Police arrest suspect for prostitute murders

IPSWICH – Police arrested a 37-year-old man yesterday morning on suspicion of murdering five prostitutes in eastern England, a senior officer said.

Tom Stephens was arrested at about 0720 GMT at his home in Trimley, near the port of Felixstowe, Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull of Suffolk Police said in a brief statement to reporters. “He has been arrested on the suspicion of murdering all five women,” Gull said.”The man is currently in custody at a police station in Suffolk where he will be questioned about the deaths later today,” he said.Trimley is 13 kilometres southeast of Ipswich, where all five victims were known to work as prostitutes.Their naked bodies were found dumped in rural areas near Ipswich, 70 110 kilometres northeast of London, over a 10-day span beginning December 2.Earlier in the morning, police announced that coroner’s inquests into the deaths of Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls had been postponed.Clennell, 24, died of compression to her neck, and Alderton, 24, was strangled, a senior pathologist determined.Post-mortem examinations of the bodies of Nicol, 19, and Nicholls, reached no conclusion on the cause of death.An inquest into the death of Gemma Adams, 25, was opened and adjourned last week.The pathologist reached no conclusion about the cause of her death.The investigation had strained the resources of one of England’s smallest police forces, and 340 specialist investigators were brought in from across Britain to join 160 Suffolk officers working on the case.By Sunday morning, police had received more than 10 000 calls from the public offering information, Gull said.Nampa-AP”He has been arrested on the suspicion of murdering all five women,” Gull said.”The man is currently in custody at a police station in Suffolk where he will be questioned about the deaths later today,” he said.Trimley is 13 kilometres southeast of Ipswich, where all five victims were known to work as prostitutes.Their naked bodies were found dumped in rural areas near Ipswich, 70 110 kilometres northeast of London, over a 10-day span beginning December 2.Earlier in the morning, police announced that coroner’s inquests into the deaths of Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls had been postponed.Clennell, 24, died of compression to her neck, and Alderton, 24, was strangled, a senior pathologist determined.Post-mortem examinations of the bodies of Nicol, 19, and Nicholls, reached no conclusion on the cause of death.An inquest into the death of Gemma Adams, 25, was opened and adjourned last week.The pathologist reached no conclusion about the cause of her death.The investigation had strained the resources of one of England’s smallest police forces, and 340 specialist investigators were brought in from across Britain to join 160 Suffolk officers working on the case.By Sunday morning, police had received more than 10 000 calls from the public offering information, Gull said.Nampa-AP