Casefile True Crime - Case 35: Operation Mayan

Episode Date: October 9, 2016

On the evening of March 18 2001, 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan enjoyed a night out with friends in the Old Town of Swindon in South West England. The flat she shared with her boyfriend Kevin Reape was less than a kilometre away, making it an easy walk home. ---  For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-35-operation-mayan

Swindon is a large town in the county of Wiltshire, South West England, about 126 kilometres or 78 miles west of London. With a population of about 185,000 people, it has one of the lower crime rates in the country. Sharno Callahan was a 22-year-old woman who resided in Swindon with her boyfriend, Kevin Reap. Sharn was a bubbly, friendly, caring and loving girl, instantly likable, beautiful and considerate. On the evening of 18th March 2011, Sharn had a night out with some friends in the old town area of Swindon. They went out for dinner before visiting two bars, the Spot and Baker Street, after which they went to Suju nightclub. At 2.53am on the 19th March, Sharn was captured

on security footage leaving the nightclub alone. She shared a flat with her boyfriend Kevin about 800 metres away from the club, but she never made it home. At 3.24am, Kevin sent Sharn a text message to check if she was okay. He was concerned that she hadn't arrived home yet. Sharn never responded. This was completely out of character and at 9.45am that morning, Kevin went to the police to report her missing. After taking the report, the Wiltshire police immediately treated her disappearance as a level 1 missing person investigation. A level 1 missing person case means police have assessed the person to be in immediate danger or likely to suffer significant harm. They implemented a 4 point

strategy to investigate the case. They were 1. Locate Sharn and safeguard her from any harm. 2. Develop intelligence and information in order to establish her location. 3. Utilise media opportunities in order to support those objectives. 4. Maintain an open mind in relation to potential criminal acts and seek to secure and preserve evidence. Police immediately questioned the friend Sharn was out with. They couldn't offer any useful information. They had no issues throughout the night. There were no incidents or suspicious people in the club. Sharn simply left the club alone to go home. A check of the security footage showed her leaving the club at 2.53am. She headed up high street in the direction

of her flat. The security footage of other businesses in the area was obtained so they could follow where Sharn went. On this footage, they noticed a car repeatedly circling the old town area, driving past the night club. The car drove past Sharn a few times as she was walking along the footpath. It finally came to a stop on high street a short distance in front of Sharn about 2.57am. The glare of the car's headlights shone straight into the camera, essentially blocking the footage. But Sharn continued walking towards the car until eventually you lose sight of her in the glare. A short time later the car pulled away and started driving towards Mulbrough Road. Sharn could no longer be seen.

The quality of the footage meant that neither the make of the vehicle nor the registration plate could be made up. It was a breakthrough though. Police believed it very possible that Sharn had gotten into that vehicle. The glare of the headlights meant it was impossible to know for sure and impossible to know if she voluntarily got in or if she was forced in. Other investigators got to work on her cell phone records. The text message sent by Kevin at 3.24am pinged off a tower that put the location of Sharn's phone in the area of the Savanak Forest. Savanak Forest is about 19km or 12 miles away. The area of Sharn's phone could only be narrowed down to a 6.5 mile radius around the cell phone

tail. Given she left the club at 2.53am this meant she had 31 minutes to get to Savanak Forest. The only way she could have got there in time was by a car. Police believed it was the car seen circling Old Town on the security footage. Only a few hours after Sharn had been reported missing police formed Operation Mayan to investigate her disappearance. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher was appointed as the Senior Investigation Officer. He was an experienced detective who had headed over 50 major investigations throughout his career. The investigation was marked as Category A, the most serious category. Category A means a major investigation of significant concern where any member of the

public is at risk, the offender is unknown, and the investigation and securing of evidence requires the allocation of significant resources. And significant resources is what the investigation got. Up to 140 officers were involved. Search teams were immediately mobilised to attend the Savanak Forest. The forest is a densely wooded area with a thick undergrowth, not an easy place to search. Specialist police and dog units were called in. Superintendent Fulcher had three scenarios running through his mind at this early stage of the investigation. One, on leaving the nightclub, Sharn had been either enticed into the vehicle or forcibly abducted into the vehicle seen on the security footage, then driven to the Savanak Forest

