Crime Linking Assessment

Operation Sumac was a linked series investigation conducted by Suffolk Constabulary into the murders of five women whose bodies were found in various locations around Ipswich during December 2006

Crime Linking Assessment

• Victimology

• Deposition Sites

• Pathology

• Other Additional Feature

Victimology

• All victims female;• All similar ages, early twenties;• All reported to be drug abusers;• All worked as street prostitutes;• All operated from the same confined catchment

area;• Each victim was know to travel in the vehicle driven

by the client;• There was an association between each victim;

Pathology

• Cause of deaths similar• No evidence of sexual assault• No evidence of defence wounds• No sign of trauma to the body

Other additional features

• Not possible to establish the place of death• Some victims continued to operate after the

discovery of earlier victims; coupled with the absence of defence wounds may indicate victims were comfortable in the presence of the offender[s]

Evidence Search

Forensic Evidence

Verdict

21 February 2008, after eight hours of deliberation, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict against Steve Wright on all five

counts of murder22nd February he was sentenced to five terms of

life imprisonment