Suffolk Strangler: Key moments in the case of the Victoria Hall killer
The murder of Victoria Hall remained unsolved for more than a quarter of a century before Suffolk strangler Steve Wright finally confessed to his crime.
Wright, now 67, was due to stand trial at the Old Bailey over the murder of a 17-year-old boy.
But the killer dramatically changed his plea on Monday and admitted kidnapping and murdering Victoria “by force or fraud” on September 19, 1999.
Former merchant seaman Wright is being held in Category A HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire.
Seven years after Victoria’s murder, he is already serving a life sentence for the murders of five women.
This is how the incident unfolded.
18 September 1999
An attempt was made to kidnap 22-year-old Emily Doherty in the early hours of the morning on High Road East in Felixstowe.
Victoria, from Trimley St Mary, Suffolk, leaves her home for a night out with her friend Gemma Algar at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe.
19 September 1999
The friends leave the nightclub at about 1am, walk back towards Trimley St Mary and arrive at about 2.20am near the junction of the High Road and Faulkners Way, where Victoria lies just yards from her home.
When Victoria’s parents woke up that morning and discovered she had not returned home, the police were called and a missing persons investigation began.
24 September 1999
Victoria’s body is found in a ditch in Creeting St Peter, not far from where she was last seen.
13 November 1999
More than 300 people gathered for a memorial service in St Martin’s Church, Trimley.
15 September 2000
Victoria’s parents, Graham and Lorinda Hall, make a renewed public appeal for help in finding her killer.
20 November 2001
Businessman Adrian Bradshaw, 27 at the time, has been acquitted of Victoria’s murder at Norwich Crown Court.
autumn 2006
Tania Nicole, 19, disappears from Ipswich’s red light area, followed by Gemma Adams, 25, almost two weeks later, sparking a major investigation.
December 2006
Miss Adams’s body was found in a stream in Hintlesham, followed by Miss Nicholl’s remains in a pond in Copdock.
Two days later, the body of 24-year-old Annelie Alderton was found in woods in Nacton, and sex workers in the town were urged to stay off the streets.
On 12 December, the bodies of 24-year-old Paula Clennell and 29-year-old Annette Nicholls were found near woods in Lewington.
19 December 2006
Steve Wright, then aged 48, was arrested at his home in the center of Ipswich, near the red light district.
22 February 2008
Wright has been jailed for life after being found guilty of five Ipswich murders.
24 February 2009
Serial killer loses one court of appeal bid to challenge his conviction for the Ipswich murders.
October 2016
Ten years after the disappearance of his first Ipswich victim, Wright’s elderly father, Conrad Wright, calls his son to confess.
September 2019
Suffolk Police report that the Victoria Hall case, known as Operation Avon, is now an active investigation and is being re-examined by a new team of detectives.
July 2021
Wright has been arrested for the first time in connection with the investigation into the teen’s death.
December 2023
Wright has been arrested again.
May 2024
He is accused of the kidnap and murder of Victoria and the attempted kidnap of Ms Doherty. He later pleads not guilty and the case is transferred to Old Bailey for testing.
December 2025
Victoria’s mother, Lorinda Hall, dies before seeing her daughter get justice.
January 2026
In a legal argument, Wright fails in an attempt to prevent jurors in his upcoming trial from being told about his conviction for five murders.
2 February 2026
On what would have been the first day of his trial, Wright dramatically changed his plea and admitted to murder for the first time. He will be sentenced on 6 February.
