The murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall went unsolved for more than 25 years before Suffolk strangler Steve Wright finally admitted his guilt.
This is how events unfolded.
– 1995
Steve Wright receives a caution for damage and theft of an ex-partner’s car. No DNA is taken.
– September 18 1999
Wright attempts to abduct 22-year-old Emily Doherty in the early hours of the morning along High Road East, Felixstowe.
Victoria, from Trimley St Mary in Suffolk, leaves her home for a night out with her friend Gemma Algar at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe.
– September 19 1999
The friends leave the nightclub at about 1am, walk back to Trimley St Mary and part at about 2.20am near to the junction of High Road and Faulkeners Way, where Victoria is just yards from her home.
When Victoria’s parents wake that morning and discover she has not returned home, the police are called and a missing person inquiry begins.
At 6.13am, Wright is caught on CCTV at the BP Tot Hill Services on the A14.
– September 24 1999
Victoria’s body is found by a dog walker in a ditch in Creeting St Peter, about 25 miles from where she was last seen.
– September 15 1999
Wright reports an injury at work. A few days later, Wright is asked by a colleague what he thought happened to Victoria. The defendant gives a menacing look and replies: “You do not want to know.”
– September 29 1999
Wright buys a blue Ford Mondeo and is believed to have sold his Ford Granada Scorpio in part-exchange.
– November 13 1999
More than 300 people gather for a memorial service at St Martin’s Church, Trimley.
– November 25 1999
Wright travels to Thailand and fails to return to the UK until January 31, 2000.
– February 21 2000
Wright applies to Ipswich County Court to be declared bankrupt. He claims he was living beyond his means, got sacked for taking unauthorised leave and had liabilities of £31,079.
– 2001
Wright’s DNA is taken by police after he admitted a series of thefts as an employee, this leads to him being identified as a suspect in the later Ipswich murders.
– November 20 2001
Businessman Adrian Bradshaw, then aged 27, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, is cleared of Victoria’s murder at Norwich Crown Court.
– Autumn 2006
Tania Nicol, 19, vanishes from Ipswich’s red light area, followed by Gemma Adams, 25, about two weeks later, triggering a major inquiry.
– December 2006
Miss Adams’s body is found in a stream at Hintlesham, followed by the discovery of Miss Nicol’s remains in a pond at Copdock.
Two days later, the body of Anneli Alderton, 24, is found in woods at Nacton, and sex workers in the town are urged to stay off the streets.
On December 12, the bodies of Paula Clennell, 24, and Annette Nicholls, 29, are found near woods at Levington.
– December 19 2006
Wright, then aged 48, is arrested at his home in the centre of Ipswich near the red light district.
– February 22 2008
Wright is handed a whole-life order after being found guilty of five Ipswich murders.
– February 24 2009
The serial killer loses a Court of Appeal bid to challenge his conviction for the murders.
– October 2016
Ten years on from the disappearance of his first Ipswich victim, Wright’s elderly father Conrad Wright calls on his son to confess.
– September 2019
Suffolk Police say the Victoria Hall case, known as Operation Avon, is now a live inquiry again and being reinvestigated by a new team of detectives. Further detailed analysis of swabs taken from Victoria’s body link Wright to her murder by DNA.
– July 2021
Wright is first arrested as part of the inquiry into the teenager’s death.
– December 2023
Wright is rearrested.
– May 2024
He is charged with Victoria’s kidnap and murder and the attempted abduction of Ms Doherty. He later pleads not guilty and the case is transferred to the Old Bailey for trial.
– December 2025
Victoria’s mother Lorinda Hall dies before seeing justice done for her daughter.
– January 2026
In legal argument, Wright fails in a bid to prevent jurors in his forthcoming trial being told about his five murder convictions.
– February 2 2026
On what would have been the first day of his trial, Wright dramatically changes his plea and admits murder for the first time.
– February 6 2026
Wright, now aged 67, is jailed for life with a minimum terms of 40 years at the Old Bailey.rong>
