Canal killer who dismembered victims dies in jail

John Sweeney, 69, died in HMP Whitemoor, Cambridgeshire, on 14 August while serving a whole‑life sentence for the 2011 murders of two former girlfriends. Paula Fields, 31, was killed in London. Parts of her body were recovered in six holdalls floating in Regent’s Canal, Camden, in February 2001; her head, hands and feet were never found. Melissa Halstead, 33, a United States citizen, was killed in 1990. Her dismembered remains were discovered in a canal in Rotterdam, but she remained unidentified for 18 years. Police said they recovered hundreds of violent paintings and poems from Sweeney’s north London residence, including artwork that depicted a bloodied axe and referenced him as the “Scalp Hunter.” Investigators also suspect he may have killed other former partners who have not been seen for years. Sweeney had previously been imprisoned for attempting to kill former partner Delia Balmer in a 1994 axe attack in north London. Balmer later wrote a memoir about the ordeal, which was adapted into the ITV drama *Until I Kill You* in 2024. A prison service spokesperson described the crimes as “horrific” and said their thoughts remained with the victims and their loved ones. As with every death in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is conducting an investigation.