where she met with harm. Two, she had met with an acquaintance and gone with them voluntarily and for reasons unknown has failed to make contact with friends or family. Three, just because her phone was in the Savanak Forest didn't mean Sharn was there. For reasons unknown she may have become separated from her phone and met with an accident or had harm done to her at another location. A media strategy was discussed with the police media unit and a press release was immediately issued appealing for information regarding Sharn's whereabouts. Up to 400 volunteers from the public as well as members of Sharn's family and her boyfriend Kevin joined police in the mammoth search of Savanak Forest. An anonymous donor offered

a $20,000 reward for any information that helped locate Sharn. Volunteers also assisted distributing posters appealing for information. Press releases and appeals were also widely shared on social media sites. But after 48 hours police were no closer to discovering the whereabouts of Sharn or what happened to her. Other than it was possible she may be in the Savanak Forest area based on her cell phone records. It was three days after her disappearance that a major breakthrough came. An image specialist reviewed the security footage and was able to clear the images up. It was his opinion that the suspect vehicle on the footage was a dark-toned Toyota Ravensus estate manufactured between 2003 and 2008.

He also noted the presence of a slightly lighter area on the doors of the vehicle which he thought could be stickers of some kind. Shortly after this information was discovered a police officer ran a check of the automatic number plate recognition records, the ANPR. This is relatively new technology fitted to some police vehicles. It automatically reads the number plates of all the cars that it passes. The number plate is then checked against police databases. A record is kept of all number plates that are checked by the ANPR. An officer checked all recordings of vehicles between 2.53am and 3.15am on the 19th of March. He got a hit. Vehicle registration AV07, FZF, registered to a green Toyota Ravensus estate

caught by the ANPR traveling along Mulbrough Road from Swindon Old Town. The vehicle passed the police car heading in the opposite direction. It was registered on the ANPR at 2.59am, only minutes after you lost sight of Sean in the glare of the headlights on the security footage. This information was relayed to Superintendent Fulcher. It was 2pm on the 22nd of March. Police had a significant lead. The registered owner of the car was Christopher Halliwell, and police got to work checking him out. Meanwhile, the search of the Seven Act Forest continued. Other police had been analysing cell phones' signal strength of the area. Through that analysis, they were able to identify hotspots of the forest where the

phone was most likely to be. The hotspots allowed police to rule out large sections of the 6.5 mile radius area, so they were able to narrow their search. Around this time, another anonymous donor came forward and offered a further $20,000 for any information to find Sean. That doubled the reward to $40,000. It was at 2pm on the 22nd of March that police became aware of Christopher Halliwell. By 3pm, they were conducting covert surveillance on him. The reason for the surveillance was recorded in the investigation log as follows. Sean has yet to be found, and surveillance provides the best opportunity of identifying her current location, should Halliwell be prompted to wherever he had left Sean.

Christopher Halliwell was a taxi driver, and the police noticed the taxi stickers on the doors of Halliwell's car in the exact spot where the image specialist believes stickers may be found. It wasn't long before the surveillance team reported Halliwell was displaying some strange and suspicious behaviour. Twice within a short period, around 5.30pm, Halliwell was seen cleaning the rear passenger seat of his car with cleaning fluid. Later that night, Halliwell attended the local police station. He told the officers there that his daughter had told him she had been raked the previous evening. Shortly after 10pm that night, Halliwell was seen putting car seat covers, headrest covers, and a bottle of perfume in a bin. About quarter past two the next morning,

23rd of March, he was seen driving through the village of Warmbra, and not long after he had driven through, police spotted some material on fire, on the roadside near the village. Superintendent Fulcher was briefed on the behaviour of Halliwell. His plan was to try and engage Halliwell through media releases, in the hope that this would encourage him to return under surveillance to wherever he had left Sharn. Basically, the strategy was as follows. The police would release a statement that evening saying they were getting close to finding Sharn. They had deployed specialist dog units to assist the search, but the loss of daylight meant that the search had been postponed and would resume the next morning. A further tactic would be to

release a press statement about the green Toyota vehicle of interest, appealing to the public to come forward if they had sighted it around the time of Sharn's disappearance. It was hoped that these press releases would increase the pressure on Halliwell and he would respond under the cover of darkness and lead the police to wherever Sharn was. If Halliwell didn't respond as they had planned, then they would arrest him at 7pm the next night, 24th of March. They determined that it was highly unlikely Sharn would be at Halliwell's house and that they were doing nothing that would jeopardize her life. It was hoped that their plan would result in finding her alive. That was the entire focus of the investigation and the reason for the strategies they had put in place to find

