Notorious British serial killer John Sweeney, who dubbed himself the “Scalp Hunter”, has died in prison without revealing what happened to the missing heads of two women he was convicted of murdering.
Sweeney, 69, was serving a life sentence for killing his former girlfriends Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields. He died at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire on August 14 following a battle with cancer, according to reports.
Halstead, a 33-year-old former American model, was murdered in 1990 before her dismembered remains were later found in a canal in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. She was only identified through DNA 18 years later, while her head and hands have never been recovered.
Fields, 31, was found dead in February 2001 after her dismembered remains were discovered inside six holdalls floating in Regent’s Canal, Camden, north London. Her head, hands and feet remain missing.
Sweeney was also linked to the disappearance of three other former girlfriends, although he was never charged in those cases. His violent history came to light through disturbing paintings and poems found at his home, including artwork depicting himself as the “Scalp Hunter” alongside images of human remains.
The carpenter also carried out a near-fatal axe attack on former girlfriend and nurse Delia Balmer. After the assault, Sweeney remained on the run for six years before eventually being arrested in 2010.
Following his arrest, detectives discovered drawings that reflected his apparent obsession with murder and dismemberment. One sketch, titled “The Scalp Hunter”, showed a female skull hanging from a belt.
A Prison Service spokesperson said the crimes were “horrific” and expressed sympathy for the victims and their families. As Sweeney died while in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is investigating his death.
Balmer later documented her traumatic experience with Sweeney in a memoir, which was adapted into ITV’s 2024 television miniseries Until I Kill You.
Despite the passage of years, the whereabouts of the victims’ missing body parts remain unknown, leaving families without answers about what happened after the murders.
