Why Cannan is prime suspect 1
linked to the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh has left me feeling puzzled and powerless because I had no involvement.
“I cannot disclose the whereabouts of Suzy Lamplugh because I didn’t kill her. I cannot tell people things I do not know.”
The former car salesman was given three life sentences for abducting and murdering Shirley Banks, 29, in Bristol in October 1987.
She was held captive at his flat and forced to phone in sick to the factory where she worked
as a textiles manager. Cannan killed her by hitting her head with a rock before he dumped her naked body at Dead Women’s Ditch in the Quantock Hills in Somerset.
He was also convicted of the attempted kidnap of Julia Holman the night before he snatched Shirley – and the rape of a woman in Reading a year earlier.
Cannan was handed a whole life tariff, later reduced to 35-year minimum.
Last night retired Det Supt Jim Dickie – who spent six years investigating Suzy’s abduction – said: “Cannan is still a suspect for the disappearance and murder of Suzy Lamplugh. There is no
doubt about that at all. There have been a number of historical digs in and around areas which John Cannan frequented and knows. He obviously believes that he is going to get parole.
“If the Parole Board ever release Cannan into the general public again, the consequences of freeing a serial rapist and murderer must be on their heads.
“He’s extremely manipulative and must not be trusted.”
VIDEOS
John Cannan was nicknamed “Kipper” by others at a bail hostel where he lived at the time of Suzy’s disappearance — due to his fondness for the fish and sleep. In her work diary, Suzy wrote she was due to meet a Mr Kipper at a house in Fulham, South West London, but she was never seen again. Cannan was accused of giving a false alibi after claiming he was staying with his mum in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, and had chatted up a local sales assistant the day Suzy vanished. The woman confirmed Cannan approached her, but doubts later emerged over whether it was the same day.
A witness claimed to have seen John Cannan staring into Sturgis estate agents, where Suzy worked, shortly before her disappearance. He also bore a strong resemblance to the image of Suzy’s abductor compiled from witnesses.
Cannan joked to a former girlfriend, Gilly Paige, that he was Mr Kipper. She told police he had once suggested Suzy’s body was buried at Norton Barracks, a former army base in Worcestershire.
In 2001, cops uncovered evidence suggesting Cannan was the “mystery man” Suzy had a brief relationship with. Suzy said her boyfriend was a Bristol businessman — something Cannan pretended
The 18 hours of VHS cassettes showing Cannan being interviewed in 2000 emerged last November.
In the videos – conducted over three days at Hammersmith police station – Cannan was asked point blank: “What have you done with her body?”
Clearly marked with the name John Cannan, the videos date from the Met’s Operation Phoebus — a re-investigation of the Lamplugh case.
Cannan told us: “As for my police inter
view tapes allegedly found in a skip, I lodged a formal complaint with the Metropolitan Police.
“Whatever the truth of the matter is, I doubt that the police investigation will resolve it.
“I do not have any confidence in the Metropolitan Police.”
Cannan was rushed to hospital after suffering a stroke in Category A HMP Full Sutton, East Yorks, earlier this year.
He complains that the stroke has left him “exhausted” all the time.
“It has caused me partial paralysis down my left hand side and played havoc with my balance,” he said.
“My memory has diminished. On the positive side, I write a lot and derive much pleasure doing so.”
When the Sunday Mirror approached Cannan’s lawyer, Matthew Claughton of Olliers Solicitors, he said they were continuing to support his denial of Suzy’s murder.
I’d be happy if he was kept in jail. He’ll tell us what happened to Suzy when he is ready
RICHARD LAMPLUGH SUZY’S BROTHER ON SUSPECT CANNAN