivers were stopped and asked

13:54

if they had seen either of the

13:56

missing women. Detective

13:59

Superintendent Tandy Henwood said at

14:01

the time, we are

14:03

very concerned for both girls. We

14:06

are treating the investigations as separate at

14:08

the moment but recognize

14:10

the very distinct similarities between

14:12

the investigations and are

14:14

keeping an open mind in respect of

14:17

linking them specifically. Referring

14:20

to Tanya and Gemma's line

14:22

of work, Detective Inspector Darren

14:25

Tompkins added, these

14:27

women deserve as much protection from

14:29

the police as anyone else. Suddenly

14:34

a notable police presence was seen

14:36

in Ipswich's red light district. The

14:39

sex workers were urged to be as

14:41

cautious as possible and look out for

14:43

one another. It

14:45

was made clear that women did not

14:47

need to fear being prosecuted for their

14:50

work if they came forward with information

14:52

about their clients. The

14:56

mobile police station was set up on

14:58

West End Road. Appeal

15:00

posters were given out to pedestrians

15:02

in the town and fans at

15:04

a football match nearby. On

15:08

November 17th Detective Superintendent

15:10

Henwood commented, as

15:13

the days go on we are becoming

15:15

increasingly concerned for the welfare of Tanya

15:17

and Gemma. Their line of

15:20

work makes them extremely vulnerable and

15:22

we are working hard to bring

15:24

these investigations to a satisfactory conclusion.

15:27

Over the past few nights there has been

15:30

a far greater police presence in the red

15:32

light area of Ipswich. We

15:34

have spoken to hundreds of people and

15:36

this information is being followed up. However

15:39

the information has been somewhat limited

15:42

with further sightings of both women.

15:45

We are hoping that the leaflets

15:47

and posters may jog people's memories

15:49

and give us vital information to

15:52

move these investigations forward. of

16:00

Portman Road. At

16:02

the same time roadblocks were set up

16:04

on Hanford Road and Burlington Road, where

16:07

Tanya Nickell was known to work. Over

16:11

50 local officers had been drafted in

16:13

to work on the case and

16:16

investigators liaised with other police

16:18

forces in neighbouring counties to

16:20

see if there had been similar

16:22

disappearances in recent months. Female

16:26

officers took part in reconstructions,

16:29

dressed in clothing similar to what

16:31

Tanya and Gemma had last been

16:33

seen wearing. As

16:36

weeks passed, anniversary appeals brought

16:38

in hundreds of calls. Still,

16:41

Detective Chief Inspector David Skevington,

16:44

who was leading the inquiry

16:46

into Gemma Adams' disappearance, felt

16:48

the people were withholding information.

16:53

Gemma's mother, Gail, spoke publicly

16:55

for the first time on

16:57

November 29th. She

16:59

described the family's devastation and how

17:02

desperate they were to hear from

17:04

Gemma. Gail said,

17:07

there have been no rouse or upsets

17:09

between us and we want her

17:12

to know that she is always welcome back

17:14

home. We would urge

17:16

people to come forward with any

17:18

information and contact police. Three

17:29

days later on the morning of December 2nd 2006,

17:33

water bailiff Trevor Saunders arrived

17:36

at work at Hintlesham Fisheries.

17:39

Trevor was required to check all of the

17:41

bodies of water near the fishing lakes. He

17:45

walked along Belstead Brook, checking

17:47

for any blockages or issues caused

17:50

by recent flooding. It

17:52

had rained heavily in the area over the

17:54

previous two weeks. As

17:57

Trevor made his way upstream to a bend in

17:59

the Brook, he noticed something

18:01

sticking out of the water. Despite

18:05

the crisp weather the sun was

18:07

shining brightly and Trevor could see

18:09

what looked like a mannequin. He

18:12

waded into the brook and began

18:14

clearing leaves and twigs blocking his

18:16

path. He brushed

18:18

off the figure in the muddy water and

18:21

realized how cold it was to the

18:23

touch. After

18:25

clearing away more debris something

18:28

moved allowing some blonde

18:30

hair to rise to the surface

18:32

off the water. As

18:35

Trevor hurriedly scooped the remaining leaves

18:38

away he uncovered the face of

18:40

a young woman. The

18:47

awful discovery was called in just before

18:49

12 p.m. and investigators

18:51

arrived at the scene minutes

18:53

later. Due to

18:56

the area around the brook being

18:58

so muddy it was suspected that

19:00

the body had been dumped further

19:02

upstream before getting lodged in the

19:04

dike. The woman's

19:06

remains were removed and transported to

19:08

Ipswich Hospital later that night with

19:11

a postmortem examination carried out

19:13

by Home Office pathologist Dr.

19:15

Nat Carey. No

19:18

obvious signs of violence or sexual

19:20

assault were noted. There

19:23

was evidence of decomposition which

19:25

suggested the body had been submerged

19:27

in the water for around two

19:30

weeks. Although her

19:32

lungs were hyperinflated she

19:34

had not inhaled water which ruled

19:37

out drowning as a cause of air.

19:40

Redness and discoloration of the skin around

19:42

her nose and below her eyes as

19:45

well as hemorrhaging in the left

19:47

eye indicated that the victim had

19:50

been asphyxiated somehow but the

19:52

pathologist could not say for certain.

19:55

Toxicologists concluded that there was morphine

19:57

and methadone found in the woman.

19:59

woman's bloodstream, but she had

20:02

not died of an overdose. It

20:05

was not a natural death. The

20:08

young woman was likely the victim of

20:10

murder. At

20:12

this stage there was little doubt that

20:14

she was one of the missing women,

20:17

and her earrings and blonde hair matched

20:19

the description of Gemma Adams. My

20:22

mother and older sister had the

20:25

awful duty of formally identifying her

20:27

body the following day. Gemma

20:35

was the middle child of Brian

20:37

and Gail Adams, a happily

20:40

married couple who had made a

20:42

life for themselves and their children

20:44

in a beautiful home not far

20:46

from Ipswich. After

20:48

attending Heath Primary School, Gemma

20:50

moved on to Kesgrave High

20:53

School. She was

20:55

punctular, and her parents didn't mind

20:57

that Gemma's teenage friends spent a lot of

20:59

time at their home.

21:02

Brian and Gail would later

21:04

tell the Daily Mail that Gemma

21:06

had always had a rescue complex.

21:09

She would take care of mistreated

21:11

animals, and her compassionate nature attracted

21:13

her to young people who had

21:16

fallen on hard times. At

21:19

sixteen Gemma met John Simpson, who

21:22

had moved to the area from Scotland.

