Police detain second suspect in murders of 5 English prostitutes

IPSWICH, England (AP) Police pursuing the killer of five prostitutes arrested a second man Tuesday and hauled away his car, a dark blue Ford that a neighbor in Ipswich's red-light district said the

Tuesday, December 19th 2006, 1:06 pm

By: News On 6

IPSWICH, England (AP) Police pursuing the killer of five prostitutes arrested a second man Tuesday and hauled away his car, a dark blue Ford that a neighbor in Ipswich's red-light district said the suspect cleaned over and over again.

A court gave police permission to hold another man arrested Monday for an additional 36 hours while officers scoured his back yard on hands and knees for possible clues.

Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull said both men were suspects in the murders of Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell, Gemma Adams and Annette Nicholls. Their naked bodies were found dumped in rural areas of eastern England around Ipswich, 70 miles northeast of London, in a 10-day period beginning Dec. 2.

Police have said a 37-year-old man was arrested Monday in a village outside Ipswich and a 48-year-old man who lived in the town's red-light district was taken into custody Tuesday. Neither man had been charged or formally identified.

``He was always cleaning that Mondeo (car) both inside and out,'' said David Welton, 43, who lived next door to the second suspect on London Road in Ipswich.

Joe Franey, 50, another resident, said he heard police banging on the door of a home two doors away at about 5 a.m. ``We saw him being led out, he was dressed,'' Franey said. ``He seemed quite composed, quite normal.''

Franey said the man and his female partner moved to the area recently. ``We see them around and said good morning and good evening but they didn't mix at all,'' he said.

Helena Assancao, who lives nearby, said she was not reassured by the arrests.

``I know he (the killer) has only targeted prostitutes, but he could look more widely. You never know,'' the 43-year-old Assancao said, adding that she had stopped going out alone after dark.

The suspect arrested Monday in Trimley St. Martin, eight miles southeast of Ipswich, was identified in news reports as Tom Stephens, 37, a supermarket clerk, part-time taxi driver and former unpaid auxiliary police constable.

He had been quoted as telling the Sunday Mirror newspaper that he was innocent, but that he knew all five of the victims and had been interviewed by police.

``I don't have alibis for some of the times (of the killings), actually I'm not entirely sure I have tight alibis for any of the times. But I'm not worried about being charged. I'm innocent,'' the Sunday Mirror quoted him as saying.

Police in white overalls, hoods and face masks were seen in the garden of the home in Trimley St. Martin, at times on hands and knees probing the grass with gloved fingers.

Three of the bodies were found near the main road and the rail line between Ipswich and Trimley; the two others were discovered near the same road in areas south and southwest of Ipswich.

Clennell, 24, died of compression to her neck, and Alderton, 24, was strangled. Post-mortem examinations of the bodies of Nicol, 19, Nicholls, 29, and Adams, 25, reached no conclusion on the cause of their deaths.

An inquest into the death of Adams was opened and adjourned last week. Coroners' inquests into the other deaths were set to begin Wednesday.