Delia Balmer, now 67, has broken her silence about surviving a brutal attack by serial killer John Sweeney, who murdered at least two other women. In a new book, she recounts the horrific assault in 1994 that left her with life-changing injuries.
Sweeney, a carpenter, attacked Delia with a wooden axe and a rusty knife on her doorstep just days before Christmas. He punctured her lung, broke both arms, and stabbed her in the breast and thigh. She lost the little finger on her left hand and still suffers chronic pain.
Delia had previously been held hostage by Sweeney for a week in 1994, during which he tied her to a bed, raped her, and confessed to murdering ex-girlfriend Melissa Halstead in the Netherlands. Halstead's body was found in a Rotterdam canal in 1990.
After the attack, Sweeney fled and remained at large for six years. During that time, he murdered Paula Fields, 31, dismembering her body and dumping it in London's Regent's Canal. He was eventually sentenced to life in 2002 for Delia's attempted murder and later convicted of Halstead's murder in 2011.
Delia says she no longer fears Sweeney, stating, 'I don't care, it's too late. I am not scared anymore because I am not me anymore.' She describes her body as 'something else' and says she wishes she had died, adding, 'He wanted me to die in pain, and he's got his wish.'