Sharn alive. Meanwhile, other officers paid Halliwell his first visit. It was about midday on the 23rd of March when they knocked on his door. They obtained a statement from him where he gave an account of his movements around the time Sharn disappeared. His statement was clearly inconsistent with what was captured on security footage, but they didn't make a big deal of it. They said it was just simply routine because his vehicle had been captured in the area on the AMPR. The officers also took a bucle swab from him. During this visit Halliwell was close to tears and visibly shaking. He looked to be highly stressed. It was here that a risk was identified. That risk was that Halliwell may attempt to harm himself, but they decided the risk was manageable and they continued

as planned. Officers were put on high alert to intervene should at any stage Halliwell make attempts to harm himself. The police were hoping Halliwell would react to the press releases, but they were disappointed. Halliwell didn't respond at all. It was clear the media strategy wasn't working. Later that night Fulcher spoke to Detective Sergeant Cooper. He was a Tier 5 interview advisor. Tier 5 is the highest level you can get. His role was to give advice to his fellow police officers on interview procedures and it was here that Cooper informed Fulcher about the urgent interview procedure under PACE code C 11.1. PACE stands for the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 and what that section of the act says in plain English is that

after a suspect has been arrested they can't be interviewed about the offense unless they are at a police station or other authorized place of detention. But there are a few exceptions. One of those being if the delay in getting to the station or authorized place of detention would likely lead to interference with or physical harm to someone then police could conduct what they call an urgent interview. Sergeant Cooper was of the opinion that this was one of the rare occasions that an urgent interview could be justified as they were still acting with the hopes Sharn would be found alive. This section doesn't change the fact that the suspect still has to be read their rights as most of you would know it. In England it is referred to as cautioning the suspect and

goes like you do not have to say anything unless you wish to do so but what you say may be given in evidence so basically you have the right to remain silent. Upon receiving what he considered expert advice Fulcher made arrangements for an urgent interview to proceed after Halliwell was arrested he noted in his report quote when the senior investigating officer directs that the arrest be affected an urgent interview will be conducted because at this time I have no means of knowing whether Sharn is alive or dead and I consider this to be an emergency situation which requires measures to be taken to identify her location. Nothing of interest was cited by the surveillance teams throughout the night of the 23rd of March and into the early hours of the

24th. It was just after 10 a.m. on the 24th when more suspicious behavior was observed. Halliwell was seen to place two wrappings in a waste bin outside a store. He then purchased what was described as an overdose quantity of paracetamol. Fearing that Halliwell was going to attempt to kill himself a plan was put in place to arrest him. At 11.06 a.m. he was arrested in the Walmart car park of Swindon shopping center. Halliwell was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping Sharn O'Callahan by P. C. Hine who was working with P. C. Mullis. P. C. Hine cautioned Halliwell immediately after he was placed under arrest. He was then put into the police car. Soon after that two detectives arrived Derek and Bevan. Detective Sergeant Cooper had prepared a strategy

for an urgent interview to be conducted with Halliwell and he picked detectives Derek and Bevan to carry out the interview as both were experienced officers. Cooper provided them a copy of the provisions of the police and criminal evidence act which allowed the urgent interview. He also added in these instructions quote this investigation is a crime in action the whereabouts of Sharn O'Callahan are unknown. The senior investigating officer has directed that an urgent interview be conducted immediately upon the arrest of Mr. Halliwell to establish the whereabouts of Sharn. The questioning is only to establish the whereabouts of Sharn and will cease once the risk to Sharn's safety has been averted. Any questioning will be recorded contemporaneously at the time. Their urgent

interview took place in the car park and was recorded and when as follows there was the arrest and caution and explanation of the arrest. Derek then said the focus of the investigation is to find Sharn O'Callahan tell me where Sharn is. Halliwell I don't know Derek can you help us with where Sharn is? Halliwell I don't know where she is I don't think I should say any more without speaking to a solicitor. Derek do you know is Sharn is safe Halliwell no comment Derek can you help us know if Sharn is safe or not. Halliwell no comment not until I speak to a solicitor can I go to the police station now. As far as Derek and Bevin were concerned the urgent interview was over. The demeanor of Halliwell at the time was described by Derek as looking like a rabbit

