Court told prostitute deaths "coincidence"

By Andrew Hough

LONDON (Reuters) - A man accused of murdering five prostitutes told a court on Friday it was just a coincidence that each woman was killed shortly after having sex with him.

In his second day of testimony, Steve Wright insisted to jurors at Ipswich Crown Court that he had nothing to do with their deaths.

This was despite similarities between the killings and the night shift pattern of Wright's partner Pamela -- who did not know about his trysts.

In one two-week period when she was not working nights prosecutors claim the "prostitutes of Ipswich were not subjected to any campaign by a random psychopath".

The court has heard that in the three months before his December 19 arrest, Wright had sex with a dozen prostitutes from the area, including the five he is accused of killing.

He has admitted to the jury having sex on the night one went missing and shortly before another two disappeared.

Under a barrage of prosecution questions on Friday, the 49-year-old claimed it was a coincidence that he had picked up the five women he is accused of killing in the order they died.

Wright, the son of a RAF policeman, also denied he was seeking "something more than just sexual gratification" and then decided to escalate to murder.