Just a note to say that foreign press is reporting the case in pretty much the same way as the UK press…
e.g. FAZ in Germany.
There’s an equally clear link to Jack the Ripper - and the occupation of the victims is emphasied in all reports I’ve read in foreign press.
GorillaMan, thank you for the answers. At least I have a better sense now of what I should be envisioning all the way round.
'Cept I still can’t. And I want the world rebooted. Soon please. 
cue Twilight Zone theme Well, it seems my instincts might have been right.
‘Ipswich Ripper’ Prostitute Murder Investigators Eye Atlantic City Cases for Possible Link
I say might, because the news source is not very reliable. Do any of the U.K. Dopers have confirmation on this from a more reliable source?
Hmm…there’s no such thing as the ‘Ipswich Police’, and the sole result from searching Google News for ‘Shelly Spratt’ is this page. I call FoxShennanigans.
Starving Artist - I think we all got in a tangle about what each other meant back there!
I’m with you on this one. As I was expecting, I’ve started finding close connections to the people involved (colleagues who taught one of the women, another who is friends with another of the families…)
I would not put much credence on the above news report. For a start they talk about Scotland Yard identifying the girls. This case has nothing to do with Scotland Yard. This is a Suffolk Police case. I also notice that the American women were clothed. From what I can gather all the UK victims were naked. So no resemblance there. And why all this talk about a “Ripper”? From what I have read there has not been any talk of mutilation in the Suffolk murders. So just a piece of very sloppy reporting.
The Ipswich Ripper is one of the monikers the media has given the criminal. Point taken on the rest of it though. I shoulda caught that myself.
Oliver Stone just appeared on live TV to present a prize at the British Comedy Awards, saying words along the lines of of “hey hey, you guys are back to Jack the Ripper days!” A remark that elicited few guffaws, even among the famously sick-humored audience.
Say we got the story:
“British detectives believe they are dealing with a serial killer after the bodies of five men, three confirmed as clowns, have been found. Police sources say those three, at least, were thought to be ‘street clowns’ - generally considered the more dangerous type of clowning.”
What’s going to move more papers?
a)
TENSIONS RUNNING HIGH IN CIRCUS DISTRICT
b)
THIRD VICTIM CONFIRMED AS CLOWN IN CIRCUS DISTRICT MASSACRE!
Sorry, if your occupation is sexier/more interesting than your gender noun, then it’s going to lead.
(a) you think women driven to prostitution by heroin addiction is sexy, and (b) you’re making excuses for an irresponsible sector of the media.
There should’ve been a quesion mark in there somewhere)
I heard on the news last night that Suffolk had called in the Metropolitan police for help. Is that not true?
Heroin? Sorry, I thought they were crack whores. Now that’s sexy.
I was using “sexy” in the more general way - hence the “/more interesting”. A sexy headline sells newspapers not make people fornicate with newspapers.
And maybe I am making excuses but I don’t think sensationalist headlines equals “irresponsible”. Is a couple of newspapers calling them prostitutes first and women second going to let the cops sit on their laurels? Somehow degrade the publics opinion of prostitutes? Or is it irresponsible merely because it’s cruel to their surviving relatives?
I was loathe to comment in this thread because I don’t really want to defend that kind of journalism. However, it seems to me that almost anyone following this story from outside of Suffolk is doing it out of ignoble drives and it’s hard for me to pooh-pooh newscasting that caters to it.
They may be using some of their experts just as they have called on expert help from other police forces. But the investigation is not being run by “Scotland Yard” as the news story implies.
Ensign Edison rocks.
One fruity tootsie roll, please. I’ll put it on the account.
Apparently, someone has been arrested.
A couple more links on the story (all undoubtedly saying the same thing I’m sure, but maybe with slightly different perspective or a errant tiny detail here or there) for perusal:
Obviously we’ll all wait and see, but perhaps there’s finally some hope that this nightmare is over.
Forgive me for adding more, but for some reason this case really saddens me more than most. I’m assuming because there are those who see these victims as the cast off, unwanted/needed of society.
And now there’s what seems to be the requisite My Space page. I so hate that people like this (allegedly) ruin a site for legitimate users. I wonder, when we’ll know if he’s the guy or not? For the sake of the remaining loved ones and everyone else that’s been thrust into jeopardy (as well as all the cost involved), I certainly hope so.
Of course, if some of the victims were male prostitutes, the hunt could be for the Ipswitch Hitter.
:troutslap:
Second man, Stephen Wright, arrested. Although from the links I’ve read, there doesn’t seem to be all that much information on him yet. It appears though, that he lived right in the middle of the now infamous red light district and did know all five of the murdered victims. They’ve also taken away his car to search for any evidence (I presume).
Hopefully, as I’ve said before, we’ll all know something more conclusive soon.