caught in the headlights. Bevin called Cooper and told him the bad news Cooper agreed there was not much more they could do and the urgent interview was over. Cooper instructed two other officers who had arrived at the scene to take Halliwell to the nearest police station which was Gable Cross. Superintendent Fulcher was at the station waiting pacing the floor. As the two officers were heading towards the station Fulcher was advised by Cooper that the urgent interview had ceased and they'd got nothing useful out of it. Fulcher reacted. He told Sergeant Cooper not to bring Halliwell back instead he instructed that he be taken to Barbary Castle. Barbary Castle is a historical landmark in England. It's an Iron Age hill

fort situated near Swindon on a side of about 12 acres or five hectares of vast fields and hills. Fulcher wanted to continue the urgent interview himself. Cooper didn't discuss this request with Fulcher he just did as he was told fulfilling the instructions of the senior officer on the case. The escorting officers got the phone call and changed their course from the station and headed towards Barbary Castle as they were instructed. They arrived at the castle at 12.11 p.m. Derek and Bevin had been told to meet them there as well. Fulcher said the sole purpose of his decision was for it to be a last appeal to Halliwell to give some indication of where Sharn was so as to try and save her life. He chose Barbary Castle as he thought it was the

most likely place Sharn would be and he considered it better to take Halliwell to the most likely scene of the crime. Fulcher headed to the scene. When he arrived he walked alone with Halliwell to a spot about 50 meters away from the other officer's prison. The conversation went as follows Fulcher are you going to tell me where Sharn is? Halliwell I don't know anything Fulcher are you going to show me where Sharn is? What's going to happen if you tell us where Sharn is that whatever you will be betrayed you would have done the right thing? Halliwell I want to go to the station Fulcher are you prepared to tell me where Sharn is? Halliwell you think I did it? Fulcher I know you did it Halliwell can I go to the station? Fulcher you can go to the station

what will happen is that you will be vilified if you tell me where Sharn is you would have done the right thing Halliwell I want to speak to a solicitor Fulcher you are being given an opportunity to tell me where Sharn is in one hour's time you will be in the press Halliwell I want to speak to a solicitor Fulcher you will speak to a solicitor I'm giving you an opportunity to tell me where Sharn is by the end of this cycle you will be vilified tell me where she is Halliwell paused looked at Fulcher and said have you got a car we'll go Fulcher's plan had worked Halliwell remained calm and subdued as he got into the vehicle with Fulcher it appeared as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders Fulcher sat in the back of the car with Halliwell

Halliwell gave them directions in a quietly spoken voice the drive took 45 minutes Halliwell directed them to a remote area about 32 kilometers away or 20 miles a quiet rural spot in South Oxfordshire Halliwell couldn't locate the exact point but he gave enough information for markers to be set up for the search teams they located Sharn's body later that afternoon at 1 20 p.m Fulcher informed Halliwell he was going to hand him over to a police constable who would take him to the police station where he would be booked for murder upon hearing this Halliwell said you and me need to have a chat Fulcher arranged for Halliwell to be taken to another location away from the other police Halliwell then said this to Fulcher I'm a sick

fucker do you want another one Fulcher interpreted this as Halliwell meaning that there was a second victim however he did not caution him he decided to just let Halliwell continue to speak he didn't want to interrupt his flow and risk him shutting down which he thought would happen if a caution was issued if there was a chance to find a second victim which they didn't even know existed he didn't want to risk losing that information this was a quote from Fulcher I didn't consider it relevant to the moment in time we were in I believe the right thing was to obtain the information we were going to get not contain it although Fulcher did concede that if they were going on a trip to find another victim the police and criminal evidence act required Halliwell to be cautioned

they got into the car again and Halliwell directed them to a field about 48 kilometers away or 30 miles near the village of East Leech in South Clostex year when they got there Halliwell pointed out an area of a 40-acre field another quiet and remote spot police searched the area and found the remains of Rebecca Godin Edwards Becky was a happy bubbly beautiful intelligent girl as a teenager she got involved with the wrong crowd and was introduced to drugs she left school and her life spiraled out of control a little bit her family tried everything they could to help Becky including putting her into private rehabilitation clinics but the pull of her habit was stronger and she would do whatever she had to to get her next fix it wasn't unusual