21:25

They quickly became a couple, and

21:28

when Gemma finished school she

21:30

completed a GNVQ qualification in

21:33

administration. She then

21:35

secured employment with a motor insurance

21:37

company. After

21:40

moving in with John and away from

21:42

the watchful eyes of her parents, Gemma

21:45

spiralled into drug addiction. As

21:48

it took its toll on her life, she

21:51

was fired from her job. Tragically,

21:53

John Simpson never recovered from

21:56

Gemma's death, and he felt

21:58

enormous guilt for what had happened. He

22:01

died of an overdose in September 2018. Once

22:07

Bryon and Gail had found out about

22:10

Gemma's drug habit when she was younger,

22:12

they tried to get her help and

22:15

she started taking methadone to dampen

22:17

her heroin cravings. However,

22:20

Gemma soon spiralled back into

22:22

addiction and she stopped visiting

22:24

her parents despite their attempts to

22:26

bridge the divide. Jack,

22:30

Gemma's younger brother, issued a touching

22:32

statement about his sister after people

22:34

left messages of condolence on a

22:37

memorial page set up by the

22:39

Ipswich Star. Jack

22:41

said, The Gemma that I

22:43

remember and the Gemma that will

22:46

stay in my and my whole family's hearts for

22:48

the rest of our life is

22:50

a kind-hearted, fun-loving, cheeky, humorous Gemma

22:52

and not the Gemma that has

22:54

been widely portrayed across the media

22:56

which has been a result of

22:59

drugs and the massive hold it

23:01

can and does take. She

23:04

always wanted to help and improve the

23:06

lives of others around her and

23:08

she'd always put everybody else first.

23:11

She was a beautiful young woman with her

23:13

whole life ahead of her. There

23:16

is now a massive hold in our family

23:18

which will never be filled. Gem,

23:21

you will never be forgotten. I

23:24

know you're in a better place now and

23:26

I will always love you. Once

23:32

the murder inquiry was officially opened,

23:35

investigators appealed to Gemma Adams' clients

23:38

to get in touch so they

23:40

could piece together her final movements.

23:44

Detective Chief Inspector Skevington said,

23:47

Our priorities are to find out how

23:49

Gemma died so I would

23:51

encourage men who may have been with

23:53

her to come forward and contact us

23:55

as opposed to waiting for time to

23:57

pass when we will have to contact.

23:59

back then. Scores

24:03

of officers continued searching the area

24:05

of Thorpe's Hill near where Gemma's

24:07

body had been found, while

24:09

specialist divers waded through the brook in

24:12

an effort to find evidence including

24:14

Gemma's clothes which had

24:17

not been recovered. On

24:21

the sixth day of the search, the

24:24

divers found another body.

24:31

It was just before midday on December

24:33

8th. A

24:36

specialist search team came across the body

24:38

of a young woman in the water.

24:41

The officers who were part of

24:43

the inquiry into Gemma Adam's murder

24:45

and scoured two miles of the

24:47

brook that ran into the River

24:49

Orwell. The scene

24:52

was located close to H.G. Gladwell

24:54

& Sons Animal Feed Store at

24:56

Cop Dog Mill off the old

24:58

London Road. Due

25:00

to heavy rain and recent floods, there was

25:03

around two feet of water in the brook

25:06

and the significantly decomposed body

25:08

was caught on vegetation near

25:10

the muddy bank. Chief

25:13

Constable Jackie Cheer later spoke

25:16

about recovering the bodies. The

25:19

bodies in the water, the most difficult things about

25:21

those actually for us was recovering them. That

25:24

brook was running very, very fast when those

25:26

bodies were found and we needed to be

25:28

very careful about how we removed the bodies

25:30

with care from that brook so that we

25:33

could capture all the forensic evidence we needed

25:35

to. DCI

25:37

Skevington told reporters that the police would

25:40

not be able to draw conclusions on

25:42

whether the victim's death was at the

25:44

hands of a third party or if

25:47

it was linked to Gemma Adam's murder.

25:51

We need to consider if there

25:53

are any linkages between this finding

25:55

today and those investigations. These

25:58

circumstances are extremely unusual

26:00

for Suffolk. To

26:02

have a murder investigation and a

26:04

suspicious death is almost unique. The

26:07

constapular is treating this with

26:10

the utmost seriousness. The

26:14

naked body of the young woman

26:16

was taken to Ipswich Hospital for

26:18

a post-mortem. Dr

26:20

Nat Carey concluded that the remains had likely

26:23

been in the water for at least a

26:25

month and there were a number of bruises

26:27

on her right arm and on the back

26:29

of her knee. The

26:31

bruising was consistent with someone having kneeled

26:34

on the victim or they had pinned

26:36

her down, although Dr Carey could not

26:38

rule out that she had died after

26:40

being placed in the water. Bleeding

26:44

in the mid-leer within the temporal

26:46

bones suggested that she had been

26:49

asphyxiated and damage to the thyroid

26:51

cartilage supported this theory. Like

26:55

Gemma Adams, the second young

26:57

woman's lungs were hyperinflated, something

26:59

that occurs when someone is fighting

27:01

to breathe. The

27:04

amount of heroin in the victim's

27:06

system at the time of her

27:08

death indicated that she could have

27:10

been too intoxicated to resist any

27:12

attack, but the pathologist was able

27:14

to rule out an accidental overdose.

27:18

Due to the condition of the remains, investigators

27:21

decided to compare the woman's

27:23

fingerprints to Tanya Nickel and

27:26

their suspicions that the missing 19-year-old had

27:29

met the same fate as Gemma

27:31

Adams were confirmed. Jim

27:37

Jewell and Carey Nickel had brought

27:39

their children up in Ipswich. Their

27:43

eldest daughter Tanya had been a

27:45

promising and well-liked student at Gussford

27:48

Primary School and Chantry High School.

27:52

After Jim and Carey separated when Tanya

27:54

was in her early teens, Tanya

27:57

visited her father several times a week

27:59

while she lived with her

28:01

mother and younger brother Aaron on

28:03

Wolverstone Coast. A neighbour

28:06

told the Ipswich Star that Tanya didn't play

28:08

out on the street much as a child,

28:11

but if she did her mother always kept

28:13

an eye on her. The

28:16

neighbour added, Tanya was

28:18

always very polite and was quite

28:20

a sweet girl really. She

28:22

was a friendly little girl. She

28:24

spoke nicely and wasn't rough. There

28:27

are only nice things to say about her

28:29

really. Tanya's

28:32

father Jim later recalled his daughter

28:34

was happy at school. She

28:37

had lots of friends and studied hard.

