RIPPER HUNT: THE SUSPECT
Interview By Michael Duffy, Sunday Mirror
A PRIME SUSPECT in the Ipswich Ripper killings can today be revealed as supermarket worker Tom Stephens, who has been questioned FOUR TIMES by police. The Sunday Mirror tracked down the 37-year-old loner and he chillingly confessed between sobs: "I am a friend of all the girls, ...but I don't have any alibis." Sobbing uncontrollably, recently-divorced Stephens, 37, says he became the girls' "protector" and would have had "complete opportunity" to carry out the crime as "the girls trusted me so much".
He also admits he could be arrested in connection with their murders as he fits the profile of the Ipswich Ripper but strenuously denies any involvement. Well-spoken Stephens said he has been questioned under caution by cops hunting the killer and had his home and car searched by forensic teams. Yesterday Suffolk police sources confirmed to the Sunday Mirror that Stephens was a suspect in the murders of Tania Nichol, 19, Gemma Adams, 25, Annette Nicholls, 29, Anneli Alderton, 24, and Paula Clennell, 24.
During an emotional interview with our reporter, he said: "I'm a friend of all the girls. I was closest to Tania. And Gemma as well. I was close to others as well. But I should have been there to watch over them." He also said: "I don't have alibis for some of the times - actually I'm not entirely sure I have tight alibis for any of the times. But I'm not worried about being charged - I'm innocent." Stephens turned to the street-walking prostitutes of Ipswich 18 months ago after his eight-year marriage collapsed. He grew close to all of the area's prostitutes but was especially devoted to Tania, who was the first to be murdered. He said he was the "nearest thing to a boyfriend" she had. He said he was also close to Gemma, who went missing at the same time as Tania.
And he said that the killer had picked off the five "prettiest" prostitutes in Ipswich. He said: "Gemma and Tania, the ones I was closest to are the best looking girls who do this in Ipswich. In fact, they were probably the top five. Over time I have been involved with most of the girls. If you count, there are about 50 over the last year." And he added: "From the police profiling it does look like me - white male between 25 and 40, knows the area, works strange hours. The bodies have got close to my house. If new information, coincidental information, crops up, I could get arrested. I know I am innocent and I am completely confident it won't go as far as me being charged."
Stephens said he was quizzed by cops once in a car and three times at Ipswich police stations. The first interview was just days after Tania was reported missing on October 30. The second interview was conducted under caution and recorded, he claims. Stephens lives alone on a new estate near Felixstowe, two miles from where the bodies of Paula and Annette were found and has been suspended from his supermarket job. He poured out his heart in the passenger seat of Sunday Mirror reporter Michael Duffy's car in a pub car park near his home.
Click HERE to listen to the interview.
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That does sound fairly convincing, but I just hope they've not got the wrong guy.
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