'The nearest thing to a serial killer'

Officers who worked on the Maureen Stepan murder case describe the scrap man as a cunning and calculating monster who preyed on young women.

They describe him as a manipulative, volatile man who would have certainly gone on to kill again.

Police believe after he killed Maureen Stepan, he spent time stripping and mutilating her dead body.

The court heard how ash was found in the teenager's mouth and private parts and streaked over her legs and stomach.

"George is an evil and cunning man," said Detective Chief Inspector Allan Doherty, who carried out interviews with Naylor after his arrest.

"He is a cold, calculating killer who just snaps when he's angry.

"He's the nearest thing to a serial killer and the worst that I've ever dealt with. I believe that he got even angrier after strangling Maureen and somehow blamed her for making him kill her.

"He sat in the house for a while and spent time undressing her and using cigarettes on her.

"This isn't someone who has killed in a panic and then run off. It's a cold, calculating person. the frightening thing is that he has no control and would kill again.

"George has spent the vast majority of his adult life in prison for some particularly horrific and grave offences."

It was Naylor's jealousy and hate of women that led him to kill.

On the night he picked up Maureen, Naylor had repeatedly phoned his wife in Newcastle after she had gone out drinking with friends.

Police believe that it was his last call from a city centre pay phone at 2.45am, when there was still no reply, which finally led him to snap.

"George has a problem with women who seek to control him," said Det Chief Insp Doherty.

Naylor has a long history of violence against women and there were many incidents never brought to trial.

He married his second wife Linda in prison while he was serving eleven years for the killing of Deborah Kershaw after they became pen pals.

In May 1995 he moved back to his home town of Bradford and rented a bedsit in Alva Terrace, Shipley. He began drinking in pubs in the red-light district where he would eventually come across Maureen Stepan.

A 'timid angel' who fell into the wrong crowd

Maureen Stepan had the face of an angel.

Friends and family remember her as a quiet, shy girl with beautiful, long blonde hair who loved animals. She did well at primary school but it was the friends she met as a teenager who introduced her to a world of drugs.

"She was always very timid and placid," said her cousin Fiona Broadfoot.

"I remember platting her hair for her. She had lovely, long blonde hair.

"She was a beautiful girl who had the face of an angel. She loved to help. She was just an ordinary teenager who was quite easily led. I've talked to the girls who worked on the streets with Maureen. They all thought she shouldn't have been there.

"She wasn't at all hard- faced or street-wise. She was there to pay for the drugs."

Her father and mother tried their best to control their wayward daughter. They asked social services for help and Maureen was eventually put in secure homes in London and Hull.

But she returned to Bradford at 16 and within weeks had fallen back in into the same crowd.

Victim was taken to scene of first killing

Teenage prostitute Maureen Stepan was taken to the spot where Naylor had strangled another prostitute ten years earlier.

Police officers discovered the semi-naked body of Deborah Kershaw between the front and back seats of Naylor's car in 1985.

The grim discovery was made after a police chase in City Road, Bradford.

Naylor had choked the 22-year-old call girl by using his forearm round her neck and then strangled her.

He admitted the killing but claimed it was in self defence and was given a life sentence for manslaughter in November 1986.

But the following year the sentence was slashed to eleven years after an appeal and Naylor was released after serving seven years.

A final memorial for lost cousin

It was the shocking news of Maureen Stepan's death that made her cousin Fiona Broadfoot finally give up prostitution.

Fiona said the killing, which rocked her family, made her give up life on the streets for good.

She has now set up an organisation called Exit2 in memory of Maureen, which offers young women support and help to leave prostitution.

"I was absolutely devastated when I heard about Maureen," said Fiona "Her killing brought home the danger I was putting myself in every night. I was trapped in a vicious circle but I never had a drugs problem."

"The only positive thing that came out of Maureen's death was the founding of the group to help young girls get off the streets."

'Wrong place, wrong time'

Maureen Stepan was in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to police.

The young prostitute, who walked the streets to feed her drugs habit, was probably picked out by Naylor because of her long blonde hair.

"She probably stood out on that dark night," said Detective Chief Inspector Allan Doherty. "She was quite tall and had long blonde hair.

"I've no doubt that if it hadn't been Maureen who was killed that night, it would have been someone else.

"And I believe that if we hadn't caught him, Naylor would have done it again."

Killer found guilty again

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