HE was the suspected serial killer considered too dangerous for release – even when he lay dying from cancer.
Monster John Cannan died aged 70 earlier this month in HM Prison Full Sutton, in Yorkshire, before giving closure to the families of two women who he is suspected to have killed.
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The Sutton Coldfield-born predator refused to help the relatives of Suzy Lamplugh, who vanished after showing a property to a ‘Mr Kipper’, in London, in July 1986.
Cannan was named as the main suspect in 2002 but was never charged due to what police described as a lack of evidence and Suzy’s body never being found.
Suzy’s family made a plea to the monster, who received three life sentences in 1989 for the kidnap and murder of Shirley Banks, 29, in Bristol, who he held hostage in his flat, and other sickening crimes.
They included the rape of an unnamed woman in Reading and an attempted gunpoint kidnapping of Julia Holman. Cannan was also linked to the killing of Sandra Court, 27, in Bournemouth.
The monster died from a ruptured aneurysm after rotting in prison for years, following a stroke in 2019 and palliative care for cancer, and it’s believed his suspected victims’ families will now forever be denied answers.
But criminologist and crime author Christopher Berry-Dee, who exchanged more than 200 letters with Cannan and assisted police’s investigations, believes the killer has already told us all we need to know.
He tells The Sun: “Many would assume he took all of his secrets with him to the grave but I firmly believe John Cannan told us everything about the cases in my letters.
“He’s a games player but also a malignant narcist like Ted Bundy and others who want to confess and brag but they can’t, so they do it in a subtle way.
“They do it in the second or third person, John has told us all about that case 100 per cent – with references to the King James Bible, mortgage fraud and other things.
“For example, the bible passages referenced very bleak things about murder, goodness and punishment.
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“John went to the grave smug, knowing that he left a trail of clues and everyone was ‘too thick’ to figure it out.”
Christopher was once described as having known John Cannan “far better than he knew himself”.
Much of his insights came from letters, which were later used by the police, after contacting the killer to say he wanted to write a book about him.
John Cannan’s sick crimes
By Josh Saunders
TWISTED John Cannan received three life sentences for his harrowing crimes.
The monster, who died last week at 70, carried out knifepoint rapes, attempted a gunpoint abduction, strangled at least one woman to death and subjected others including brave Melanie to horrific attacks.
- At the age of 14, Cannan was put on probation after he indecently assaulted a woman in a phone box, in Erdington, in 1968.
- Cannan was suspected of being responsible for some of 20 brutal assaults and sex attacks on estate agents in the West Midlands from the late Seventies until 1980. The mystery figure behind the assaults was dubbed the ‘House for Sale Rapist’. Cannan was in the frame due to similar-type crimes, being in the area, and the attacks stopping shortly after he started a new relationship after leaving his wife.
- In February 1981, Cannan threatened two female petrol station workers with a knife and robbed the store.
- Around that time, he kidnapped and raped Melanie Gregory – who was nine years old at the time and bravely spoke out to The Sun in an exclusive interview about her harrowing ordeal.
- The following month, in March 1981, Cannan raped a knitwear shop assistant. He tied up her mother and made her watch his sickening attack. The victim’s 17-month-old child was in the backroom.
- Sandra Court, 27, was Cannan’s first suspected murder victim. In May 1986, she vanished after being dropped off near her home following a night out in Bournemouth. Sandra’s body was found in a ditch. Cannan denied involvement but was linked due to being in the area at the time of her death.
- Suzy Lamplugh’s disppearance and suspected killing is also believed to have been the work of Cannan. In July 1986, she vanished after meeting a ‘Mr Kipper’ – Cannan’s nickname in prison – in Fulham, London. The 25-year-old’s body has never been found. Cannan was the prime suspect.
- In October 1986, Cannan raped a woman at knifepoint in Reading, Berks. He attacked her after pulling his car over to ask for directions.
- Shirley Banks, 29, from Bristol, was kidnapped near a shopping centre and held at Cannan’s flat overnight before he strangled her to death and dumped her body in October 1987. Before killing the newly wed, he made her call in sick to work.
- Businesswoman Julia Holman fought off Cannan when he tried to abduct her at gunpoint in 1987.
As well as writing to him, Christopher interviewed scores of people in Cannan’s life including his mother, victims and those who knew him at pivotal points.
The suspected serial killer was born in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, and educated at a fee-paying public school. He had a “disciplinarian” dad and “kind, loving” mother.
At 14, he was put on probation for indecently assaulting a woman in a phone box and a decade later in 1978, after marrying first wife June Vale, with whom he had a child, carried out many more crimes.
Cannan is suspected to have been the ‘House for Sale Rapist’, who assaulted and raped 20 female estate agents in the West Midlands from the late Seventies until 1980.
