Notorious British serial k!l.l.3r who dubbed himself the ‘Scalp Hunter’ has d!3.d, taking a chilling secret to the grave
MANIAC DIES Notorious Brit serial killer who called himself Scalp Hunter ‘dies but doesn’t reveal where victims’ heads are’
“CANAL killer” John Sweeney has died in prison without revealing what he did with his victim’s heads.
Considered to be one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers he was jailed for the murder of his two former girlfriends, Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields.
Paula Fields whose body was found in the Regent’s Canal, cut into six pieces and stuffed into holdallsCredit: Rex
Former American model Melissa Halstead whose mutilated body was found in May 1990Credit: Rex
Sweeney, 69, called himself the Scalp Hunter after he threw the women’s dismembered bodies into canals without their heads, hands and feet.
Their bodies were discovered a decade apart in England and the Netherlands and police suspected he had murdered other former partners who had not been seen for years.
Despite being questioned over the disappearance of three other ex-girlfriends he was never charged.
Sweeney is understood to have died at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire on August 14 after a battle with cancer.
A drawing by John Sweeney said to be a self portrait of him and Melissa HalsteadCredit: Handout
Police divers at the scene in Regent’s Canal in Camden, north LondonCredit: PA:Press Association
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.”
Sweeney, a carpenter, boasted of his violence in lurid paintings and verse found at his home – and in one picture, showing a bloody axe, he called himself the Scalp Hunter.
Former model Miss Halstead, 33, from the US, was killed in 1990.
The black bag containing the dismembered body of Paula FieldsCredit: Rex
Delia Balmer and John Sweeney pictured together in the early 1990sCredit: Penguin Random House
Her dismembered body was thrown into a canal in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
She was only identified 18 years later by DNA, although her head and hands have never been found.
The body parts of Paula Fields, 31, were found in six holdalls floating in the Regent’s Canal in Camden, north London, in February 2001.
Her head, hands and feet are still missing.
In addition to the two murders, he also launched an axe attack on a girlfriend, nurse Delia Balmer, who was only saved when a neighbour arrived to help.
After the attack Sweeney went on the run for six years.
When he was eventually caught police found him with horrific drawings depicting him as Satan and women’s body parts.
One sketch called “The Scalp Hunter” showed a female skull hanging from a belt.
When he was arrested in 2010, detectives found Sweeney was obsessed with murdering and dismembering his victims’ bodies.
Ms Balmer wrote a memoir about her near-fatal experience living with Sweeney which was adapted into a television miniseries called Until I Kill You by ITV in 2024.
