A MAN suspected of murdering missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh’s has died in prison.
John Cannan, 70, was put behind bars in 1989 for the abduction and murder of Shirley Banks.
RexKiller John Cannan has died in prison aged 70[/caption]
Missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanished in July 1986Rex Features
The 25-year-old was declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994Rex
The killer was later suspected in the murder of Suzy Lamplugh, 25, from London.
The estate agent disappeared in 1986 and her body has never been found.
The Prison Service confirmed Cannan’s death at HMP Full Sutton.
A spokesperson said: “HMP Full Sutton prisoner John Cannan died on 6 November.
“As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”
Suzy vanished after leaving her office to meet a client named “Mr Kipper” to show him two houses in Fulham.
She didn’t return to work after the appointment and was never seen again.
Over the decades, police have chased up a number of leads relating to the disappearance, but have continued to draw blanks.
The 25-year-old was declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994.
Cold case detectives named Cannan as the prime suspect of her murder in 2002.
However, the Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to prosecute him.
A fellow prison inmate came forward after Cannan was named as the suspect.
He claimed that Suzy had been buried under the patio at Cannan’s mother’s house.
Police returned to the property to dig up a section of the garden in 2018 but nothing was found.
However, there were other clues which suggested Cannan was Mr Kipper long before this tip-off.
He was given the nickname “Kipper” by others at a bail hostel where he lived at the time of the murder — due to his fondness for the fish and a habit of having a “kip”.
Cannan was being held in Full Sutton prison, in East Yorkshire, at the time of his death for the murder of another woman, newlywed Shirley Banks, in 1987.
In 1989 he was convicted of rape, attempted abduction, murder and attempted robbery following a series of crimes against young professional women.
The evening before Shirley was killed, Cannan had attempted to kidnap a woman.
He was also found to have raped a third at knifepoint in Reading, Berkshire, a year earlier.
Cannan was handed three life sentences, and despite originally being given a whole life tariff, this was later reduced to a minimum 35-year sentence.
His attempts to appeal the mandatory 35 years had been rejected.
Cannon’s bid for freedom was denied in October last year.
The panel found he was too dangerous to let go from the Category A prison.
The panel concluded: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public.
“Nor did the panel recommend to the Secretary of State that Mr Cannan should be transferred to an open prison.”
Cannan began his sadistic rampage against women when he was just 14 after he assaulted a woman inside a phone booth.
In 1980, he choked his mistress during sex and told her he was going to kill her when she tried to leave him.
The killer committed his first rape a year later when he attacked tied up another lover and attacked her in front of her mum at knifepoint.
He was jailed for eight years in 1981 but later transferred to an open prison – meaning he was on day release at the time of Suzy’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, another suspect in the Suzy Lamplugh case was serial killer Steven Wright – also known as the Suffolk Strangler and the Ipswich Ripper.
Suzy had worked as a beautician on the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1982 and Wright was working there at the same time as a steward.
Wright is a convicted serial killer, who murdered five women in 2006.
Wright’s father, Conrad Wright, told the Mirror he was “troubled” by pictures of Wright with estate agent Suzy, before she vanished in 1986.
In July 2021, Wright was arrested in jail on suspicion of killing Victoria Hall, who was found naked in a ditch in 1999.
Suzy’s brother Richard spoke out at the time, calling for police to follow-up his sister’s case.
He told The Sunday Mirror: “I don’t see any reason why police couldn’t speak to Wright about Suzy’s murder.
“They are trying to solve another case and are probably concentrating on that one.
“But if Wright has been linked, if the police thought it was relevant, then it would be worthwhile.
“Whether it’s Cannan or Wright, I don’t know. What’s difficult is not knowing where she is.
“It would be lovely to find her. To have somewhere where we could scatter her ashes.”
The Metropolitan Police investigated Wright in 2008 in relation to Suzy’s disappearance.
But, a senior Metropolitan Police officer described the link as “speculative”.
News Group Newspapers LtdAn artist’s impression of the man wanted in connection the Suzy Lamplugh case[/caption]
PAA fellow inmate claimed Cannan had buried Suzy under his mother’s patio[/caption]
RexSuzy vanished after leaving her office to meet a client named ‘Mr Kipper’ to show him two houses in Fulham[/caption]