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LONDON - British police were racing against time yesterday to find the killer of five women, all thought to be prostitutes, before another person dies.
Five naked bodies have been found in and around the town of Ipswich, eastern England, in the last 11 days, striking fear into the community that a serial killer is on the loose.
Detectives have identified three of the dead women as prostitutes. Two other sex workers are missing and police fear the worst following the discovery of two more bodies on Tuesday.
Paula Clennell, 24, has not been seen since Saturday and Annette Nicholls, 29, has been missing for at least a week.
"The natural assumption (is) that these are the two missing women," said Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull.
The bodies were discovered in the Nacton area to the east of Ipswich, close to where the naked body of another of the victims, Anneli Alderton, 24, was found in woodland on Sunday.
In a chilling twist, Clennell spoke to a television crew last week when the murder hunt was underway.
"It could happen to anyone," she told ITV news in comments reported in newspapers on Wednesday. "It's made me a bit worried about getting into cars."
The rapid discovery of so many victims has terrified locals in the provincial town and raised fears that another "Ripper" targeting prostitutes is on the loose.
The most notorious such killer was the 19th-century murderer known as "Jack the Ripper", blamed for the deaths of five prostitutes in east London in 1888 but never found.
The most prolific was Peter Sutcliffe, called the "Yorkshire Ripper", who murdered 13 women, mainly prostitutes, in northern England from 1975 to 1980 before he was caught.
Criminologist Colin Wilson said the Ipswich killer had surpassed "Jack the Ripper" in the speed of his killings and warned that more victims would follow.
"The police will have to move at the speed of light because the Ipswich killer will already be planning his next attack," Wilson wrote in the Daily Mail newspaper.
A massive police inquiry began on December 2 when the body of Gemma Adams, 25, was found in a stream in the west of the town. Police divers discovered 19-year-old Tania Nicol in the same stretch of water on December 8.
Officers are only officially linking these two murders but say there are similarities with the death of Alderton, who was found strangled.
Police have warned prostitutes to stay off the streets and women have been advised not to go out alone.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gull said he believed sex workers might have vital information that could help identify the murderer.
- REUTERS
British serial killers: a roll call of the infamous
Jack The Ripper
Victorian villain who murdered and mutilated five prostitutes in London. He was never caught.
Harold Shipman
Britain's most prolific killer took between 215 and 260 lives in the 1970s and 1980s, mainly elderly women in Manchester, where he was a GP. He was caught after forging a will and convicted of 15 murders. In 2004, he hanged himself in his cell.
Fred and Rosemary West
Over 20 years, the Wests abducted, tortured, raped and murdered up to 30 women, burying many at home in 25 Cromwell Rd. Fred West committed suicide before trial and Rose West was convicted of 10 murders in 1995. She is serving life.
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley
The pair abused and killed five children and buried them on moors near Manchester. In 1966, they were jailed for life. Hindley died in 2002.
Colin Ireland
In 1993 he tortured and killed gay men he met in Essex and London bars. He is serving life for five murders.
Peter Sutcliffe
The Yorkshire Ripper used a hammer to kill mainly prostitutes. In 1994, he confessed to 13 murders and is serving life.
Dennis Nilsen
Killed and dismembered 15 men lured from bars to a London flat. In 1983, he was jailed for life for six murders.
The Yorkshire Ripper used a hammer to kill mainly prostitutes. In 1994, he confessed to 13 murders and is serving life.
Dennis Nilsen
Killed and dismembered 15 men lured from bars to a London flat. In 1983, he was jailed for life for six murders.
