The mother of a teenager allegedly murdered by convicted serial killer Steve Wright has died just weeks before his trial was due to begin, her family has announced.
A Quarter-Century Wait for Answers
Lorinda Hall passed away peacefully in Ipswich Hospital on Thursday, 18th December, aged 70. She had waited more than 25 years to discover who killed her 17-year-old daughter, Victoria. Her funeral took place at Seven Hills Crematorium last Friday.
In a death notice, her family described her as a much-loved wife of Graham, mother of Steven and Victoria, and nanna to Max and Imogen. They asked for donations to be made to the East Anglia Children's Hospice, which has the Princess of Wales as its Royal patron.
The Chilling Case of Victoria Hall
Victoria Hall was 17 when she vanished in the early hours of 19th September 1999. She had been on a night out with a friend at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe, Suffolk. The girls left the club around 1am and parted ways at approximately 2.20am, just yards from Victoria's home in Trimley St Mary. That was the last time she was seen alive.
Her parents awoke to find she had not returned, prompting a missing persons inquiry. Five days later, her naked body was discovered in a water-logged ditch in Creeting St Peter, roughly 25 miles from where she was last seen. None of her clothing or personal possessions were ever recovered.
The Defendant and the Upcoming Trial
Steve Wright, now 67, is currently serving a whole-life sentence for the murders of five women in Ipswich in 2006. He has been charged with the kidnap and murder of Victoria Hall, which allegedly occurred seven years before that killing spree. Wright has also been charged with the attempted kidnap of another woman in Felixstowe the day before Victoria disappeared.
Wright has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial is scheduled to commence at the Old Bailey in London on 2nd February and is expected to last four weeks. During a pre-trial hearing last week, Mr Justice Bennathan ruled that the jury can be told about Wright's past convictions.
In 2019, Victoria's father, Graham Hall, spoke about the protracted wait for justice, stating: ‘It’s 20 years, it’s a long while but there’s still hope.’ That hope for definitive answers in court will now proceed without Lorinda Hall, who spent decades yearning for the truth about her daughter's death.
