Life sentence ends in prison
Notorious British Canal Killer John Sweeney Dies in Prison at 69
Anonymous
Key Points
1
Melissa Halstead, 33, from the United States, was identified after 18 years by DNA; her dismembered body was found in a Rotterdam canal in 1990, and her head and hands have never been recovered.
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Paula Fields’ remains were found in six holdalls floating in the Regent’s Canal in Camden in 2001, with her head, hands and feet still missing.
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John Sweeney was a native of Kirkdale in North London and worked as a carpenter; police also found hundreds of violent paintings and poems at his home.
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He was convicted at the Old Bailey in 2011 and given a whole-life tariff for the murders.
John Sweeney, the 69-year-old carpenter known as the 'Canal Killer,' has died in prison while serving a whole-life sentence for murdering and dismembering two women. LADbible reported that Sweeney took his secrets to the grave, never revealing what he did with his victims' heads or whether he killed other former partners. He died on August 14 at HMP Whitemoor; The Times cited cancer as the cause, though investigations into the death are ongoing.
Sweeney was convicted in 2011 of murdering Paula Fields, 31, and Melissa Halstead, 33. He dumped Fields' dismembered body parts in six holdalls in London's Regent's Canal in 2001. Halstead's remains were found in a Rotterdam canal in 1990, but her head and hands were never recovered. AOL News noted that Sweeney attacked another girlfriend, Delia Balmer, with an axe; she survived and later saw her story become the ITV series Until I Kill You.
Two Women Murdered, Body Parts Disposed in Canals
Paula Fields disappeared in 1990. Her remains were discovered floating in six holdalls in Camden, London in 2001—over a decade after her death. Her head, hands, and feet were never found. LADbible reported that Melissa Halstead, an American, was murdered and dismembered around the same time. Her body was dumped in a Rotterdam canal, but she wasn't identified until 18 years later through DNA testing.
An Axe Attack and Hidden Violent Obsession
Before his murder convictions, Sweeney attacked girlfriend Delia Balmer with an axe in 1994. She survived and later identified him. uk.headtopics.com reported that police found hundreds of violent paintings and poems at Sweeney's home in Kirkdale, North London. In these works, he called himself the 'Scalp Hunter'—a grim reference to his habit of removing victims' heads, which he never disclosed.
Conviction and Unsolved Questions About Other Victims
Sweeney was convicted at the Old Bailey in 2011 and given a whole-life tariff—meaning he would die in prison. news.ssbcrack.com noted that police suspected he may have killed other former partners, but those crimes were never proven. He died without ever revealing whether he had additional victims or what he did with the missing body parts of Fields and Halstead.
The Prison Service described Sweeney's crimes as horrific and offered condolences to victims' families. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is investigating the circumstances surrounding his death in custody at HMP Whitemoor, though the investigation remains ongoing.
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