IT’S a case that continues to shock the nation as mystery still surrounds Suzy Lamplugh, ‘Mr Kipper’ and a dead prime suspect.
As the 40th anniversary of Suzy’s murder approaches, we revisit how the horror became one of Britain’s most chilling cold cases.
Suzy disappeared after leaving work to show a man called ‘Mr Kipper’ around two properties in 1986Credit: Rex
An artist’s impression of ‘Mr Kipper’ the man wanted in connection the Suzy Lamplugh caseCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
The estate agent was just 25 years old when she vanished after leaving her office to meet a client named “Mr Kipper” to show him two houses in Fulham in 1986.
She failed to return to work after the appointment and was tragically never seen again.
Suzy’s white Ford Fiesta was later discovered abandoned in Stevenage Road, Fulham.
Cops believed Suzy was abducted and murdered but after following hundreds of leads over the decades, the case remains unsolved. In 1994 cops said they believed all the evidence suggested she had been abducted and murdered.
In a fresh appeal, the Met Police said its officers “remain committed to securing justice for her family”.
In 2002, cold case detectives alleged John Cannan was the prime suspect in Suzy’s murder.
A fellow prison inmate who was locked up in the same jail as serial 𝒔𝒆𝒙 predator Cannan came forward after he was named.
He claimed Suzy had been buried under the patio at Cannan’s mother’s house in Birmingham.
Police returned to the property to dig up a section of the garden in 2018 but nothing was found.
And bombshell footage revealed by The Sun in 2018 showed Cannan being confronted by cops and asked “what have you done with her body?” in police interview tapes.
Other clues suggested Cannan had always been Mr Kipper.
He was given the nickname “Kipper” by people 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”.
And, Cannan 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.
Cannan, 70, died in HMP Full Sutton last year while serving a sentence for the abduction, rape and murder of newlywed Shirley Banks.
The monster was caged for a minimum of 35 years in 1989 for heinous crimes.
Cannan always denied killing the young woman, while the Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to prosecute him.
Evil Cannon being interviewed by cops in 2000Credit: Nick Obank
Suzy was presumed murdered in 1994Credit: Rex Features
Cops have made several searches for Suzy’s body, including at this site Worcestershire in 2019Credit: Dan Charity
Former detective chief superintendent Jim Dickie, who led a re-investigation into Suzy’s disappearance in the early 2000s, said: “Cannan’s death means he cannot harm anyone else now.
“But it also means he takes with him to the grave the secret of where Suzy’s remains lie.
“I feel very sad for Suzy’s family that they are not going to find out from Cannan where he put her body.
“Unless he has left some confessional documentation with a solicitor or with the prison he has taken the secret of where she lies with him.”
Cannan was serving time in Full Sutton prison, in East Yorkshire, at the time of his death for the murder of another woman, 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.
Killer John Cannan was named as a prime suspect but died in prison aged 70Credit: Rex
Cops conducting a search back in 2000 in Worcestershire
His attempts to appeal the mandatory 35 years had been rejected.
Cannon’s bid for freedom was denied in October 2023.
The panel found he was too dangerous to let go from the Category A 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 tied up another lover and attacked her in front of her mum at knifepoint.
Cannan was believed to have been writing a book at the time of his death.
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.
But Suzy’s brother Richard Lamplugh, 65, has previously spoken out about his fears Cannan was his sister’s murderer.
He told The Telegraph: “I never wanted to meet the man, although my parents did meet with him.
“As far as I’m concerned, he was a nasty bit of work and he manipulated people. He knew that information is power and he wanted to hold on to it.
“I wasn’t going to get down on bended knee and beg him for information.”
A spokesperson for the Met Police said in a fresh statement: “The Metropolitan Police Service’s investigation into the disappearance and murder of Suzy Lamplugh is ongoing, and detectives remain committed to securing justice for her family.
“Suzy Lamplugh was aged just 25 when she was reported missing on Monday 28 July 1986. She was last seen in Fulham, West London, at around 13:00hrs on that day.
“Suzy was working as an estate agent, and left her office to meet a prospective client to view a flat, but she did not arrive back at her office. Her car, a white Ford Fiesta, was later found abandoned in Stevenage Road, Fulham.
“Suzy is presumed dead, and is believed to have been abducted and murdered. Her body has never been found. More than 39 years have passed, and the police investigation into Suzy’s disappearance is still active with detectives from the Met’s Cold Case Homicide Team, part of Central Specialist Crime, continuing to pursue leads.
“One man was arrested in December 2000 and questioned, and a file was later submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service. However, it was decided that there was insufficient evidence to support a prosecution.”
Richard Lamplugh previously said he believed Cannan was responsible for his sister’s murderCredit: Rex Features