Convicted killer John Sweeney, 69, has died without confessing what he did to the remains of two women he murdered. Sweeney was jailed in 2011 for the murders of ex-girlfriends Paula Fields and Melissa Halstead, whose body parts were found in canals in London and Rotterdam, Netherlands. He is believed to have died at HMP Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, on August 14 while serving a whole-life sentence, with The Times reporting he succumbed to cancer.
Victims' remains still missing
The torso of Melissa Halstead, 33, an American model, was found in a Rotterdam canal in 1990, but it took another 18 years and DNA testing to identify her. Body parts belonging to Paula Fields, 31, were found stuffed inside six bags floating in Regent's Canal in Camden in 2001. Both women's heads and hands, and Fields' feet, are still missing.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'These were horrific crimes and our thoughts remain with the victims and their loved ones. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is investigating, and it would be inappropriate to comment further before the conclusion of its findings.'
Investigation and prior conviction
Detectives investigating the murders committed by the carpenter feared he might have had more victims, as police were unable to find some other women linked to Sweeney who had not been seen for years. By the time the 'Canal Killer' was caught, he was already in prison for trying to kill nurse Delia Balmer with an axe in 1994. She was saved by a neighbour who barged in with a baseball bat.
Balmer recounted her survival in a memoir, Living With A Serial Killer, which directly inspired the 2024 ITV drama Until I Kill You. Detectives discovered hundreds of grisly drawings and poems in Sweeney's home when he was caught, with more amateurish pieces later found in his cell. Sweeney, described in court as a 'hateful, controlling and possessive man,' is said to have been convinced he would never be caught.