28:40

Voicing how proud he was Jim

28:43

remarked, she was in

28:45

the sea cadets and used to take

28:47

such pride in hanging up her uniform

28:49

all neat and tidy. She was

28:51

12 and met Prince Andrew

28:53

when he visited. When

28:57

Tanya was 15 she

28:59

started hanging around with what her

29:02

parents called the wrong crowd and

29:04

she was introduced to recreational drugs

29:06

like cannabis. From

29:09

that point Tanya's life took a

29:11

downward turn and she began to

29:13

take harder drugs. Her

29:16

parents tried to encourage her to follow

29:18

her ambitions of working in the beauty

29:20

or music industry. They were

29:22

not aware of the whole drugs had on

29:24

their daughter. After

29:27

losing her job at a massage parlour

29:30

Tanya started doing sex work on the

29:32

streets. Dina

29:34

Thorpe who had known the family since

29:36

they moved to the area said that

29:38

although she had no idea that Tanya

29:40

was a sex worker she knew

29:43

the family had been through hard times

29:45

in the past. Tanya said

29:48

I was a bit surprised but I

29:50

can understand how someone who has never

29:52

had much could find it easy money.

29:55

When I first heard she was missing I

29:58

thought something must have happened because of the drug. they

30:00

are a very close family and

30:02

she is the sort of girl who would let

30:04

her family know where she was. I

30:07

can only really think of nice things to

30:09

say about her and her mother. She

30:12

was a lovely girl and

30:14

she didn't deserve this. A

30:19

friend of Tanya's who worked at a

30:21

massage parlor in Ipswich told the Ipswich

30:23

Star that she had spoken to Tanya

30:25

a week before she went missing and

30:28

asked her how she was able to get

30:30

into a car with a stranger. The

30:33

friend went on to say, I

30:35

think even if I was really desperate

30:38

I wouldn't be able to do that. She

30:41

was such a tiny girl but

30:43

she had a real feistiness to her

30:46

and I know how dangerous it is for

30:48

girls out there. I've learned the

30:50

hard way. I never thought

30:52

I would grow up to be a prostitute

30:54

but the reality is that it does go

30:56

on and people are too

30:58

quick to judge. I

31:01

think I speak for all the girls here

31:03

when I say we will still be scared

31:05

until we know this person has been caught.

31:08

I'm definitely very worried for the girls that

31:10

are still out there. They're

31:12

getting younger every day. Once

31:19

it was confirmed that the victim was missing

31:21

19 year old Tanya

31:23

Nickel, a press conference was

31:25

held where police announced that they had

31:28

launched a linked murder investigation. Local

31:31

volunteer organizations spent time in

31:33

the red light district which

31:36

was by this point manned by

31:38

a number of uniformed officers. Women

31:41

who were still offering their services were

31:43

advised to stay in groups and keep

31:45

in contact with their friends and family.

31:53

On the day that Tanya Nickel's body

31:56

was found, news came in

31:58

that another vulnerable woman had had not

32:00

come home. Twenty-nine-year-old

32:03

mother of one Annette Nichols

32:05

had been reported missing by

32:07

concerned family members following the

32:09

reports of someone targeting women

32:11

in Ipswich's red light district.

32:15

It was quickly established that Annette

32:17

had last been seen by a

32:19

member of the public on Norwich

32:21

Road just before 10pm on December

32:23

5th. It

32:25

was described as white with

32:27

shoulder-length wavy brown hair, standing

32:29

5ft 3in tall. Annette

32:33

was last seen wearing dark

32:36

grey patterned leggings, calf-length boots

32:38

and a dark-coloured bomber jacket over

32:41

a low-cut black top. Fearing

32:44

that something had happened to Annette,

32:46

police presence in the red light district

32:49

was ramped up, but no

32:51

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35:07

Shortly after 3 20

35:09

p.m on December 10th Suffolk

35:11

police received a call. A

35:14

passing motorist raised the alarm after

35:17

a traumatic discovery near Woodland in

35:19

Nacton close to the grounds of

35:22

Amberfield private school. Once

35:24

officers saw the naked body of a

35:27

young blonde woman laid out on the

35:29

leafy ground they knew it was

35:31

not a net nickels. The

35:34

victim was lying on her back with

35:36

her arms outstretched in a cruciform pose.

35:40

Her left palm faced up to the sky

35:42

and her right palm was flat against

35:44

the undergrowth. While

35:47

the woman's right leg was laid straight

35:49

out, her left leg was bent

35:51

at the knee. Bizarrely

35:54

her hair had been spread out above

35:56

her head in a conical shape. previous

36:00

victims the young woman appeared to have

36:02

been dead for a week at most

36:05

and there was a greater chance of

36:07

recovering forensic evidence because the body had

36:09

not been dumped in water. To

36:13

preserve the scene from heavy downpours

36:16

a large white tent was erected

36:18

while the body was examined in

36:20

set-ship. Upon

36:22

initial examination the pathologist noted

36:24

slight bruising around the victim's

36:27

neck. There were

36:29

no marks on the body to indicate she

36:31

had been dragged over the rough ground. Still

36:34

it was also obvious that the

36:36

murder had taken place elsewhere and

36:38

the victim's body had been left

36:40

10 meters from the roadside. A

36:44

post-mortem was conducted by Dr Nat

36:46

Carey at Ipswich Hospital. Toxicology

36:50

reports indicated that the female

36:52

had cocaine in her system.

