Crimes: Murder of Shirley Banks in Bristol on 8th October 1987; attempted abduction of Julia Holman on 7th October 1987.

Method: Shirley was hit over the head five or six times with a large stone.

Sentence: Three life sentences with a recommendation that he never be released.

Interesting facts: Cannan had a long history of violent attacks on women and had only finished a prison sentence for rape the year before.

Cannan was caught on 29th October 1987 when he tried to rob a petrol station. When he was arrested for it, the police found the tax disc for Shirley's car in his glove compartment.

Shirley's body was only found on Easter Day in 1988 - it had been dumped in a ditch called Dead Woman's Ditch. She was badly decomposed, but her thumbprint was intact. When Cannan's house was checked for fingerprints, a match to Shirley's thumbprint was found.

Shirley Anne Banks 1987

29-year-old Shirley Banks disappeared from a Bristol multi-storey carpark during the early evening of Thursday 8 October 1987. She had been shopping in Debenhams and a sales receipt for a dress placed her in the store at 19.26 hrs. With her went her orange-coloured Mini, index number HWL 507N, and she was not seen alive again. At about 2.15 p.m. the following day, an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs Hart, were driving along Bridge Road near the Clifton Suspension Bridge, when they noticed a pall of smoke coming from Leigh Woods, so they slowed down to investigate. Suddenly a man's voice shouted, 'Come on, come on'. The tone expressed annoyance and urgency. It sounded as if a fight were taking place in the thickly wooded copse.

There were no people to be seen - only the thumping of heavy blows as if someone was hitting a punch-bag. Suddenly, the dark-clad figure of a man was highlighted by a shaft of sunlight breaking through the canopy of trees. He appeared to be holding something with one hand and punching it with the other. The object of this assault screeched in protest, leaving no doubt that the victim was human. The man shouted several times, 'I told you what I would do,' and continued to punch and kick his victim who was now on the damp ground screaming in terror.

After that, apart from a dreadful choking sound, there was an ominous silence. Amelia told her husband she thought something terrible was going on and she was frightened. The screaming was now over and the man who was crouched down became aware that he was being observed and looked over his shoulder. Amelia Hart opened the car window and shouted to him, asking what he was doing. The man moved out of sight but then suddenly loomed up on the pavement beside the car. Raising his hands, he yelled 'Cow!' at her. Mrs Hart saw a crazed look on his face and he appeared to be breathing heavily from his exertions.

She quickly wound up the window and shouted to her husband to drive off, and although they were unaware of the fact, they had just witnessed the murder of Shirley Banks. Her body was found in the Quantock Hills in Somerset on 3 April 1988. At the autopsy, it was determined that Shirley Banks had been bludgeoned to death, and her skull smashed like an eggshell. John Cannan was caught on 29th October 1987 when he tried to rob a petrol station. When he was arrested for it, the police found the tax disc for Shirley's car in his glove compartment.

Shirley's body was only found on Easter Day in 1988 - it had been dumped in a ditch called Dead Woman's Ditch. She was badly decomposed, but her thumbprint was intact. When Cannan's house was checked for fingerprints, a match to Shirley's thumbprint was found. The judge at Exeter crown court told Cannan: "You are extremely attractive to some women. But under that there lies a most evil violence and horrible side to your character." Cannan is also the main suspect of two unsolved murders - those of Suzie Lamplugh and Sandra Court.

Suzie Lamplugh went missing on 28th July 1986 in Fulham, London, after meeting "Mr Kipper" in her role as an estate agent. Cannan, until three days before, had been serving a sentence at Wormwood Scrubs prison, less than three miles from where Suzie was last seen.Her body has never been found. Sandra Court was found strangled on 3rd May 1986 in Bournemeouth. On this day, it is known that Cannan had made a trip to Bournemouth with a friend. Suzy Lamplugh - local man still police suspect

A former Congresbury car salesman has been revealed as the main suspect in the murder investigation into estate agent Suzy Lamplugh. The Metropolitan Police confirmed this week that John Cannan, a former car salesman at Holders Garage, is the key suspect for her murder. Miss Lamplugh, aged 25, vanished in 1986 as she went to show a man a house in London. Bristol born Cannan, 47, is currently serving life for the rape and murder of newlywed Shirley Banks in Bristol in 1987. He has been questioned twice in the Lamplugh case but Crown Prosecutors decided there was too little evidence to bring charges.

Now detectives have launched a renewed appeal for information. Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bill Griffiths said: "John Cannan has been interviewed twice by police in connection with Suzy's murder since his arrest. "He has not been eliminated from our inquiries as a suspect. "As this investigation has progressed more and more questions about his involvement remain unanswered. "We know that there are still people who have not come forward to us - maybe they think what they saw was unconnected or maybe they were trying to protect someone they cared about. It is never too late to speak to us." Cannan, who worked at Holders Garage as a salesman in 1986, has previously denied any involvement in Suzy's disappearance.

