Heartbroken John Bettles has spent 23 years desperately searching for answers about who killed his precious daughter, after her body was found near Norwich in 2002
The dad of a young mum feared to be another of Steve Wright’s victims was left outraged by the monster’s smirk in court, saying: “It’s an insult.”
John Bettles, 70, branded the serial killer a “low life” for grinning as a victim impact statement was read out. Heartbroken John and Michelle’s mum Denise, 67, have spent 23 years desperately searching for answers about who killed their precious girl after her body was found in woodland near Norwich in 2002.
They’re urging the Suffolk Strangler – already convicted of killing five women from the red light area of Ipswich – to break his silence if he knows about Michelle’s fate. Addressing the fiend, John said: “Put us out of our misery, otherwise our sentence will continue until the day we die. We just want to know one way or another for our own peace of mind.”
John’s desperate plea comes days after Wright was handed an additional 40-year jail term for the murder of 17-year-old Victoria Hall near Felixstowe, Suffolk, in 1999. It was the first time he has ever admitted murder. Wright was seen to grin at the Old Bailey when harrowing testimony by the brother of Victoria Hall was read out. Steven gave his heart-rending account of the “unending hurt and suffering.”
He said Since I was age 15 I have had 26 years of not knowing what happened to my sister.” As he spoke, a grin flickered across Wright’s face. It was a moment which enraged similarly grief-stricken John, who told us: “It’s an insult to his victims and the system. It shows he’s a low life — he should be put down like an animal.”
Experts now believe he may be behind the deaths of several other Norwich women involved in sex work, including Michelle. The mum-of-three, 22, was last seen on CCTV walking towards the city centre on March 28, 2002. Dressed in a long black coat and high-heeled boots, she was heading in the opposite direction of her home despite having a pre-arranged appointment there. Her body was found in a wooded area in the nearby village of Scarning three days later. She had been strangled.
Wright, 67, knew the area well, having run a pub in the heart of Norwich’s red light district with his ex wife, Diane. John believes Michelle’s killer could have been found had the police approached the investigation differently.
“The police always said that Steve Wright wasn’t in Norwich the day Michelle disappeared – but I don’t know how they can say that with 100 per cent certainty because you can be 60 miles away in just an hour. He was ruled out far too quickly,” he said. Michelle, and Wright’s other suspected victims, were all left near water and all within a certain radius of Norwich. Other cases seem to have been looked at in a certain amount of detail, but Michelle’s case just got dismissed. The police were running around like headless chickens – my relationship with them in the beginning was not good.”
On the impact of losing Michelle, he added: “A day doesn’t go by without myself and Denise, Michelle’s mum, talking about her. We laugh about things and remember her for the person she was. She was a very happy child, hugely intelligent and had university potential. She was gorgeous – when I used to walk out with her, to a restaurant or something, I used to feel so proud.”
On the 20th anniversary of her death in 2022, police found DNA samples on some of Michelle’s belongings. They urged anyone who had had legitimate contact with Michelle that night to come forward to be ruled out.
A cold case team continues to review the evidence – but John hopes Wright’s confession this week might push him to come clean on others. He said: “Somebody out there knows where Steve Wright was that night. We’ve always got hope – it’s what keeps you going.”
A-level student Victoria was on her way home from a night out at Felixstowe’s Bandbox nightclub when Wright snatched her. Her body was found five days later in Creeting St Peter, about 25 miles away.
The night before she vanished, Wright attempted to kidnap 22-year-old Emily Doherty in Felixstowe. Sentencing him on Friday, judge Mr Justice Bennathan said: “For reasons only you know, you snatched her away and you crushed that young life. You will die in prison.”
Police are still yet to say if they are considering Wright in relation to Michelle’s case and others, such as Kellie Pratt, 28, last seen in Norwich in 2000, and Amanda Duncan, 26, who went missing in Ipswich in 1993. Suffolk Constabulary was approached for comment.
