Vindicated, hero policeman who lost job bringing Becky’s smirking killer to justice
A TOP detective whose career was ruined after he caught a killer was vindicated last night as the smirking murderer was finally convicted.
Christopher Halliwell had led police to the body of prostitute Becky Godden, 20, when he was arrested for another killing – of Sian O’Callaghan, 22, – in 2011.
But the crucial confession was ruled inadmissible because Halliwell, 52, had not been cautioned beforehand.
The legal technicality saw Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher disciplined for misconduct. He later resigned in disgrace.
Yesterday, Halliwell, who was already serving life for killing Miss O’Callaghan, was finally found guilty of murdering Swindon sex worker Miss Godden in 2003. The taxi driver laughed at his victims’ families as the verdict was returned at Bristol Crown Court.
Although born in Swindon, Halliwell was brought up in Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire, by his mother Sofia after his parents split up in 1974.
Last night Miss Godden’s mother said she was indebted to the detective who brought their ‘little girl back home’.
And Mr Fulcher said the conviction proved he had done the right thing in stopping a murderer who may have gone on to kill again.
Police also said they had ‘no doubt’ Halliwell could have claimed more victims as the judge said he was considering imposing a wholelife sentence.
It can also be revealed that exbutcher Halliwell once asked a fellow prisoner how many women a person had to murder to become a serial killer. His second murder conviction came five years after he abducted and murdered Swindon nightclubber Miss O’Callaghan and dumped her body close to the ancient chalk horse in Uffington, Oxfordshire.
After arresting him, Mr Fulcher demanded Halliwell reveal where Miss O’Callaghan was, before the killer, who described himself as ‘sick’, asked for a chat with the detective.
Over a cigarette, father-of-three Halliwell then confessed to ‘another one’ and led the detective to the spot in rural Gloucestershire where he had buried Miss Godden in a shallow grave after strangling her eight years earlier.
But a judge ruled the confession was inadmissible because Mr Fulcher had repeatedly failed to caution the killer and questioned him without a lawyer.
Mr Fulcher yesterday insisted he had no regrets. He said: ‘Halliwell is an evil and depraved violator of women. I caught a serial killer, preventing any further girls being murdered.
‘I remain convinced that the action that I took in allowing Halliwell to take me to the bodies of both Sian and Becky was the right and moral thing to do. It is perfectly clear that, had I not acted as I did, neither Sian nor Becky would ever have been found and Halliwell would be free to abduct and kill other girls.
‘When the extraordinary facts of this case are explained it is likely to lead to a public crisis of confidence in the competence and credibility of the police service.’
The ruling that Halliwell’s confession to Miss Godden’s murder was inadmissible was overruled by a second judge this year after police built a more detailed case. Miss Godden’s mother, Karen Edwards, said: ‘I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart Steve Fulcher for bringing my little girl home.
‘I will always respect him and will be indebted to him for making that moral decision as a police officer but he should never have suffered the terrible consequences, loss of reputation and career for doing such a thing.’
Miss Godden’s family said they had been through some ‘very dark days’ but now had some closure. Mrs Edwards said her daughter had been ‘a very intelligent little girl at school’, adding: ‘She always liked to be top of the class and she used to like reading – she was a right bookworm. Like any little girl, she wanted to be a princess.’
The Crown Prosecution Service’s Ian Harris said Halliwell had put Miss Godden’s family through ‘untold suffering’ by claiming he only knew where her body was buried because he had concocted a story that he had driven two drug dealers to the site and watched them as they buried her body.
He added: ‘Despite all the evidence, including his own confession, Halliwell continued to fight the case. In the end, despite his every effort to evade justice, he has been convicted. I hope this will finally give some comfort and closure to Becky’s family.’
Judge Sir John Griffith Williams told the court he would take into account both murders when sentencing Halliwell. He said he was not ruling out a whole-life term.
‘Evil and depraved violator of women’