It is understood Cannan only worked at Holders for a few months before moving on to set up his own sales business. Cannan, 37, a Bristol car dealer, has always protested his innocence of the Lamplugh murder, and senior police officers have stressed their belief that there was no concrete evidence linking him with Suzy. "Four years after the unanimous guilty verdict of the jury, John Cannan continues to deny any responsibility for the series of crimes for which he was convicted -- the murder of Shirley Banks from Bristol and the rape and attempted abduction of two other women. Sentencing Cannan, Mr Justice Drake expressed his horror of the crimes by saying Cannan should be jailed for the rest of his natural life. In doing so, the judge removed any possibility that Cannan would make a post-conviction admission to hasten his release or improve his conditions in prison.

Susannah "Suzy" Lamplugh (born 1961 - officially declared dead, presumed murdered 1994) was a British estate agent reported missing on 28 July 1986 (aged 25) in Fulham, west London. She was officially declared to be dead, presumed murdered in 1994. The last clue to her whereabouts was an appointment to show a house in Shorrolds Road to someone she referred to as "Mr Kipper".

Dissapearance

Lamplugh was an estate agent, reported missing after going to an appointment with someone calling himself "Mr Kipper" in order to show him a house in Fulham. Her office diary recorded the essential details of the appointment: '12.45 Mr Kipper - 37 Shorrolds Road O/S', with the 'O/S' annotation meaning outside the property. Witnesses reported seeing Lamplugh arguing with a man in Shorrolds Road and then getting into a car.

Her white Ford Fiesta was found that night outside a property for sale in Stevenage Road, Fulham, approximately one and a half miles away. The ignition key was missing and Lamplugh's purse was found in a door storage pocket. Police suggested that a black BMW car might have been involved due to an eye witness account of a car at the same location as Lamplugh's car in Stevenage Road. It was thought for some time after her disappearance that "Kipper" was her pronunciation of the Dutch name "Kuiper", but despite police investigations, nobody of this name was found to be connected to Lamplugh.

Police investigations

In 1994 Lamplugh was officially declared dead. Further police investigations in 1998 and 2000 failed to uncover any trace of her.

There has been speculation that a convicted murderer and rapist named John Cannan could have killed Lamplugh because he was released from a hostel only days before she went missing. Also, it has been claimed that Cannan's nickname in prison was 'Kipper'. However despite investigations there is no hard evidence. Cannan has denied any involvement.

In 2000 a former girlfriend of John Cannan's, Gilly Paige, told police that he had suggested Lamplugh's body was buried at Norton Barracks, a former RAF barracks in Worcestershire. One of Cannan's fellow prisoners told police that Cannan had buried Suzy under the patio of his mother's house in Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands.

Similar cases

There was a similar case in 2006 involving a 48-year-old female estate agent in Wiltshire who met a client called Mr. Herring. She was attacked with a sharp object which caused her to have cuts to her arm and she was pushed to the ground, but she managed to release herself and Mr Herring ran away. Police have said there is no connection between this case and the disappearance of Lamplugh.

Michael Sams kidnapped Stephanie Slater in 1992. She was an estate agent working in Birmingham. Slater's employers paid a ransom and she was released. He was later found guilty of her kidnap; and of murdering 18-year-old Leeds prostitute Julie Dart. Sentenced to life imprisonment, he is still behind bars as of 2008, and is currently being held at Whitemoor Prison in Cambridgeshire.

Lamplugh had been working as a beautician on the ocean liner QE2 in 1982. Steve Wright, who was convicted in February 2008 of the murder of five prostitutes in Ipswich, worked as a steward on the QE2 at the same time. Police are investigating whether Wright was connected to Lamplugh's disappearance.

Wikipedia.org

We'll finally nail Suzy killer by growing DNA

By Jeff Edwards Chief Crime Correspondent

July 20, 2006

SUZY Lamplugh's killer could be brought to justice 20 years after she vanished, thanks to a breakthrough in DNA technology.

Forensic experts will use a tiny spec of DNA found in her car to grow a larger piece they can examine properly.

Police are convinced it belongs to sex killer John Cannan, their only suspect, and are confident it will land him in the dock for Suzy's murder.

Detective Superintendent James Dickie, who is reinvestigating her disappearance, said: "We believe new developments in technology mean we will bring John Cannan to justice.

"Everything from Suzy's car was carefully stored. Today we know every contact leaves a trace and if Cannan was in that car his DNA will be, too.

"We now have a tiny piece of tissue we can work on scientifically. Ten years ago trying to work on a sample this small would have been impractical. The mere act of analysing it would destroy it and thus destroy the evidence itself. What specialists now do is to use that piece of human tissue to grow another piece of identical tissue.

"It means you have a piece to analyse and still have your evidence intact. We think Suzy was abducted in her own car, then transferred to another. Scientists used adhesive tape on every inch of every surface to collect every piece of available scientific evidence from her car. But in the 80s DNA testing was in its infancy and we did not have the ability to analyse what we had."

Estate agent Suzy, 25, disappeared on July 28 1986 after arranging an appointment to see a client called Mr Kipper in Fulham, West London, to view a house.

Cannan, 53, has already served 18 years for the 1987 murder of newlywed Shirley Banks in Bristol. He also violently raped a women in Leamington Spa.

Detectives have interviewed him three times at Full Sutton jail in Yorkshire about Suzy. He has always refused to admit he killed her.

Det Supt Dickie said: "I hope we will have him convicted for the murder of Suzy. I don't think he should ever be released. He will always be a serious danger to women."