The Ipswich Murders Trial - Day 23

Justice Gross, the judge, begins his summing up.

He made some good points, about how the jury mustn't let their emotions guide them, how they must not judge the lifestyles of the victims, and to judge the case on the evidence they have heard not on stuff they have read on the Internet (!).

I'd rather hoped that this experienced official might be able to guide the jury as to what evidence (there is so much of it in this trial!) is the most important.

Instead, the Justice Gross delivered a careful and very through review of all the evidence but gave little or no indication as to it's relative weight. He seems either reluctant to do this, or prefers that the jury should decide for themselves.

Perhaps the most memorable part of his summing up was a list of the nine key points of the prosecution case. They are:

1. That Wright picked up the victims in the order that they went missing and he seems to have been the last person to have see each of them alive.
2. Wright was able to pick them up and kill them because his partner works nights.
3. CCTV and vehicle number plate recognition evidence.
4. DNA links between three of the women and Wright.
5. Micro-fibres linking Wright to all five of the women.
6. Various mad coincidences that probably aren't coincidences at all.
7. The fact that the victims started being killed soon after Wright moved into his new flat in London Road, and have stopped dying since his arrest in middle of December.
8. Two of the victims shed blood, traces of this blood were found on Steve Wright's clothing.
9. Wright knew the places where the bodies were disposed.

It's a good summary, and presented in a simple list you can see the strength of the case.

Tomorrow, presumably the judge will sum up the defence case which challenges key points in that list.