36:56

There were no signs that the victim's

36:58

clothing had been forcibly removed which

37:00

indicated that she had been stripped

37:02

after death. Her

37:04

lungs were hyperinflated and

37:07

air bubbles had settled on the surface

37:09

showing that she had fought a breath. The

37:13

pathologist concluded that the woman had

37:15

died from asphyxia which interfered with

37:18

the normal mechanics of breathing. He

37:21

believed it had been a subtle application

37:23

of force to the victim's neck or

37:25

mouth that had killed her. There

37:28

were signs of trauma to the woman's

37:31

genitals and swabs were taken to be

37:33

analyzed in the hopes that DNA had

37:35

been left behind. During

37:38

the autopsy Dr Carey

37:40

also discovered that the victim

37:42

was three months pregnant. Most

37:48

of the women operating in the red

37:50

light district in Ipswich had been spoken

37:52

to in the weeks since Tanya Nickel

37:55

went missing. The police

37:57

had compiled a list of names and

37:59

descriptions. for most of them. The

38:02

victim had not been reported missing

38:05

but she was quickly identified

38:07

as 24-year-old Annalee Olderton, a

38:10

single mother of one from

38:12

Colchester. Annalee

38:18

Olderton had been addicted to drugs

38:21

for eight years. After

38:23

learning of her death, Annalee's

38:25

grandmother Joan Malloy said, I

38:28

was gobsmacked to hear my granddaughter was

38:31

dead but the Annie I

38:33

knew as a little girl had died

38:35

years before. I

38:37

remember her as a normal artistic

38:39

bright little girl, happy

38:41

and alive. Annalee

38:43

has been a girl more sinned against

38:45

than sinning but became addicted

38:48

to heroin. An

38:51

Ipswich native Annalee Olderton and her

38:53

mother Marie had lived in Cyprus

38:56

for a few years before moving

38:58

back to the UK when she

39:00

was in her early teens. Her

39:03

mother fondly described her as being an

39:05

excellent student who had a knack for

39:07

languages, quickly becoming fluent

39:10

in Greek. When

39:12

living in Ipswich with her father Roy,

39:15

Annalee attended Copleston High School.

39:18

She made a lot of friends in no time.

39:21

Unfortunately when Roy died of lung

39:23

cancer a year later, from

39:26

that point on Annalee's life

39:28

descended into chaos. On

39:31

the day of her father's funeral

39:33

she ran away and began using drugs

39:35

to numb her grief. By

39:38

the age of 17 Annalee's

39:40

relationship with her mother had fractured

39:42

and she moved into a council

39:44

fight. A sex

39:47

worker who knew Annalee later wrote in

39:49

a tribute, she got

39:51

on drugs at a young age and stayed

39:53

at that age and never really

39:55

matured. She was

39:57

a vulnerable girl. To

40:00

fund an all-consuming drug addiction, Annalee

40:03

resorted to sex work. As

40:06

a consequence, it did not take long for

40:09

her to get into trouble with the police.

40:12

After serving a few short stints in

40:15

prison for theft and several attempts at

40:17

getting clean, Annalee fell

40:19

pregnant with her first child,

40:21

Freddy. Despite

40:23

her love for her son, Annalee

40:26

could not beat her addiction to

40:28

crack cocaine, and she periodically

40:30

reverted back to her old ways.

40:35

In late 2006, she was living

40:37

with her boyfriend, Sam Jefford, in

40:39

a flat in Colchester, but

40:42

she regularly visited her mother and

40:44

son in Harwich, Essex. Sam

40:47

said he never saw Annalee take

40:49

hard drugs, and he was

40:51

unaware she was still working in the

40:53

sex industry, although he knew she

40:55

had in the past. According

40:59

to Annalee's older brother Tom, Annalee

41:02

was working hard to get sober for her

41:04

son. In fact,

41:07

she had only one short relapse

41:09

in a two-year period, but something

41:11

set her back in December. Police

41:14

had spoken to Annalee on December 2nd, and

41:18

she told them that she was working

41:20

to afford Christmas presents for her five-year-old

41:22

son. The

41:24

following day, December 3rd, Annalee

41:27

went to Harwich to visit her

41:29

family, bringing gifts with her as

41:31

promised. Annalee's

41:33

mother knew how her daughter lived. Annalee

41:36

was open about her lifestyle and

41:39

even spoke about the women that had

41:41

gone missing. She told

41:43

her mother that Gemma Adams had taught

41:46

her how to take a client's money

41:48

and run without providing any services. Annalee's

41:52

brother Tom thought Gemma's disappearance

41:54

could have prompted his sister's

41:56

relapse. He said she'd

41:59

been really good at it. good friends with Gemma

42:01

Adams so reading about Gemma

42:03

may not have been good for her

42:05

mental health either. We

42:07

know she was very upset about it.

42:12

Annalee took pride in her appearance and

42:15

that evening she showered and put on

42:17

make up in her mother's bathroom before

42:19

she got ready to leave again. Marie

42:22

would later recall being annoyed and

42:25

angry as Annalee had lost more

42:27

weight and decided to

42:29

bleach her naturally reddish brown

42:31

hair. Annalee's

42:33

mother said there were

42:35

two different Annies, one

42:37

with brown hair and one with

42:40

blonde. Tom

42:42

thought that was a sign his sister

42:44

had relapsed and was going back to

42:46

sex work. He told the

42:48

Guardian Annie dyed her

42:50

hair that night which was

42:52

significant as it was part of a

42:55

guy she'd assume as a coping mechanism.

42:58

Annalee called out, Bye mum I love

43:00

you, and she left. Marie

43:04

remembered being too angry to reply at

43:06

the time, something she

43:08

would regret. That

43:12

evening Annalee boarded a train to

43:14

Colchester from Harwich station and

43:16

was believed to have travelled to

43:18

Ipswich. As

43:21

part of a 12 month supervision

43:23

order in post on Annalee in

43:25

September 2006, she had to attend

43:28

regular appointments with her probation officer.

43:31

She never missed any of

43:33

the 22 appointments until December

43:36

4th when it was believed

43:38

she was already dead. 24 year

43:45

old mother of three Paula

43:47

Clannell was reported missing by

43:49

her boyfriend on December 11th,

43:51

the day after Annalee Olderton's

43:53

body was found. Paula

43:56

had spoken to the police during the

43:58

search for Tanya Nickell. and

44:00

she had also given an interview

44:02

to ITV Anglia a week earlier

44:04

about Gemma Adams. With

44:07

her back to the camera Paula was

44:09

asked by the reporter why she had

44:11

decided to come out on the streets

44:14

despite the risks. Because

44:16

I need the money, she replied.

44:19

Paula explained it had made her

44:21

wary of getting into strangers cars

44:24

but admitted she would probably still do

44:26

it. The interviewer

44:29

told Paula that the next car she

44:31

got into could be driven by the

44:33

person who killed Gemma. Paula

44:39

Clannell was originally from

44:41

Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland and

44:44

moved to Ipswich with her mother Isabella

44:46

and older sister Alice after

44:48

her parents split up when she was in

44:50

her early teens. Her

44:52

father Brian stayed in Berwick and as

44:55

Paula got older and more troubled they

44:57

lost touch. When

45:00

she was 16 years old Paula

45:02

had stopped to help an elderly woman who

45:06

her act of kindness was commended in

45:08

the local paper and was a testament

45:10

to the type of person she was.