for Becky to disappear for weeks or months at a time after a conviction for stealing in 2001 Becky told her mother Karen Edwards she couldn't keep putting her through hell so she was leaving and she wouldn't return home until she was clean Karen believed Becky had moved to Bristol she never gave up hope that Becky would return home one day over the years Karen was told by sources close to the family that they had seen Becky but they were mistaken Karen did try and track her down through the police hospitals and other organizations working under the assumption that Becky was alive and well somewhere tragically she wasn't she was last seen in late 2002 she was murdered sometime between then and

early 2003 Fultrow asked Halliwell a number of other questions still all without a caution at 3 15 p.m Halliwell was taken to the police station where he was formally processed Halliwell requested the assistance of a solicitor and one arrived within the hour Halliwell was then interviewed again he was now at a police station in custody he had been cautioned and everything had been done by the book now was the chance to get everything on record in compliance with the police and criminal evidence act Fultrow didn't run this interview it was handed over to other officers Halliwell had one response for every question that was asked of him no comment Fultrow was surprised annoyed and frustrated he assumed Halliwell would continue to talk to the interviewing officers

in the same way he had been speaking to him Fultrow referred to his interview with Halliwell at Barbary Castle as a continuation of the original urgent interview Fultrow frankly admitted that he deliberately didn't caution him or remind him that he was still under caution the reason he gave for not doing so was because the key issue was to save Sharn's life and that aim would be thwarted if he opened up the interview by telling Halliwell he didn't have to say anything he considered Sharn's right to life was more important than a police and criminal evidence act compliant interview Fultrow said I felt it was the right thing to do in the circumstances I was faced with Halliwell was charged with both murders and he pleaded not guilty

before the case went to trial Halliwell's defense team put forward a submission that the questioning of Halliwell was inappropriate and could be considered oppressive and persuasive and that no caution was issued therefore ruling all the evidence the police got after Halliwell's arrest inadmissible if the judge agreed everything Halliwell had told them and pointed out to them would not be able to be used at the trial this was argued in what is known as a voire deer which is a preliminary examination on whether or not evidence will be admissible in a trial the voire deer was heard before Judge Mrs Justice Cox in the Bristol Crown Court on the 9th of May 2012 this was her ruling and I've simplified this a little bit so it isn't exactly word for word

viewing this entire episode in my judgment it is at least possible that this was questioning which by its nature and given all the circumstances affected the mind of this defendant and caused him to speak when he otherwise would have stayed silent for these reasons I find the evidence relating to this confession and the location of Miso Callahan's body is inadmissible the crown accepts that on the evidence in this case two separate urgent interviews were carried out and even where codes see 11.1 is engaged all other provisions of the code continue to apply a person whom there are grounds to suspect of an offense must be cautioned before any questions about an offense are put to them after any break in questioning under caution the person

being questioned must be made aware that they remain under caution if there is any doubt the relevant caution should be given again in full when the interview resumes failure to caution even when the police are investigating a very serious offense but perhaps especially when it is a very serious offense amounts to a substantial and significant breach of the code the second interview could and should have been conducted at the police station the defendant was just a short distance away from gable cross and could have been formally processed immediately instead detective superintendent Fulcher adopted an approach which I consider was deliberately designed to ensure that the protections to which this defendant was entitled were not afforded to him

his decision not to caution the defendant was a deliberate one precisely because the defendant might have done what he would be told he could do stay silent his decision not to take the defendant to the police station for interview was as he accepted because the custody sergeant would have ensured that the defendant was informed of his rights the defendant's removal to barbie castle for the purposes of a further urgent interview would not only have resulted in the placing of additional pressure upon him but also ensured his request for a solicitor could not be granted for the reasons given above I do not accept the prosecution's submission that what happened in this case had no impact upon this defendant or caused him no disadvantage there

were indeed significant and substantial breaches of the codes in circumstances deliberately designed to persuade the defendant to speak further questions were asked all without caution during the journey to miss our caliants body admissibility of this evidence would have such an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings that it will not be admitted the judge ruled against the police and in favor of Halliwell and because everything relating to the questioning and the finding of shan's body had been ruled inadmissible so too was the questioning and the finding of Becky's body this was massive everything the police had after Halliwell was placed under arrest couldn't be used at trial without that the police had no evidence in relation to the murder of Becky

