A man jailed for two murders may be linked to a further six unsolved cases, claims a former detective who arrested him.
Christopher Haliwell was last week found guilty of murdering missing prostitute Becky Godden, while serving a life sentence for the murder of Sian O’Callagham, who he abducted in his taxi in 2011.
Steve Fulcher, a former Detective Superintendent with Wiltshire Police appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday.
Recalling Halliwell as “fully contrite and crying on my shoulder”, Fulcher revealed: “He said ‘The police want to interview me about eight murders.’”
Upon being asked by host Sarah Montague if he believed Halliwell was responsible for six other murders, Fulcher replied: “That’s what I conclude from his saying that.”
However Fulcher, who resigned from Wiltshire Police in May 2014, months after being handed a final written warning when he was found guilty of gross misconduct, denied suggesting Halliwell could be linked to the disappearance of missing York chef Claudia Lawrence.
He said: “We were aware particularly of Linda Razzell [whose husband is serving time for her murder]. She had a relationship, a direct relationship with Halliwell. We know that Haliwell has killed women and has a propensity for killing women, we know he had a direct relationship with Linda Razzell.
When asked whether he believes there is any DNA evidence linking Halliwell to Razell, Fulcher said: “Halliwell took pride in raising this issue in court, claiming that he was very forensically aware, how he’d cut the clothing off women to avoid fibre transfers as well.
“The simple fact of the matter is whether or not he’s responsible for those murders isn’t the issue. The issue is why was no investigation conducted into those issues. Because we have a clear multiple murderer and we have concerns about his association with particular women.”
Wiltshire Police has been contacted for comment.
Halliwell had confessed to killing O’Callaghan and took police to her body before offering “another one” and leading them to where he had buried Godden years earlier.
But High Court judge had ruled Halliwell’s admissions could not be used as Fulcher had breached police guidelines on interviewing suspects.
The charge of murdering Godden was withdrawn until March this year following an investigation by Wiltshire Police that uncovered overwhelming evidence against Halliwell to Becky’s murder without his confession.
The confession was ruled inadmissible by Mrs Justice Cox in 2011 because Fulcher, who was leading the hunt for O’Callaghan, had failed to caution Halliwell and denied him a solicitor during a three-hour period after his arrest when he believed there was still a chance of finding her alive.
The judge’s ruling meant that prosecutors had no other evidence against Halliwell to link him to Godden’s murder and the charge was withdrawn.
But retired High Court judge Sir John Griffith Williams ruled the confession could be presented to the jury following two days of legal argument at Bristol Crown Court in July 2016.
The judge also stated that the jury could be told of Halliwell’s conviction for murdering O’Callaghan, as well as admissions the taxi driver made to a police doctor.
Following his arrest, Halliwell told Dr Nazeer Ali that he was being detained at Gablecross police station in Swindon because he had “killed two people”.
Police believe Halliwell abducted Godden from Destiny & Desire, a nightclub in Swindon town centre close to where he took O’Callaghan, in early 2003.
“Both were taken in a taxi,” prosecutor Nicholas Haggan QC told the hearing.
“Both bodies were deposited in rural locations on the eastern side of Swindon. Becky is believed to have been buried naked. When Sian was found she was only partially clothed.”
Halliwell described himself as a “sick f*****” before telling Fulcher that he had strangled Godden after having sex with her.
He led the experienced detective to Oxo Bottom field in Eastleach, Gloucestershire, where he fumbled in a wall for a dip then paced heel to toe to the exact spot where she was buried eight inches below.
But Halliwell refused to cooperate with officers after being taken to a police station – later claiming this was an act of revenge due to his “loathing” of Fulcher.
In his defence case statement, Halliwell said: “I have no knowledge of the manner of her death, nor any information regarding details of how she died.”
New evidence uncovered by Wiltshire Police included witness accounts and forensic analysis of a spade and garden tools.
One witness saw Godden getting into a taxi in early January 2013 – crucially this was days after the last confirmed sighting of her by a police officer in Swindon in December 2012.
Another saw Halliwell and a woman, who he believed to be Godden, arguing in a pub in Eastleach at that time.
After Halliwell confessed to murdering the two women and took Fulcher to their bodies, the detective announced live on television that the remains of O’Callaghan had been found at Uffington, Oxfordshire, and the location of a second body had been identified to him.
But he did so before a solicitor had arrived at the police station for Halliwell.
Fulcher duly resigned.
Halliwell, formerly of Ashbury Avenue, Swindon, admitted the murder of O’Callaghan in October 2012 and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years’ imprisonment.
Godden’s mother, Karen Edwards, launched a campaign for changes to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace) following the case.
She had made several attempts to find her daughter, who she believed was living in the Bristol area, and did not learn the truth until police knocked on her door on April 4, 2011 – on what would have been her 29th birthday.
Godden had turned to prostitution after becoming addicted to heroin.