45:14

Described as a kind and caring

45:16

person, Paula's life changed

45:18

when she became addicted to heroin

45:21

and eventually lost custody of her

45:23

three young children. Paula

45:26

expressed her love for her daughters in

45:28

yearly letters she was permitted to send

45:30

and she had told others she was

45:33

desperate to get them back once she

45:35

got clean. In

45:39

late 2006 Paula Clannell

45:41

had been living with a man in

45:43

Ipswich. He allowed her to

45:45

stay and gave her money for drugs in

45:48

exchange for sexual favors. On

45:51

December 9th and 10th Paula and

45:53

another sex worker who was identified

45:56

as Miss F smoked heroin

45:58

and crack cocaine together. in

46:00

the man's house. Miss

46:03

F said that when the man refused to give

46:05

Paula more money she decided

46:07

to go out on the street to

46:09

work instead. Paula

46:12

who was described as being five

46:14

feet seven inches tall with a

46:16

medium build, blue eyes, a sporty

46:18

complexion and mousy hair that last

46:21

being seen wearing blue jeans and

46:23

a zipper top. A

46:26

witness saw her cycling along London Road

46:28

on a blue bike around 10

46:31

40 p.m. on December 10. Assistant

46:34

Chief Constable of the Suffolk Constabulary

46:37

Jackie Cheer had advised working women

46:39

to stay off the streets issuing

46:42

a warning to females in the

46:44

area. She added you

46:47

have really got to look after each other

46:49

plan how you are going to get there

46:51

and plan how you are going to get

46:53

home and don't deviate from that. Do

46:56

not leave your friends on their own. With

47:04

mounting fears of a serial killer

47:06

targeting women in Ipswich, clinical

47:09

forensic psychologist Mike Berry spoke

47:11

to the East Angley and

47:13

Daily Times about the criminal

47:15

profile of the killer. He's

47:18

comfortable in the red light district. He

47:21

can go in and pick up a girl. He's

47:23

not worried or wacko. He

47:26

could be a regular punter. He's

47:28

probably known to them. Although

47:31

there was nothing concrete to link the

47:34

three murders yet Mike Berry

47:36

felt that the sites where Annalee

47:38

Alderton's body had been left suggested

47:40

that the killer was evolving. He

47:43

said it may indicate that

47:45

it was a bit rushed or

47:48

the killer might be clever and goading

47:50

the police. I find

47:52

it worrying that there has been three

47:54

in two weeks. Sex

47:58

workers have always been at high

48:00

risk due to the nature of their

48:03

profession and their lifestyle. Professor

48:06

David Wilson working for what was

48:08

then the University of Central England

48:10

offered his thoughts. We

48:13

need to remember that Ipswich and Norwich

48:15

have a history of unsolved murders of

48:18

prostitutes going back to the early 1990s.

48:22

I do not believe that a person

48:24

suddenly emerges as a triple killer in

48:26

a short space of time. The

48:29

other thing to say is that the

48:31

killer has been very organized and competent.

48:33

He clearly knows the road systems

48:35

very well. I visited

48:38

the sites where two of the bodies were

48:40

found and I would not have

48:42

been able to find my way around those

48:44

roads. This person

48:46

knows the area well. Appeals

48:51

for information on the whereabouts of

48:53

Annette Nichols and Paula Clannell went

48:56

answered. A

48:59

police spokesperson said it

49:01

is very concerning in the current

49:03

climate and given the amount of

49:05

publicity. However it is possible

49:07

that the women don't realize how much

49:09

concern there is for them. They

49:11

are still hoping that they are found safe

49:14

and well. We would urge them

49:16

or anyone who knows where they are

49:18

to get in touch urgently. Paula

49:22

Clannell's father Brian appealed for

49:24

her to get in touch.

49:27

Paula everyone loves you and

49:30

we want you back. There's no

49:32

repercussions to come from this. Just

49:35

say you're alive. We

49:37

want you back safely. Paula

49:42

had gone missing while police presence

49:44

in the red light district was at

49:46

an all-time high so it was terrifying

49:49

to imagine that the killer could

49:51

have been so brazen as to abduct

49:53

her. On

49:59

December 12th just after 3pm

50:01

a member of the public who

50:03

was walking along old Felix Stowe

50:05

Road near the turn for Levington

50:07

came across a naked woman's body

50:10

in a clearing 20 feet

50:12

from the roadside. Officers

50:15

from the Suffolk Constabulary quickly darted

50:18

to the scene which was around

50:20

a mile from where Annalee Olderton's

50:22

body was discovered two days earlier.

50:26

The deceased female was lying on

50:28

her right side with her limbs

50:30

stretched out. Her

50:32

blonde hair was caught in brambles as

50:35

though her body had been hurriedly dumped

50:37

between an hour and a day before

50:39

being found. Half

50:42

an hour later a police helicopter

50:44

was dispatched to survey the scene

50:46

from above. Within

50:48

minutes the crew on board radioed

50:50

with a second disturbing fight. They

50:54

alerted officers on the ground to

50:56

a second body a few hundred

50:58

yards away. This

51:00

woman had been posed similarly

51:02

to Annalee Olderton in a

51:05

cruciform position. She

51:07

appeared to have been there for several

51:09

days. DCS

51:11

Stuart Gull who was at the scene

51:13

said that the bodies could have been

51:15

left before or after the police cordon

51:18

was set up in Nacht and two

51:20

days earlier. Gull added,

51:23

the old Felix Doe Road is fairly

51:25

well used and I would ask

51:27

anyone who has traveled it to cast their

51:30

minds back. If you

51:32

saw anybody or anything in particular

51:34

a vehicle we need to know

51:36

the details. We have

51:38

three prostitutes murdered now, possibly

51:41

another two. I do

51:43

not know what stark a warning there can

51:45

be other than stay off the streets in

51:47

Suffolk. I would encourage

51:49

females going out clubbing to

51:51

take significant precautionary measures. Investigators

51:56

wasted no time securing both scenes

51:58

to try and salvage. as

52:00

much evidence as possible. The

52:07

first body was removed that night and

52:10

a post-mortem was conducted by Dr.

