Tomorrow marks 35 years since the body of a mother-of-two was discovered in Wangford, a murder which remains unsolved to this day.
How Jeanette Kempton’s body came to be in Suffolk, police have never been able to explain. Ms Kempton had no known ties to this county, or to Norfolk. At the time of her death, Ms Kempton was living in Brixton, London, with her ex-husband and their two teenage sons.
Ms Kempton was last seen alive on February 2,1989, at her local pub, The Loughborough Hotel. She was drinking with a man who was believed to have been known to her.
Ms Kempton then disappeared without trace.
More than two weeks later, Ms Kempton’s body was found by two rabbit hunters on the Earl of Stradbroke’s estate, in a field adjacent to the B1518 at Wangford. A post-mortem examination showed that she had been strangled.
There were no personal possessions found with Ms Kempton, and several items including her coat, a shoe, her purse, jewellery and a funeral wreath she had collected were noted to be missing.
Police have said that at one point, there were five people under suspicion of murder, including Ms Kempton’s husband, but nobody was convicted.
In 2019, it was suggested by a former Norfolk police intelligence officer Chris Clark that the case could have links to Steve Wright, the infamous ‘Suffolk Strangler’ who was jailed for the murders of five sex workers in 2006.
Mr Clark, who was investigating cold cases, noted that at the time of Ms Kempton’s murder, Wright was living in Chislehurst, south London, about 10 miles from Brixton.
Wright had previously lived in Suffolk, and was known to have “good local knowledge”, said Mr Clark. “The timeline and the geographical profile - that is where Suffolk police should be looking.”
However, the murder of Ms Kempton remains unsolved.
Speaking in 2019, a spokesman for Suffolk police said: “Since his conviction, there have understandably been a number of reports speculating as to Steve Wright's potential involvement in other unsolved homicide and missing person cases, particularly those which have occurred within Suffolk and Norfolk.
“The Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Major Investigation Team have carried out extensive enquiries into Steve Wright's activities prior to the offences for which he was imprisoned.
“He has been a consideration in several unsolved case reviews across both counties and we remain open to any credible new information provided in this regard.”
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