the defense put forward a submission to withdraw the charge and the crown had no choice but to accept Halliwell had just beaten one of the two murder charges and he confirmed his plea of not guilty in relation to shan's case that would still proceed to trial a few months later detective superintendent fulcher was suspended pending an independent police complaints commission inquiry in shan's case the police still had a substantial amount of evidence they could use at the trial that included further compelling matches on the automatic number plate recognition system which showed that Halliwell returned to the Savanak forest area where he had first left shan it showed that he scouted out the area where shan's body was eventually found by police

the media releases had worked they had spooked Halliwell and got him to move her body but he had done that before he was identified as a suspect that's why he didn't react to the media releases when he was under surveillance he had already moved it also the seat and headrest covers that Halliwell was observed putting into a bin were recovered by the police surveillance teams the covers had shan's blood on them Halliwell and his defense team knew the police still had a strong case in october 2012 Halliwell changed his plea to guilty the trial was off he was sentenced at the bristol crown court on the 19th of october 2012 mrs. justice cox gave him a 30-year prison sentence but then reduced it to 25 years because he

pleaded guilty and saved shan's family the pain and suffering of a trial but that was little comfort for the family of rebecca goddon edwards after a very complicated and painful journey over the last 18 months shan's family have today had the justice for the murder of their beautiful daughter however our family's fight for justice for becky has only just begun police kept Becky's investigation open they knew who killed her but they just couldn't use any of the evidence they had that meant they had to find more fulcher's actions effectively ended his career the inquiry lasted quite a while at the conclusion

the independent police complaints commission ruled he was able to keep his job and he was given a warning but he was found guilty of gross misconduct the damage was done he resigned a few months later in may 2014 becky's parents had split up long ago and they shared very differing views on fulcher and the police handling of becky's case becky's father was very critical he said i can't explain to you what they have made me feel and what they have done to me mentally they've got off very cheaply wheelchair police what they put me through this extra pain and suffering nobody has been made accountable for it but her mother karin had this to say it's really going to be such a waste of an extremely experienced detective who i know has solved so many crimes had he have followed the

guidelines then becky would have never been found she would have never have come into the equation and sharn would have still been where he moved her to no one would have found sharn in a million years where they found her where he dumped her body it was steve fulcher's experience okay he bent the rules but he bent them for good reason sharno callahan's family were also strong supporters of fulcher and his actions that day police continued to work on becky's case the strategy they adopted for the investigation was to painstakingly map becky's last known movements becky was working as a sex worker at the time of her disappearance they located a witness who worked with her and she was able to identify halliwell as one of becky's regular clients

they uncovered evidence showing halliwell was very controlling of becky offering her money and making demands she stopped working in the red light district on one occasion becky was seen arguing with halliwell before getting into his taxi in early january 2003 halliwell visited a doctor he had a swollen hand and a scratched face they also matched soil on tools found in halliwell's shed to the field where becky's remains were found it was painstaking work and it took a lot of time but they were eventually able to uncover enough new overwhelming evidence linking halliwell to the murder of becky and that meant they could now use his confession again in march 2016 police charged christopher halliwell with the murder of rebecca goddon edwards for the second time

halliwell pleaded not guilty in the trial he gave a story that he didn't know becky at all as a taxi driver he used to turn a blind eye to whatever his customers got up to he had two men who he regularly drove around and it became clear to him that they were drug dealers one night he picked them up they were carrying a large sports bag which they put into the boot he didn't ask any questions and assumed it may have been weapons or drugs he drove them to the field where becky's body was found halliwell says that later on one of the men told him they had buried a sex worker in the field that night but halliwell thought he was just messing around at the time in relation to his confession which was now admissible he said he

deliberately gave a false confession as he knew superintendent fulcher was breaching guidelines and he wanted to do everything he could to destroy his career halliwell represented himself during the trial when steve fulcher was called to give evidence halliwell told him during his cross examination it was a pleasure ruining your career you corrupt bastard fulcher replied i'm sure halliwell went as far to say that he had no reason to lie he was already serving life with little hope of ever getting out what he did to shan was unforgivable and he deserved every bit of his life sentence but he was innocent in becky's case after a two-week trial at bristol crown court that only concluded last month september 2016 the jury reached their verdict in about three hours

we have waited over five years for this momentous day it has been an extremely painful journey but today we've received the justice that has felt like an eternity coming for our beautiful little girl becky as the guilty verdict was read out halliwell smiled at becky's family judge sir john wiliam griffiths had this to say during sentencing i have concluded both murders involved the abduction of the victim and sexual conduct and both were aggravated by the concealment of the bodies i'm satisfied your offending is exceptionally high and satisfies the criteria for a whole life term halliwell's papers were marked never to be released halliwell thanked the judge before being laid away after his conviction an ex cellmate of