52:12

Nat Carey the following morning. The

52:15

victim was estimated to have been

52:17

dead for around a day, meaning

52:19

the killer had abducted the woman

52:21

and dumped her body while the

52:23

police were a mile from where

52:25

Annalie's body had been recovered. Officers

52:29

recognised the young woman as

52:31

Paula Clannell who had been

52:33

reported missing just two days

52:35

earlier. Irregular marks

52:37

along Paula's jawline, chin and

52:39

nose were noted as was

52:42

a pattern of bruising across

52:44

her neck. Like

52:46

the other victims Paula's lungs

52:48

were hyperinflated showing that her

52:51

breathing had been disrupted, quickly

52:54

by someone choking her with their arm

52:56

or the crook of their elbow. In

53:00

the days that followed, Anita

53:02

Norris, the grandmother of Paula

53:04

Clannell's three children, spoke with

53:07

the Ipswich star. According

53:09

to Anita, Paula was taking drugs

53:12

to cope with losing custody of

53:14

her children. Anita said,

53:17

she always thought she would get them back,

53:20

even until recently. Having

53:23

your children taken away is the

53:25

most heartbreaking thing you could ever

53:27

know. Reminiscing

53:29

about a family holiday to

53:31

Disney World Florida four years

53:33

earlier, Anita added, she

53:36

was so happy back then and

53:38

that's how I want her to be remembered. I

53:41

was like a second mum to her. I

53:44

loved her and always will love her. No

53:47

one will ever take that away. She

53:50

loved her kids and didn't deserve what

53:52

happened. She was a

53:54

victim of society in

53:56

such a wasted life. I

53:59

know the real. Paula, the

54:01

person that people who think of her

54:03

just as a prostitute don't know. Paula

54:08

Colanell was remembered by her mother

54:10

and sister as being full of

54:12

character and always laughing. As

54:15

children Paula and her older sister

54:17

Alice would do everything together, from

54:19

horse riding to dancing in the

54:21

streets with their portable stereo. Her

54:25

mother Isabella recalled, Paula

54:27

was a very intelligent and quick

54:30

thinking toddler and she had

54:32

bags of energy. She was

54:34

always running around and getting up to

54:36

mischief. She loved to

54:38

dress up and do all the girly things

54:40

like putting makeup on and cutting her own

54:43

hair. She also liked

54:45

playing on her bikes and scooter, digging

54:47

the garden, picking flowers, painting

54:50

the car with white emulsion, putting

54:53

fairy liquid in the fish

54:55

tank and also painting on

54:57

the front doorstep, window sills,

54:59

back garden lawn and herself

55:01

a lovely pillar box red

55:03

glass. She

55:05

was my bundle of joy. In

55:10

the last letter Paula sent her mother

55:13

she described being terrified of working

55:15

on the streets but she

55:17

wanted to save money to get a

55:19

house for herself and her daughters. The

55:26

second body found on the roadside had

55:29

been posed in the shape of a

55:31

crucifix and was not recovered

55:33

until the following day. Detective

55:36

Chief Superintendent Stuart Gull who was

55:38

leading the murder hunt said, I

55:41

appreciate it maybe seems quite callous

55:43

to leave the girls in the

55:45

open overnight and we try and

55:47

do it as dignified as we can but

55:50

it's important to collect as much evidence

55:52

from the scenes as possible. We

55:55

only get one chance at these scenes

55:57

and need to get it right. The

56:01

fifth victim discovered in just ten

56:04

days was identified as 29 year

56:06

old Annette Nichols. The

56:09

pathologist examined her body and

56:11

found some fly infestation and

56:14

marked decomposition which suggested she

56:16

had been dead for a number of days.

56:19

This also meant she died soon after she

56:22

was last seen. The

56:24

scratch on her cheek and lower back

56:26

supported the theory that she had been

56:28

dragged from the road to the place

56:30

where her body was found. She

56:34

also had smears on the tops of her

56:36

feet. It appeared

56:38

as though her legs had trailed on the

56:40

ground when she was being carried. There

56:44

was heroin, methadone and cocaine found

56:46

in Annette's system, however

56:48

she did not die of an overdose.

56:52

The cause of death was listed as

56:54

asphyxia due to compression of the neck.

57:02

Annette Nichols was born and raised in

57:04

Ipswich. Described as

57:06

a bubbly and generous person who

57:09

had to have birthday parties in the garden

57:11

due to the number of friends she had,

57:14

Annette had set her sights on owning

57:16

her own business one day. After

57:20

graduating from Holly Wells High

57:22

School, Annette completed a four

57:24

year NVQ course in cosmetology

57:26

at Suffolk College. At

57:29

that time she was a single mother to

57:32

her then four year old son, Farron. Just

57:36

a year later however, Annette was

57:38

gripped by addiction. Her

57:40

cousin Tanya told the Independent,

57:43

she used to be such

57:45

an absolutely outstanding person with

57:47

the most lovely personality. She

57:50

was stunningly beautiful inside and out.

57:53

I was so proud of her when she passed

57:55

her course. But then almost

57:58

overnight she got into heroin

58:01

and it changed her. It

58:03

was a bit like flicking a light switch.

58:07

Annette's son was her entire world

58:10

but as things got worse she knew he

58:12

would be better off in the care of

58:14

her mother, Rosemary. Tanya

58:17

recalled the last time she had seen

58:19

her cousin three weeks before

58:21

her body was discovered. It

58:24

was midnight on West End Road. Tanya

58:28

was worried for Annette but

58:30

her cousin didn't want to stop working

58:33

and asked Tanya not to tell anyone she

58:35

saw her. Tanya

58:37

added, now I just

58:39

wish that I had picked her up and dragged

58:41

her home. Like

58:45

the other victims, Tanya Nickel,

58:48

Gemma Adams, Anna Lealderton and

58:50

Paula Clannell, Annette Nichols

58:52

didn't choose to live her life the

58:55

way it had turned out. They

58:58

all fell victim to drug addiction and

59:00

believed they had no choice but to go

59:03

out and make money by working in the

59:05

sex industry, a job they

59:07

felt conflicted about or embarrassed by,

59:10

fueling the need to numb themselves

59:12

with heroin or cocaine. Anna

59:15

Lealderton's older brother Tom later

59:17

said, the prostitute

59:20

label is annoying because it

59:22

was a last resort and was on the

59:24

table as something she'd do if she was

59:26

desperate but it was only one

59:29

thing on a vast resume including

59:31

legal things. The

59:33

media mentioned all of them by

59:35

their worst most desperate actions and

59:38

that's not how they spent 99.9% of their lives. At

59:44

the time you don't think about it you really

59:46

don't care it's about, this is,

59:49

you see that person is a bag of

59:51

heroin. With heroin that

59:55

relaxes you and if

59:58

you take too much that will really hurt you. relax you

1:00:00

to an extent where you're almost dead

1:00:04

with crack cocaine that

1:00:07

has the opposite effect and brings you

1:00:09

up and makes you hyperactive. So

1:00:13

for the

1:00:16

killer to be given drugs that would have

1:00:18

been heroin and they

1:00:20

would have put up less of a struggle, less of

1:00:23

a fight and I believe

1:00:26

most of the girls are dependent on heroin anyway. In

1:00:28

late 2006 an estimated 30 to 40 women in

1:00:40

the sex industry worked in Ipswich.

