Serial killer who ran Chislehurst pub arrested over murder

Steve Wright, known famously as the 'Suffolk Strangler', was arrested inside Long Lartin prison on Wednesday and was subsequently questioned by police in connection with the murder.

In the late 1980s, Wright ran the White Horse pub in Chislehurst in south east London.

The White Horse pub is now a Co-op in Chislehurst

He later moved back to his native East Anglia, and was convicted of killing five sex workers in the Ipswich area between October 30 and December 10, 2006.

The former pub manager had admitted having sex with the women but denied murdering them.

The 63-year-old is currently serving a life at Worcestershire's Long Lartin prison for the murders after he was convicted in 2008.

It was recommended he should never be released.

Victoria Hall was reported missing after she didn't return home from a night out in Felixstowe in Suffolk in September 1999.

Five days later her body was found naked in a ditch in Creeling St Peter, with a post-mortem revealing she had been strangled to death.

Suffolk Police revealed that the case, known as Operation Avon, was reopened in 2019, and with new information and fresh detectives, the investigation has potentially led them to known serial killer Steve Wright.

He was known to be living in the area at the time of Ms Hall's murder, and police are now treating Wright as a possible suspect.

Police added on Thursday that the suspect had been released under investigation pending further inquiries and said they continue to appeal for witnesses with information.

In 2001, the owner of the local Felixstowe Flyer newspaper, Adrian Bradshaw, faced trial for her murder but a jury took less than 90 minutes to find him not guilty.

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