Police say the attacks bore similarities to his later crimes and the timeframe – which coincided with his marriage going downhill and him leaving June for Sharon Major, who he allegedly raped and threatened to kill.
In 1981, Cannan robbed a petrol station, threatening two female assistants with a knife and later raped Jean Bradford after threatening her with a blade, while her 17-month-old baby was in the back room. When Jean’s mother arrived, he tied her up and made her watch.
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That year he was sentenced to eight years for the crimes but served just five and was released to open prison conditions at a hostel near Wormwood Scrubs in 1986, meaning he was out around the time of Sandra Court’s killing and Suzy’s disappearance.
The latter was described as “the most notorious case in British history” by Christopher and to this day, her body has not been found.
In July 1986, estate agent Suzy, 25, vanished in Fulham, London, and the only clue was that she was due to meet a ‘Mr Kipper’ in her diary.
Cannan was known by the nickname ‘Kipper’ in prison – which Christopher says was due to his love of “kipper ties”
Crucial clue
Christopher is convinced that Cannan was involved in Suzy’s murder due to a coded reference to her on a particularly significant vehicle.
At the time, police were hunting for missing Shirley Banks, who vanished in October 1987, near a crowded shopping area in Broadmead, Bristol.
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The 29-year-old textiles worker vanished shortly after spending on her credit card at a shop in the area and the next morning, after her husband had reported her missing, she called in sick to work.
Cannan had kidnapped her and forced her to phone her employee, likely on the promise that she would be freed if she did.
Instead, he killed her and dumped her body in a shallow stream in a bid to ensure “any DNA composition was washed away”, according to Christopher.
Police linked Cannan after finding the tax disc for Shirley’s car in the glovebox of his vehicle following his arrest for a separate incident – a Reading woman, who was raped at knifepoint after he pulled over in his car to ask her for directions.
Later police would find Shirley’s missing Mini Clubman inside the garage at the flats where Cannan lived, sprayed blue and with a fake licence plate that read ‘SLP 386S’ – which could hold significance.
Christopher says: “He’s sticking two fingers up at everyone. Think of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of car number plates past or present he could have chosen. Why SLP and 386 when he hasn’t even been interviewed about Suzy by then?”
I believe he realised, ‘I killed a poor, innocent girl walking home’. If there was ever any remorse shown by John, he did so in that letter
Christopher Berry-Dee
He believes ‘SLP’ refers to Suzy Lamplugh and ‘386’ means three victims and the year 1986. He suspects the other two ladies could be Sandra Court and Shirley – despite her disappearance taking place a year later. Others believe the third victim could be the unnamed lady he attacked in Reading.
Christopher adds: “That licence plate is John rubbing his hands with glee. He’s telling us he killed her. And like in his letters you have to unpick the puzzle.
“He went to the grave without saying a word more about Suzy because he enjoyed playing this game with society and did so right up to his deathbed.”
Cannan, who remains the prime suspect, was said to have had a “strong interest” in Suzy’s case by ex-girlfriend Gilly Paige and boasted about being involved.
Christopher adds: “John bragging about this terrified her out of her wits. She remembered that clearly, it was him getting it off his chest.”
‘Rare remorse’
Cannan is believed to have killed 26-year-old Sandra Court, whose corpse was found strangled in a ditch after she had last been seen stumbling home barefoot at around 2.45am, in May 1987.
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Despite Cannan’s protests of innocence, he was linked by a letter, according to Christopher, and later evidence – but was never charged with her killing.
“One of his big mistakes was saying he never killed Sandra Court in Bournemouth and was nowhere near,” Christopher tells us.
“So I asked [a policeman] to pull his things out of the car and inside a bin liner, screwed up, was a pay and display ticket from the area.
“I told him, ‘What’s this? Look at the date and the time, it’s within a couple of hours of Sandra Court going missing.’”
Christopher also believes Cannan admitted guilt in a rare display of remorse in a letter he wrote to the Southern Daily Echo, based in Southampton.
He’s sticking two fingers up at everyone. Think of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of car number plates past or present he could have chosen.
Christopher Berry-Dee
In the missive, it was claimed Sandra’s death was a “complete and utter accident” and it denounced the idea the perpetrator was “a killer or murderer”.
The criminologist tells us: “I got a copy of the letter and we had handwriting experts look at it. They said it was John Cannan’s style but he was writing with his other hand.
“After he murdered Sandra Court in Poole that night, he went to stay at a friend’s house in Southampton where he could have sent the letter.
“John’s normal killing was sadosexual behaviour, he loved the torture, tracking and the kill. But with Sandra it was opportunistic and he likely had the urge to rape or kill.
“I believe he realised, ‘I killed a poor, innocent girl walking home’. If there was ever any remorse shown by John, he did so in that letter.”
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