1:00:43

They all knew one another. Most

1:00:46

had fallen on hard times and ended

1:00:48

up working on the streets. The

1:00:51

Ipswich star set up a campaign

1:00:54

called somebody's daughter to highlight the

1:00:56

plight of sex workers in the

1:00:58

area particularly those struggling with addiction.

1:01:02

Paula Clannell's sister Alice later

1:01:04

said, the last time

1:01:06

I saw my sister was by a

1:01:08

complete fluke. I bumped into

1:01:11

Paula on the estate where I live. She

1:01:13

was really loving towards me full

1:01:16

of regards to all the family. When

1:01:19

we parted she stroked my face

1:01:21

and said love you sis see

1:01:23

you soon I'll call you. We

1:01:26

never did see each other again. The

1:01:29

next time I saw her was when we

1:01:31

had to identify her body. I

1:01:34

know it's hard to accept someone with an

1:01:36

addiction or even try and support them

1:01:39

but turning my back was the

1:01:41

worst thing I have ever done.

1:01:44

At the end of the day these people

1:01:46

need love and support and

1:01:48

there is nothing out there for them. Maybe

1:01:51

the somebody's daughter campaign can help

1:01:53

some young mothers and girls who

1:01:55

have gone off the path because once

1:01:57

they're gone they cannot get back on them.

1:02:00

own. We need more

1:02:02

done to help them. With

1:02:09

five bodies found in just ten days,

1:02:12

the hunt for the man the

1:02:14

media dubbed the Suffolk Strangler became

1:02:16

the biggest inquiry in history for

1:02:19

one of the UK's smallest police

1:02:21

forces. Hundreds

1:02:23

of officers were drafted in from 31 forces

1:02:26

across the country to help with

1:02:28

the investigation. Thousands

1:02:30

of hours of CCTV footage from

1:02:32

it switched to as far as

1:02:34

Essex where Annalee Olderton travelled from

1:02:36

had to be combed through to

1:02:39

try and find some clue that would

1:02:41

point to the killer's identity. Although

1:02:45

the five murders were being investigated

1:02:47

separately, information from each was

1:02:49

shared with the detectives on the

1:02:51

other cases. DCS Gull

1:02:54

said, There

1:02:56

are a number of crossovers with the women.

1:02:59

Throughout this week I have highlighted

1:03:01

the similarities between these five deaths,

1:03:04

these murders. They all

1:03:06

knew each other and there would have

1:03:08

been some crossover as far as clients

1:03:11

are concerned and their friends. On

1:03:16

December 15th the press conference

1:03:18

was held at Suffolk Police's

1:03:20

Martelsham headquarters. The

1:03:23

parents of the youngest victim,

1:03:25

19-year-old Tanya Nicholl paid tribute

1:03:27

to their daughter. Tanya's

1:03:30

father Jim said, She

1:03:32

was a caring, loving, sensitive girl

1:03:34

who would never hurt anyone. Unfortunately

1:03:38

drugs took her away in her

1:03:40

own secret world, a world

1:03:42

that neither of us were aware of. Tanya

1:03:45

has been taken by someone who needs

1:03:47

to be found. We

1:03:49

ask for anyone who knows this

1:03:52

person or persons to come forward

1:03:54

and contact the police. Jim

1:03:58

then deviated from a former statement

1:04:01

and spoke from his heart. This is

1:04:03

for the families who have

1:04:05

lost their daughters including us. They

1:04:09

can't take away our memories, they

1:04:12

can't take away our love, our

1:04:14

fortitude, our courage. Grieve

1:04:18

for our daughters but

1:04:20

not unnecessarily. Live

1:04:22

your lives through our

1:04:25

departed daughters. As

1:04:28

they would want to see us getting on with

1:04:30

our lives and

1:04:32

not going around with our heads bowed down.

1:04:37

A time for sadness and a time for gladness.

1:04:40

A gladness that they belong, that they belong to

1:04:42

us. A gladness

1:04:44

of happy times we shared. The joy

1:04:47

they brought to us. A

1:04:50

thankfulness, a thankfulness

1:04:52

that they know at peace. Thank

1:04:55

you. Sifting

1:05:01

through over 10,000 calls,

1:05:04

investigators were informed about a man

1:05:06

who claimed to have been with

1:05:08

all of the victims before they

1:05:10

were killed. 37-year-old

1:05:14

Tesco worker Tom Stevens spoke

1:05:17

to the Sunday Mirror on

1:05:19

December 17th

1:05:21

2006. According

1:05:23

to Stevens who claimed to have

1:05:26

been questioned four times by the

1:05:28

police he was a friend

1:05:30

of all of the murdered women. The

1:05:33

former special police constable and taxi

1:05:35

driver told reporters that he had

1:05:38

started using sex workers 18 months

1:05:40

earlier when his marriage broke down.

1:05:44

Stevens told the Mirror, I

1:05:46

was closest to Tanya and

1:05:48

Gemma as well. I was close to

1:05:51

others as well but I should have

1:05:53

been there to watch over them. I

1:05:55

don't have alibis for some other times.

1:05:58

Actually I'm not entirely sure. I

1:06:00

have tight alibis for any of the

1:06:02

times, but I'm not worried

1:06:04

about being charged. I'm

1:06:07

innocent." Stevens

1:06:10

proclaimed he was the closest thing

1:06:12

to a boyfriend Tanya had and

1:06:14

insisted that he used to drive

1:06:16

her around like Paula Colanelle had

1:06:19

told the police in her statement

1:06:21

just after Tanya went missing. Stevens

1:06:24

added, If Tanya hadn't been

1:06:27

the first, I would be out

1:06:29

there in the street watching over her now. I

1:06:32

could have been there for the others. If

1:06:34

I was out tonight, I could watch over a

1:06:36

girl, but I would tell her

1:06:38

that I can't keep her safe. Speaking

1:06:42

with journalist Michael Duffy, Stevens went

1:06:45

on to say, Gemma

1:06:47

and Tanya, the ones I was closest to,

1:06:50

are the best-looking girls who do this

1:06:52

in Ipswich. In fact, they

1:06:54

were probably the top five. Over

1:06:57

time, I have been involved with most of

1:06:59

the girls. If you count, there

1:07:01

are about 50 over the last

1:07:03

year. Stevens

1:07:06

also claimed the victims would follow his

1:07:08

orders. I would

1:07:10

have complete opportunity. The

1:07:13

girls would have trusted me so much.

