Steve Wright was found guilty today of murdering five women during a killing spree in the eastern English town of Ipswich.
Wright (49), a forklift truck driver, asphyxiated the five prostitutes, selected systematically, before leaving two of their bodies in a cruciform position with arms outstretched.
Steve Wright
The bodies were found dumped at rural locations around the town within the space of just 10 days.
After two days of deliberations, the jury of nine men and three women at Ipswich Crown Court today found Wright guilty of murdering Gemma Adams (25), Tania Nicol (19), Anneli Alderton (24), Paula Clennell (24), and Annette Nicholls (29).
He will be sentenced on Friday.
Wright, labelled the "Suffolk Strangler" by the media, had murdered the women while his 63 year-old partner Pamela was working night shifts.
Prosecutors said he 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 19th, 2006, arrest, Wright had sex with a dozen prostitutes, including the five he killed.
His DNA was found on the bodies of three of the victims, while bloodstains from two of the women was found on his jacket at his home. The odds of the DNA matches occurring by chance were one in a billion, experts testified.
Wright, who had denied murder, admitted having sex with four of the five women. He had picked up the fifth, Ms Nicol, with a view to having sex but changed his mind.
The pattern of the killings was similar to those of his partner's night shifts.
Mr Wright's lawyers had told the jury that another "candidate" was involved in the deaths - supermarket worker Tom Stephens.
But Mr Justice Gross reminded jury members that Mr Stephens, the first suspect arrested over the killings but never charged, was "not on trial".