Cause of death revealed for prime suspect in Suzy Lamplugh’s disappearance after killer died behind bars
THE prime suspect in Suzy Lamplugh’s murder died from a ruptured aneurysm while rotting in prison, an inquest heard today.
Convicted rapist and murderer John Cannan was named by police as the monster who killed Suzy, 25, in July 1986.
The serial predator was jailed for at least 35 years in 1989 for the rape and murder of Shirley Banks in Bristol in 1987.
An inquest heard today he died aged 70 in HMP Full Sutton, in East Yorkshire, on November 6.
His death means Suzy’s disappearance will likely remain a mystery after Cannan took his grisly secrets to the grave.
Area Coroner for Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire Lorraine Harris said the monster was identified by a prison officer.
His cause of death was given as a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, which causes internal bleeding.
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 monster committed his first rape a year later when he attacked tied up another lover and attacked her in front of her mum at knifepoint.
He 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 went on to rape a woman in Reading and later signed up for a video dating agency weeks before he attempted to kidnap a woman at gunpoint.
Textile factory manager Shirley Banks, 29, had recently married when she was snatched in Bristol in 1987.
Her naked body was found six months after her disappearance at a site named “Dead Woman’s Ditch” in Somerset.
Estate agent Suzy vanished in July 1986 after going to show a client named Mr Kipper a home in Fulham, West London.
She was officially declared dead eight years later with her parents tragically dying before discovering what happened to their daughter.
Rapist, kidnapper and murderer Cannan was questioned about her disappearance and was arrested for the murder in 2000.
But the CPS decided there was insufficient evidence to charge him – with police later taking the rare step of naming him as a prime suspect in 2002.
Cannan had been released from a prison hostel just three days before Suzy disappeared and was even said to use the name “Kipper” in jail.
A criminologist also revealed DNA evidence linked Suzy to a Ford Sierra he once used with the false number plate SLP 386S.
Cannan continued to protest his innocence over Suzy’s disappearance from behind bars.