03-09-22, 05:54
|
#2
|
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 47,657
Thanks: 27,646
Thanked 14,458 Times in 10,262 Posts
|
re: Britains' NEW Serial Killer-Christopher Halliwell Linked to MORE Murders
Evil Christopher Halliwell Linked to MORE Murders as Mum's Fight Exposes Police Blunders
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard faces disciplinary action over his role in the botched Wiltshire Police probe into the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards, 20 - she was killed in 2003 and buried in a field
BBC News 3 Sept 2022
Unsolved murders linked to evil Christopher Halliwell will be reviewed after a damning report reveals opportunities were missed to bring the double killer to justice.
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard faces disciplinary action over his role in the botched Wiltshire Police probe into the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards, 20.
Halliwell, 58, murdered Becky in 2003 and buried her in a field where eight years later he led detective Steve Fulcher after being arrested for the murder of office worker Sian O’Callaghan, 22.
But a judge ruled the confession to Becky’s murder breached police rules and was inadmissible, and her case was dropped in 2012 while Halliwell was convicted of Sian’s murder.
Double killer Christopher Halliwell could be linked to 27 more murders, book claims
Christopher Halliwell murdered Becky in 2003
Becky Godden-Edwards, 20, was murdered in 2003 and buried in a field
Tireless campaigning by Becky’s mum Karen Edwards finally ended in the killer’s 2016 prosecution for her murder and he was handed a whole-life sentence.
But the case could have continued in 2012 if officers had followed up leads and told prosecutors about evidence it was sitting on, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has found.
These included a sample from Halliwell’s spade that was not examined until three years later when it was matched to a rare soil in the field where Becky was found.
There was also evidence from an RAC recovery driver who attended the Swindon taxi driver’s broken-down car six miles from where he buried Becky.
Becky's mum Karen Edwards
Another was a statement from Halliwell’s GP revealing he had seen him later that day with severe scratches to his face.
And the pond in Ramsbury, Wilts, where Sian’s boots were found was not searched until 2014, by which time Halliwell’s “trophy store” of 60 items of women’s clothing had degraded so much they could not be forensically tested.
The scandal only came to light due to complaints to the police watchdog by Karen, played by Imelda Staunton in A Confession, ITV ’s 2019 drama about the case with Martin Freeman as Det Supt Fulcher and Joe Absolom as Halliwell.
Karen said: “The lack of honesty on Wiltshire Police’s part has been a disgrace. If I hadn’t made my complaint none of this would have come out. Becky’s case would never have made it to court if I hadn’t kept on like I had.”
Freeman and Absolom in A Confession on ITV
|
|
|