Wright faces life in jail for Ipswich murders

Convicted killer Steve Wright faces the prospect of being jailed for the rest of his life when he is sentenced on Friday for the murder of five prostitutes during a six-week killing spree.

Former forklift truck driver Wright, 49, killed the five drug-addicted women in late 2006 after picking them in the city of Ipswich and then asphyxiating them. He left two of the bodies in a cruciform position with arms outstretched.

He will be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court where the judge, Mr Justice Gross, has said he is considering the option of jailing him for life without parole.

The other option before the judge, a minimum detention of 30 years - the starting point for a murder conviction - means Wright would be almost 80 before being eligible for parole.

Police are set to review the unsolved murder of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who was killed more than 20 years ago, in light of Wright's conviction, British media reported.

Lamplugh was 25 when she met Wright while working on the QE2 cruise ship. She went missing in July 1986 after leaving her office in Fulham, west London to meet a mysterious "Mr Kipper". She was declared dead in 1994.

Wright's ex-wife Diane Cole, 53, told the Daily Mirror on Friday that she had checked her diary and noticed Wright had "shore leave" at that time.

She said Wright had used the word "kipper" as slang for face. She has passed her allegations on to police.

Scotland Yard detectives reportedly have told Lamplugh's family they plan to investigate the claims.

After Wright's conviction on Thursday, the families of two of the women called for the return of the death penalty. Wright's father told newspapers he had disowned his son and wanted him to die for his crimes.

The killings led to one of the country's biggest ever manhunts and drew comparisons with infamous 19th century serial killer "Jack the Ripper".

Wright, labelled the "Suffolk Strangler" by the media, had murdered the women while his 63-year-old partner Pamela was working night shifts.

After two days of deliberations, the jury of nine men and three women at the court found Wright guilty of murdering Gemma Adams, 25, Tania Nicol, 19, Anneli Alderton, 24, Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29.

Suffolk Police have made the case's details known to other forces across the country.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull of Suffolk Police said the "appalling crimes left a community, a county and a nation in a state of profound shock".

Prosecutors during the trial told the court that Wright could have killed his victims with an accomplice, although no one else has been charged.

The court had heard that in the three months before his December 19, 2006 arrest, Wright, the son of an RAF policeman, had sex with a dozen prostitutes, including four of those he killed.

His DNA was found on the bodies of three of the victims while bloodstains from two of the women were found on his jacket at his home.

The odds of the DNA matches occurring by chance were one in a billion, experts testified. The pattern of the killings was similar to those of his partner's night shifts.