A BBC documentary has revealed how advances in forensic science and crucial CCTV evidence helped police finally bring serial killer Steve Wright to justice for the murder of Suffolk teenager Victoria Hall.
Crimewatch Caught: A History of Violence examined the investigation into the 17-year-old's 1999 murder.
Victoria, from Trimley St Mary, had spent the evening of September 18 at Felixstowe's Bandbox nightclub with her best friend Gemma Algar before the pair went for food and walked home.
They separated at about 2.20am, just 300 yards from Victoria's home.
The documentary looked at the use of CCTV and forensics. (Image: Suffolk police)
Five days later her body was discovered by a dog walker in a ditch at Creeting St Peter, about 25 miles away.
DCI Matthew Connick, of Suffolk Police, explained in the programme how investigators eventually pieced together evidence against Wright.
The case was reopened in 2019 after fresh information and advances in forensic techniques presented new opportunities.
Steve Wright was caught on CCTV in the area. (Image: Suffolk Police)
Investigators also examined Wright's attempted kidnapping of Emily Doherty in Felixstowe the night before Victoria disappeared.
Doherty had been walking home from the same nightclub when she was targeted, eventually finding refuge at a nearby house.
DNA testing ultimately provided a major breakthrough, with new Y-STR analysis detecting male DNA from samples taken following Victoria's death that matched Wright.
Wright, already serving a whole-life order for murdering five women in Ipswich in 2006, initially denied killing Victoria.
However, at the Old Bailey in February this year, he pleaded guilty to her kidnapping and murder, as well as the attempted kidnap of Miss Doherty.
He received life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.
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