BRITAIN:Police still do not know where the women were killed, writes Frank Millarin Ipswich
Police investigating the murders of five women who worked as prostitutes in Ipswich said last night they were not "at this stage" treating the discovery of a bag and clothing as significant.
Officers said they believed a jacket and a handbag had been handed into a police station, but detectives on the inquiry team had not yet been able to examine the items to assess their significance.
Police still do not know where the women were when they disappeared or when they were killed.
The absence of the all-important murder scenes in all five cases was confirmed yesterday as Det Chief Supt Stewart Gull, who is heading the police investigation, thanked the public for a deluge of calls, while appealing for fresh help with what is now the biggest investigation in the history of the Suffolk constabulary.
The "significant gaps" between the last reported sightings of the victims and the discovery of their bodies near rivers and in woodland - coupled with the accelerated rate of the killings - starkly underlined the pressures on the small county force, which Mr Gull admitted had been emotionally overwhelmed by the dramatic pace of events.
Meanwhile, detectives were targeting a handful of regular kerb crawlers in the area. "We are building up an intelligence picture and have a number of interesting subjects," said Mr Gull. "Clearly some of them [ the clients] want to remain anonymous, but if they have been in Ipswich in the red light district they need to come forward before we come knocking on their door."
Detectives have begun tracing and interviewing men who were regular clients of the 30 or so sex workers. One of them, an American known as Gary, told reporters yesterday he had spoken extensively to detectives but insisted he was "not at all" implicated in the murders. He said he knew the missing prostitute, Paula Clennell.
Officers have yet to identify any vehicles or search any homes in their hunt for the worst serial killer of sex workers in the UK since Peter Sutcliffe, who became known as the Yorkshire Ripper. They also believe the killer may have kept all or some of the women's clothes, perhaps as a trophy of his killings.
However, they appeared optimistic they were closing in on the killer. "We have a number of promising leads," said Mr Gull.
Detectives are known to be interested in talking to a "chubby-faced man with spectacles" driving a blue BMW, who was seen by a group of prostitutes talking to one of the victims, Anneli Alderton (24) in the red light area three days before her body was found.
The sighting is a new one. Until yesterday police believed Anneli was last seen on Sunday, December 3rd.
As women reacted with palpable fear and alarm on the streets of Ipswich, Downing Street confirmed that the prime minister, Tony Blair, has promised his full backing and all the resources necessary for the officers now working round-the-clock on the case.
Commons exchanges between Mr Blair and Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell followed an earlier pledge by the News of the World of a "historic" £250,000 (€370,463) reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.
With at least one prostitute still working Ipswich's small red light district on Tuesday night, despite knowing all five of the presumed victims of a serial killer, Sir Menzies pressed Mr Blair for a wholesale review of the sex laws to do everything possible to ensure women's safety. However, Mr Blair reminded him that there had been a mixed reaction to an earlier government consultation and suggested conclusions should not be drawn pending the completion of the present police investigation.
As police awaited confirmation of the identities of the two women found late on Tuesday afternoon, they were yesterday still officially investigating three murders and two unexplained deaths. But Mr Gull told journalists he had to "fear the worst" and assume the bodies were those of Paula Clennell (24) and Annette Nicholls (29), both of whom went missing fewer than 11 days ago. The two naked bodies were found close to the A14 dual carriageway which runs south of Ipswich and links the port of Felixstowe with the midlands.
Mr Gull acknowledged it may have appeared "callous" but explained it had been necessary to leave both bodies in situ overnight as forensic experts scoured the scene for vital clues.
Last evening one of the bodies was taken away for examination by the home office pathologist, Nat Carey, who faced his fourth postmortem in just 10 days. It appeared the second body would not be released from the dumping ground used by the killer in Levington until later today.
At his morning press conference yesterday, Mr Gull again refused to say if he was satisfied the killings were the work of one person. "I have to keep an open mind. It might be one person, it could be more," he said. He also said he "didn't know" when asked if the killer was now "taunting" the police.
Mr Gull reported receiving "a tremendous response" from prostitutes and the wider community. As of last night, more than 4,000 members of the public had phoned a hotline with information for the murder investigation. He admitted these "tragic events" had overwhelmed the force in many respects both in terms of capability and capacity, but later clarified this by saying he meant they had been overwhelmed "emotionally". He said there had been a "stunned silence" when news of the discovery of the fourth and fifth bodies had been given to a meeting of police commanders.
However, he reassured the public that his force was receiving support from forces across the eastern region. The Suffolk force is also drawing on the resources of the National Centre of Policing Excellence, and has psychological and geographical profilers available, as well as blood and soil experts.
Confirming that detectives still did not know where any of the women died, Mr Gull said: "We have not found what appear to be murder scenes. What we are dealing with appear to be deposition sites where the bodies were dumped."
The speed with which the latest killings have been committed had encouraged hopes that this might facilitate the discovery of vital evidence pointing to the killer. However, a former detective who worked on the Yorkshire Ripper case 25 years ago, Dick Holland, said the fact that the Ipswich murders were being committed in a much smaller area and over a dramatically shorter timeframe would create a backlog for investigators. - (additional reporting Guardian service/PA)