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LONDON - A British man was charged on Thursday with murdering five prostitutes in eastern England in the space of a few weeks, senior police officer said.
Steven Wright, 48, is accused of murdering Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls whose naked bodies were found dumped in various rural locations around the town of Ipswich.
"Steven Wright from Ipswich has been charged with the murder of all five women," Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull of Suffolk police told a joint news conference with a senior member of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Wright is to be kept in custody and to appear before Ipswich magistrates court on Friday.
A second man who had been questioned by police since Monday was released pending further inquiries.
The head of the local Suffolk Police force has said the short time span of the murders was unprecedented in recent British history.
The case, which has dominated Britain's newspapers and television coverage, threatened to overwhelm the small police force in the early days of the inquiry which began on December 2 when Adams' body was found in a stream.
- REUTERS
