Cold Blooded Evil (Electronic book text)

On 2 December, 2006, the naked body of a woman was discovered in a brook at Thorpes Hill, Hintlesham, a sleepy village just south of Ipswich, Suffolk. She was identified as Gemma Adams, aged 25, who worked as a prostitute in Ipswich's red light district. While tragic and shocking, this seemed like an isolated event. But six days later, on 8 December, the body of Tania Nicol, 19, was found also naked in a waterway near Copdock Mill. Journalists poured into Ipswich and the surrounding area. When a third body, that of Anneli Alderton, 24, was discovered just two days later in Nacton, fear set in among the local community. Crimes like this weren't supposed to happen in that rural area and the police seemed to have little to go on. Women were reluctant to go out after dark and the authorities advised them to venture out in pairs. The police knew they were in a race against time to get a result. Two further bodies were discovered. Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29, were found on 12 December. All the victims were prostitutes. All had worked in Ipswich's red light district. All five had been strangled. Police were drafted in from forces all over the country. Then two arrests were made and one man was remanded in custody to await trial. This is the shocking story of the Ipswich killings, from the discovery of the bodies to the impact on the families of the victims and the biggest police investigation ever mounted in Suffolk. This is a series of murders which produced more fear and terror than any in Britain since those carried out by the Yorkshire Ripper 25 years earlier.