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Second man arrested in hunt for killer

19 December 2006 10:14

In a twist in the hunt for the killer of the five Ipswich prostitutes, police announced in a special press conference this morning that they have arrested another man on suspicion of the murders.

Just hours after they applied for a further 12 hours to question Tom Stephens, who was arrested yesterday at his home in Trimley, detectives announced they had arrested a second man in Ipswich.

At the 8.50am police press conference in Ipswich Detective Chief Inspector Stewart Gull said: “The 48-year-old man was arrested at his home in Ipswich at approximately 5am.

“He has been arrested on suspicion of murdering all five women, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Annelie Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls.

“The man is currently in custody in police station in Suffolk where he will be questioned about the deaths later today.

“The 37-year-old man who was arrested at his home yesterday remains in custody.”

A police source had described the new arrest as “significant” and an area of the London Road in the red light district of Ipswich had been cordoned off and was surrounded by police.

Forensics officers, dressed in white suits, moved into one of the properties, however, there were no clues as to the identity of the second man arrested. It was suggested that he may have been a regular client of some of the town's prostitutes.

It was also suggested he was arrested as a result of information given by Mr Stephens under questioning.

Det Chief Insp Gull refused to identify either man.

In recent weeks Mr Stephens has given interviews to the media saying he knew all five of the murdered Ipswich prostitutes and was the “nearest thing Tania Nicol had to a boyfriend”.

He has already been interviewed by police four times. The first time was on November 2, two days after Miss Nicol vanished. His home in Trimley, near Felixstowe, two miles from where the bodies of Miss Clennell and Miss Nicholls were discovered in Levington, was searched on November 22 - a week after Miss Adams disappeared.

In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Mr Stephens, who claims to have slept with 50 Ipwich sex worker since his marriage collapsed 18 months ago said: “Gemma and Tania, the ones I was closest to, are the best looking girls who do this in Ipswich. In fact, they were probably the top five. Over time I have been involved with most of the girls.

“If you count, there are about 50 over the last year.”

He added: “I am sad and lonely. I made compromises on my morals to go down (to the red light area) the first time, so I suppose getting involved with them isn't a huge leap.

“If you want to have any relationship with a working girl you have to accept the drugs. They work to do drugs as much as they breathe to live.

“I am from a good household. I have only told my mother today. I have been a terrible son. She is very ill.”

Talking about Tania, he said: “She was a lovely sweet girl. It's so easy to believe her mother didn't know what she was doing because she didn't fit the image at all.

“She was tiny, you could pick her up with one hand. Because the drugs do make the girls skinny it didn't look out of place on her because she was so tiny. Some of the girls do look like walking skeletons.”

He added: “I should have been there to watch over them.”

Speaking in an interview with BBC News last week Mr Stephens said he “was probably the closest thing Tania [Nicol] had as a boyfriend”.

“It wasn't a relationship like that, although Annette [Nicholls] in fact thought that we were an item,” he added.

Speaking to a Daily Mail reporter he said he had been interviewed by police and said: “ I think they see me as one of the suspects but I can understand that because I know all the girls so well.

“They had to treat me as a suspect because I know all the girls, but I don't think they see me as a serious suspect.”

He said: “I keep lying awake trying to work out what happened. I think it was a regular client who flipped.

“Tania often talked about clients, sometimes quite shocking things, and maybe one time she didn't want to do something.

“It might have been a potential lead. It must have been a regular. Something happened in that particular liaison, something she did or said maybe that angered him.

“He must have gone made and killed her by accident and then went on to do the others.”

Today it was revealed Mr Stephens had an all-night housewarming party at his Trimley home and all five murdered girls had attended.

Miss Nicols, 19, went missing on October 30. Her body was discovered at Copdock Mill on December 8, stripped naked and in a stream. Miss Adams, 25, went missing on November 15 and her naked body was discovered on December 2 at Hintlesham. The three months pregnant body of Miss Alderton, 24, whose last moments on a train were captured on CCTV, was found on December 10 at Nacton and the naked bodies of Miss Clennell, 24, and Miss Nicholls, 29, were discovered at Levington on December 12.

The causes of death have only been established on Miss Clennell and Miss Alderton, both of whom were strangled or asphyxiated.

Police today continued to have a presence at Mr Stephens's Trimley home and yesterday had searched his mother Ellen Kite's home in Eye, Suffolk.