1:07:16

If I had blindfolded them and taken them

1:07:18

to the edge of a cliff and said,

1:07:20

take two steps, but take three and you'll

1:07:22

go over, they would have

1:07:25

taken the two steps. According

1:07:29

to Stevens, he was the prime

1:07:31

suspect in the case. From

1:07:34

the police profiling, it does look like

1:07:36

me. White male between

1:07:38

25 and 40 knows

1:07:40

the area, works strange hours.

1:07:43

The bodies have got close to my house.

1:07:46

If new information, coincidental

1:07:48

information crops up, I

1:07:51

could get arrested. Tom

1:07:55

Stevens described himself as a lonely

1:07:58

and sad man. that

1:08:00

one paper should be attractive but

1:08:02

suggested there was something about himself

1:08:05

that women didn't like. His

1:08:08

home in Trimley St Martin had been

1:08:10

searched in late November but the police

1:08:12

had not publicly named him as a

1:08:15

suspect. Just

1:08:18

one day after the interview was published,

1:08:21

a press conference was held by

1:08:23

Suffolk Police and DCS

1:08:25

Girl made an announcement. Good

1:08:28

morning ladies and gentlemen. Detectives

1:08:31

investigating the murder of five women

1:08:33

in Ipswich area have

1:08:35

today, Monday the 18th of December 2006,

1:08:37

arrested a man. The

1:08:43

37-year-old man was

1:08:45

arrested at his home address in

1:08:47

Trimley near Felixstowe at

1:08:50

approximately 7.20am this morning. He

1:08:55

has been arrested on

1:08:57

the suspicion of murdering all five

1:08:59

women. The

1:09:02

man is currently in custody at

1:09:05

a police station in Suffolk where

1:09:08

he will be questioned about the deaths

1:09:10

later today. Speaking

1:09:15

in the wake of Tom Stevens' arrest,

1:09:18

his neighbour David Robinson was interviewed

1:09:21

by a reporter for the East

1:09:23

Angley and Daily Times. A

1:09:27

couple of weeks ago after the first body

1:09:29

was found, forensic officers in

1:09:31

white suits came to do a search.

1:09:34

I never really saw much activity in

1:09:36

the house and I wouldn't know

1:09:38

the man who lives there if I saw him. There

1:09:41

were lights kept on until quite late at

1:09:43

night but they were on and

1:09:45

off really. I suppose I

1:09:47

did keep a bit more of an eye

1:09:49

on the house after the police came the

1:09:51

first time. They never knocked on

1:09:53

my door. And I suppose

1:09:56

it does make you wonder. With

1:10:00

Stevens in custody on suspicion of

1:10:02

murdering all five women, investigators

1:10:05

turned to the forensic evidence that

1:10:07

had been collected in the hopes

1:10:09

of securing a DNA match. Samples

1:10:13

had been recovered from the bodies

1:10:16

of Anna Lee Alderson, Paula Clannell

1:10:18

and Annette Nichols and

1:10:20

a full DNA profile was

1:10:22

generated. That

1:10:25

DNA was then compared with Tom

1:10:27

Stevens profile and processed through

1:10:29

the national DNA database. Within

1:10:33

hours of Stevens arrest, the

1:10:36

results excluded him as the contributor

1:10:38

of the DNA, but

1:10:41

there was a match on file. Three

1:10:45

years prior a 48-year-old man had been convicted

1:10:47

of stealing 80

1:10:50

pounds from a pub till and

1:10:52

as part of a routine

1:10:54

process his DNA sample was

1:10:56

uploaded into the national DNA

1:10:58

database. A second

1:11:00

man has now been arrested by

1:11:03

detectives investigating the murder of five

1:11:05

women in Suffolk. The

1:11:08

48-year-old man was arrested at his home

1:11:10

address in Ipswich at

1:11:13

approximately 5am this morning Tuesday the

1:11:15

19th of December 2006. He

1:11:19

has been arrested on suspicion

1:11:21

of murdering all five women, Gemma

1:11:24

Adams, Tanya

1:11:26

Nickel, Anna

1:11:29

Lee Alderson, Paula

1:11:31

Clannell and Annette

1:11:33

Nichols. The

1:11:35

man is currently in custody at a police

1:11:37

station in Suffolk where he

1:11:39

will be questioned about the deaths later

1:11:42

today. Police will

1:11:44

not be naming the police station where

1:11:46

the man is being held. The 37-year-old

1:11:49

man who was arrested

1:11:51

at his home in Trimley yesterday Monday

1:11:54

the 18th of December 2006 remains in custody.

1:12:02

Stephen Gerald James Wright lived

1:12:04

on London Road in

1:12:06

the middle of Ipswich's Red Light

1:12:08

District. Police arrived

1:12:10

before dawn to make a second arrest

1:12:13

in two days. Stephen

1:12:15

Wright was taken from his home shortly

1:12:17

afterwards both the house and road were

1:12:19

sealed off. I think

1:12:21

we're all in deep, deep

1:12:24

shock really, the way we all feel.

1:12:26

I woke up with a headache this morning,

1:12:29

be honest. It's awful. It's a

1:12:31

total shock really because the thing is he seems so

1:12:33

quiet, unobtrusive. Next guy,

1:12:35

well very keen cock, the bar was added, well

1:12:38

monitored. Shortly after the arrest,

1:12:40

police took away Wright's car, a

1:12:42

blue mondeo, covering the area where

1:12:45

it had been parked to preserve

1:12:47

forensic evidence. There still remains

1:12:49

the overriding questions of when and where

1:12:51

the girls were murdered. This

1:12:56

is the end of episode 44. The

1:12:59

second instalment in this two-part

1:13:02

case will be available in

1:13:04

four days. Thank

1:13:15

you for listening and special thanks

1:13:17

to our patrons for their support.

1:13:21

For more information on this episode,

1:13:23

please see the show notes or

1:13:25

visit our website. They

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