Monster who killed Becky ‘murdered other girls’
A MOTHER who watched a smirking minicab driver convicted of her daughter’s murder believes he is responsible for the deaths of at least four other women.
Karen Edwards heard how daughter Becky Godden was dismembered by ‘calculated and devious’ Christopher Halliwell. She now suggests that Halliwell killed Claudia Lawrence, the chef from York who went missing in 2009.
Ms Edwards’ ordeal began in 2011 when police discovered the body of Sian O’Callaghan, 22, of Swindon, who went missing after leaving a nightclub, and were looking for the remains of another woman.
That turned out to be Becky, who had run away from home after descending into drugs and prostitution and disappeared in 2003.
Halliwell, who grew up in Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, would drive her to Bristol to buy drugs in exchange for sex. He led police to where he had buried both women. He is serving life for the murder of Sian but escaped justice over Becky because police breached arrest guidelines. He was eventually convicted at Bristol Crown Court last week.
Ms Edwards, 55, who lives near Swindon, believes that Halliwell may have killed prostitute Sally Ann John, 23, who was classified as a missing person in 1995. ‘She was a Swindon girl and knew him,’ she said.
She also thinks that Halliwell was involved in the murder of Melanie Hall, who disappeared from a Bath nightclub the following year after taking a taxi.
Finally, Ms Edwards is convinced that Halliwell killed Linda Razzell, who disappeared on March 19, 2002, after driving into Swindon.
In a chilling coincidence, two of the women, as well as Halliwell’s first victim Sian O’Callaghan, went missing on the same date – March 19 – in different years. Ms Edwards believes they were deliberately targeted. She said: ‘I believe he has been up and down the country murdering young women. Halliwell was familiar with York and Claudia was reported missing on March 19, 2009 – exactly two years to the day before Sian. It is also the same date that Linda Razzell disappeared.’