4pm GMT update Steve Wright guilty of Suffolk murders
Steve Wright was today found guilty of murdering five women in Suffolk during a six-week killing spree that triggered one of Britain's biggest ever manhunts.
Wright, a former forklift truck driver, picked up his victims, all of whom worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, from the town's red light district.
Jurors took eight hours to convict him unanimously on all counts following a six-week trial at Ipswich crown court.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Gross, said he would sentence 49-year-old Wright at 10.30am tomorrow. He thanked the jurors for their "time and attention'' in what he said was an "extremely disturbing case''.
The prosecutor, Peter Wright QC, called on the judge to impose a "whole life term".
He said the criteria for passing such a sentence were met because there was "a substantial degree of premeditation or planning" behind the killings and because of their sexual nature.
The judge indicated that his only alternative in sentencing would be to start on the basis of a life sentence with a minimum 30-year term.
Timothy Langdale QC, defending, said Wright should serve no longer than 30 years in prison.
Wright showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out, staring straight ahead as he stood in the dock and avoiding eye contact with the jurors and family members.
He dumped the naked bodies of his victims in remote locations. Some were found with their limbs arranged in the form of a cross.
The trial heard the killings began a few weeks after Wright, who once worked as a steward on the QE2 cruise ship, moved to Ipswich with his partner.
He was convicted largely on the strength of forensic evidence that revealed his DNA on three of the women and fibres linking him to all five.
Wright admitted frequently using prostitutes in Ipswich and having sex with four of the victims. He denied murdering Gemma Adams, 25; Tania Nicol, 19; Anneli Alderton, 24; Paula Clennell, also 24; and Annette Nicholls, 29.
As each verdict was read out, there were cries of "yes" from the public gallery, where the families of three of the dead women had gathered.
Members of the Clennell, Nicholls and Nicol families clenched their hands together as they listened to the verdicts.
Nicholls's mother, Kim, sobbed, and Clennell's sister and mother broke down.
Adams's father, Brian, said: "I am very relieved and pleased for all of the families that this is now over and we can now start to get on with our lives.
"I can't speak highly enough about the police in this case. I don't have any feelings about Wright."
Speaking outside the court, Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull, of Suffolk police, said the murders of the "vulnerable young women" had left their families "devastated".
"I hope that today's guilty verdict on their killer gives them some comfort," he added.
Robert Sadd, the Crown advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Suffolk, said Wright's motive for the killings may never be known.
"We will probably never know why. Quite often in a murder case we do not know the motive or understand it if we do," he said. "The evidence leads us to who did it, and that's more important."
His CPS colleague Michael Crimp said Wright was the "common denominator" linking all five murdered women.
"Significant" amounts of Wright's DNA were found on three of the victims and fibres from his car, home and clothing were found on all five, he said.
"Our assessment was that Steve Wright was connected to all these women, and that connection was not just a coincidence," he added.
"He was the last person to see them alive and the scientific evidence proves he was responsible for their deaths."
A "particularly telling" piece of evidence was a single black carpet fibre from Wright's car that was found in Nicol's hair, he said.
"This is despite her body being put in water," he said. "Her killer failed to destroy this significant piece of evidence.
"Steve Wright also failed to give a satisfactory explanation of why blood from two of the victims was on his jacket."
Wright's brother Keith said he was "surprised the verdict has been so quick", adding: "I would have thought there is enough things for them to have some doubt.
"I don't know if surprised at the verdict is exactly the right word. I just didn't think it would be so quick. Whatever the sentence, it's all over now."
His other brother David and sister, Jeanette, left the court building in tears.
The trial heard that the first woman to be killed was Nicol who - like many of Wright's victims - was alienated from her family by her drug addiction.
He picked her up on October 30 2006 and her body was found on December 8.
From the time she was reported missing on November 1 to Wright's arrest on December 17, the police investigation involved 600 officers from nearly every force in the country.
The inquiry team received more than 12,000 calls from members of the public.
Almost 11,000 hours of CCTV footage were scrutinised. Other prostitutes in Ipswich were interviewed about their clients and told to stay off the street.
The crucial breakthrough came when Wright's DNA - which was on the police computer database after he was convicted of stealing £80 from his employer in 2002 - was found on one of the bodies.
During the trial, he told the jury he had used prostitutes for nearly a quarter of a century.
He said that after moving to Ipswich, he began to pick up women off the streets after dropping off his partner for nightshifts at a call centre.
Wright said he paid between £65 and £80 for sex in massage parlours, but only between £20 and £40 for street prostitutes.
He told the court it was "quite possible" he was the driver of a car seen in CCTV images that showed Nicol getting into a vehicle on the night of her killing.
Wright admitted having sex with Adams in his car at around the time she disappeared, and said that at later times he took the other women - Alderton, Clennell and Nicholls - back to his home for sex.
He would take them to his bedroom but would not use the bed in case his partner was able to smell them on the bedclothes.
Instead, he had sex with them on two jackets on the floor. The court heard bloodstains from Clennell and Nicholls were found on one of the jackets.
CPS lawyers said after the hearing that they had no evidence to link Wright with any other crimes, but sources said it was likely that detectives would review unsolved murders and cold cases.
Map of the area surrounding Ipswich showing the locations where the bodies of the victims were discovered 
Steve Wright has today, at Ipswich Crown Court, been convicted of the murders of five women found dead around the Suffolk town in England in December 2006. Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls all worked as sex workers in the area.

The first body, that of Gemma Adams, was found on December 2. She had been reported missing on November 15. Tania Nicol, reported missing on October 30, was found December 8, approximately two miles away. On December 10, the body of Anneli Alderton was spotted by a motorist in woodland near to the village of Nacton.

The bodies of Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls were found near the village of Levington on December 12.

Steve Wright was identified as a suspect after DNA evidence was found linking him to the murders. He was arrested on December 19 and charged two days later.

Following the conviction, Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull who led the investigation said that, "These appalling crimes left a community, a county and a nation in a state of profound shock."

"Today’s verdicts demonstrate how the combination of traditional police work and information from the public, coupled with cutting edge DNA science, can be so effective in today’s crime investigations."

Wright will be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court tomorrow, February 22.