halliwell's from back in the 80s had this to say he used to ask me about killing he said how many people do you need to kill before you become a serial killer he just had a thing about them he wanted people to be proud of him or an area to be afraid of him the officer in charge of the second investigation into becky's murder detective superintendent shorn memory had this to say i'm really open-minded there is an eight-year gap between becky and charne i would appeal to christopher halliwell if he wants to speak i'm willing to speak with him i can't rule out there are other victims he's not forensically linked to outstanding cases however that's not to say he hasn't committed other offenses i'm not specifically looking at any one particular offense but i do

want to try and understand why there's an eight-year gap between his offending behavior there's a distinct possibility there could be further offenses this police interview with halliwell is pretty telling this is when police had uncovered the new evidence connecting him to the murder of becky and they were interviewing him about that i'll get charged with this and i'm found guilty i'll get natural right i mean not being funny in 15 now but it's only five years to go so chances aren't looking good as it is um if i got this up in the next few hours any other charges against me that will be brought there's a bit of a past i think you probably know about various things in the past this car thefts breaking bits of pieces and some more serious

well that will clearing this up be enough to stop everything else i don't want to keep coming back every couple years on a different charge all the time so one thing is if i can clear this up in the next few hours will everything else be forgotten because at the end of the day when we get sent to the right i'm just going to be like they're going to turn the lock and say let's say we're done right so what's up saying is i'll clear if i can resolve the matter but i don't want you to come back every couple years every five years every ten years whatever if this or this or something as if if it goes to court and i found guilty that's it they're locking me up that's right all the time i'm under no they're usually not stupid

look up here so he's trying to do a deal that if he clears up the murder of betty he's going away for the rest of his life anyway so he wants that to be enough to stop any other future investigations or charges against him he doesn't want to keep going back every couple of years on a different charge every time of course the police didn't take his offer and halliwell ended up pleading not guilty but that interview seems to suggest that halliwell thinks it could be linked to other crimes in the future this is steep vultures thoughts there's no question from all the information i gathered when i was running this inquiry in 2011 that he has committed other murders and the one thing halliwell said to fulcher during their talks that has fulcher

so convinced was pretty chilling halliwell said the police want to interview me about eight murders police are still working on this seeing if they can link him to any other crimes the investigation is still ongoing after halliwell's conviction for the murder of betty steve fulcher who now works as a consultant in somalia released this statement i'm very pleased that caron edwards has finally seen justice done for her beautiful daughter becky who was brutally murdered by christopher halliwell she has fought a very dignified battle for the past five and a half years to bring halliwell to court and she should not have had to i hope she finds some comfort in this verdict i thank caron for her resilience and determination to obtain justice for her beloved daughter halliwell is

an evil and depraved violator of women i did all i could to find an abducted girl shan in an effort to save her life the first duty of a police officer i also recovered a second victim of halliwell's murder becky returning her to her loved ones after eight years of their misery i caught a serial killer preventing any further girls being murdered halliwell had to be arrested as he was about to commit suicide as the law stands the expectation was that i should have prioritized halliwell's right to silence and legal protection over shan's right to life i remain convinced that the action that i took in allowing halliwell to take me to the bodies of both shan and becky was the right and moral thing to do in doing so i felt that i correctly

prioritized the human rights of the victims and their families balanced against the rights of the perpetrator the stance that halliwell has taken since his confession to both murders as demonstrated during this trial i believe vindicate the actions that i took it is perfectly clear that had i not acted as i did neither shan nor becky would have ever been found and halliwell would be free to abduct and kill other girls my actions are deemed by the police service to be acts of gross misconduct the public will need to know how this can be and what the police will do on behalf of their loved ones who are missing 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 despite everything that has happened to me i cannot regret the decisions that i took that day ultimately that decision ensured the return of two beautiful young women which brought comfort to their families and ensured that halliwell has been duly convicted of both murders now the trial is over and i'm no longer a serving police officer i am able to put these issues into the public domain for the first time i would like to prevent any family having to suffer the same agony that caron edwards has had to endure i want to ensure that any senior investigating officer faced with crimes in action is able to take the right decision without suffering the repercussions i experienced whilst performing my duty