Taunting killer ‘may have grudge against police’

A FORENSIC psychologist last night said the signs were that police investigating the prostitute murders were now being “taunted” by a serial killer.

Dr Keith Ashcroft, an expert in sex crimes, also said the person responsible probably had a “grudge” against Suffolk Police.

He said the fact that bodies were being left in relatively open surroundings in an area swarming with officers indicated the killer’s attitude.

Dr Ashcroft said: “I think this guy is really, really taunting the police and he probably has some massive grudge against a police force, probably even Suffolk. He wants to make the police look inadequate because they are arriving after the bodies are being discovered.”

He added that the killer also had his “eye on the media” and the 24-hour news coverage of the case was helping to feed his motives.

Dr Ashcroft, who himself has advised police on other cases, said: “I really think that the media coverage is feeding this guy’s ego and he is more likely than not to see the news and kill another person.”

He said that although there was “little to go on” at the moment, the case bore some resemblance to murders committed by an American serial killer in the 1980s.

Gary Ridgway murdered at least 48 women, many of whom were prostitutes, in the Seattle area of Washington in the US.

He was known as the Green River Killer because he dumped bodies in a waterway, just as in the case of some of the Suffolk bodies.

Dr Ashcroft said the Suffolk killer, like Ridgway, was likely to have a history of failed relationships that spurred him to take revenge on vulnerable women. He said it was possible that another person was involved in assisting the main killer.

The expert added that the way in which the bodies had been dumped in Suffolk suggested the killer had good local knowledge and was well aware of forensic science.

He said: “The fact that clothes have been removed, and bodies left in the water, shows some attempt to minimise DNA evidence.

“It shows some forensic knowledge and that makes me more suspicious that he may have some past experience with police, possibly a background in petty crime.”