UK UK - Melanie Hall, 25, Bath, Somerset, 9 June 1996

[dotr]

27th September 2023 possible repost.rbbm

Fresh bid to find nightclubber's killer as TV documentary explores unsolved murder

The family of Wiltshire murder victim Melanie Hall have spoken of their 'deep sorrow and grief' as part of a fresh plea to help catch her killer.

www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk

The old St. Michael's Church hall, now a restaurant, on Walcot Street, two doors down from what was Cadillacs Nightclub where Melanie disappeared. On the night she went missing, she was seen by witnesses arguing with a man. (Image: Avon & Somerset Police)

Walcot Street in Bath where Melanie Hall went missing at 1.10am on Sunday, June 9, 1996 (Image: Avon & Somerset Police)

The final reported sighting of Melanie was of her being coaxed reluctantly by a man into the Podium car park further down Walcot Street. (Image: Avon & Somerset Police)
''Melanie, 25, from Bradford on Avon, was a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital in Bath. The last confirmed sighting of her was at 1.10am on Sunday, June 9,1996.''
''Her remains were found in a black bin liner next to the northbound slip road of the M5 at junction 14 in Thornbury by a workman clearing vegetation on October 5, 2009.''
“An E-fit was released as part of a public appeal back in 1996 of a man seen inside Cadillacs nightclub with a woman matching Melanie’s description. This is still very much a focus of our appeal to the public today and we want to know who this man is.
“We’d also like information about an unconfirmed sighting of a woman, potentially matching Melanie’s description, who was engaged in an argument with a man in Old Orchard, around the corner from the nightclub entrance, between 1.45am and 2am.''

 

[dotr]

Re post.
Oct 4, 2019

Melanie Hall's chilling last sighting and mystery row that could crack case open

Melanie Hall disappeared in 1996 after a night out with friends. Her remains were found years later by the side of the motorway, but Avon and Somerset Police continue to search for answers in the unsolved murder

www.mirror.co.uk

2023


''Police concluded that Melanie had been tied up with rope, and suffered severe fractures to her face, however the cause of death wasn't declared. In the decades that have followed, various people have been arrested in connection with the murder, but have been released.

In an appeal published on Wednesday, Avon and Somerset Police said that Melanie's belongings had never been found. They include a pale blue silk dress with a round neck, black suede mule shoes with straps across the front and an open toe, size 5 or 6, a cream single-breasted, long-sleeved jacket and a black satchel-type handbag.'
''In Melanie's handbag were cosmetics and a Midland cheque book and bank card. Also missing are items of jewellery including a Next watch with an expanding bracelet and silver drop earrings.''

''The man was said to have been seen inside the nightclub with a woman matching Melanie's description. He is described as white, in his mid to late twenties, 5ft 10ins, of medium build, with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, bushy eyebrows and clean-shaven.

He was wearing black trousers, black shoes and a brown silk shirt. It's possible he had a gold hooped earring in his right ear and wore a flashy gold watch. Supt Riccio added: "This is still very much a focus of our appeal to the public today and we want to know who this man is."

An e-fit which was released as part of a public appeal in 1996 of a man seen inside Cadillacs nightclub with a woman matching Melanie Hall's description

 

[Eastend Eagle]

Revisiting this case, it seems like the police are basing things on one of the original witness statements. This witness didn't see anything outside the club though.

The Melanie Hall case is an active one, which makes me hope there's potential progress with the DNA. Perhaps the fairly recent documentary also persuaded the police to review the case.

There have been many arrests, and apparently a lot of local gossip, yet there's still no conviction.

Without a confirmed sighting of Melanie outside the club, I don't think we can rule out the possibility that she was abducted on her way back to her car or boyfriend's flat.

Or perhaps, abducted inside the nightclub! Have the management / staff of the club been investigated as potentially involved in this crime?

 

[tes1984]

Or perhaps, abducted inside the nightclub! Have the management / staff of the club been investigated as potentially involved in this crime?

I'm not sure how she could have been abducted inside the club. Do you mean that she's kept there until after it closes at IIRC 2am?

The police definitely questioned staff from Cadillacs. I have no idea if they questioned every staff member though. I'm guessing a lot of staff in the mid 90s were paid cash in hand and didn't appear on official records, or give their real names.

 

[tes1984]

I'm wondering who the local dealers were. The ones the door staff allowed to deal drugs inside the venue. Ecstasy was highly profitable in the mid 90s.

The police seem to be going with a sighting of Melanie waiting inside the club, with a man. The man is depicted as lounging with his feet up on the furniture, yet the bouncers don't admonish him. Why do they let him act like he owns the place?

 

[Eastend Eagle]

I'm not sure how she could have been abducted inside the club. Do you mean that she's kept there until after it closes at IIRC 2am?

The police definitely questioned staff from Cadillacs. I have no idea if they questioned every staff member though. I'm guessing a lot of staff in the mid 90s were paid cash in hand and didn't appear on official records, or give their real names.

What if staff suggested she call a taxi from a phone in the back office after the Doctor and other couple left her isolated in the club? MOO

 

[tes1984]

What if staff suggested she call a taxi from a phone in the back office after the Doctor and other couple left her isolated in the club? MOO

There was a taxi rank (which was later searched) extremely close by.

There were also loads of licensed and unlicensed taxi drivers in Bath, waiting near nightclubs.

Melanie went to university in Bath, so I don't think she would have needed someone to call her a cab.

 

[tes1984]

Melanie's boyfriend left the club and was seem driving away on CCTV.

AFAIK his alibi is that he spent the rest of the weekend home alone in Bath, and didn't see anyone He doesn't try to contact Melanie on the Sunday. That's strange if they've been seperated in the club, without something bad having happened.

We don't know that Melanie didn't just walk back to her boyfriend's flat that night.
Perhaps there had been an argument and she decided to head back to her family home. But perhaps she wouldn't want to turn up at home at 2am and wake up her parents. She was supposed to be staying in Bath for the weekend.

How far away from Cadillacs did her boyfriend live?

And where did he park his car when they went to Cadillacs? If Melanie was left alone without there having been a confrontation, then why didn't she go and check where they had parked up on arrival?

 

[Eastend Eagle]

There was a taxi rank (which was later searched) extremely close by.

There were also loads of licensed and unlicensed taxi drivers in Bath, waiting near nightclubs.

Melanie went to university in Bath, so I don't think she would have needed someone to call her a cab.

Melanie Hall's parents have said that when she was left isolated in the nightclub she would have been completely out of her comfort zone. Perhaps a staff member could have posed as helpful, got her into the back office under false pretence and then she was abducted out the back of the club? JMO

 

[tes1984]

Melanie Hall's parents have said that when she was left isolated in the nightclub she would have been completely out of her comfort zone. Perhaps a staff member could have posed as helpful, got her into the back office under false pretence and then she was abducted out the back of the club? JMO

Melanie was 25 years old and spent four years in Bath completing her psychology degree. She lived with a female friend and then with a former boyfriend, (before she moved back in with her parents),

JMO but I don't think Melanie would have been out of her comfort zone in a nightclub in Bath. She wasn't an 18 year old, on her first night out, in an unfamiliar city.

 

[Eastend Eagle]

Melanie was 25 years old and spent four years in Bath completing her psychology degree. She lived with a female friend and then with a former boyfriend, (before she moved back in with her parents),

JMO but I don't think Melanie would have been out of her comfort zone in a nightclub in Bath. She wasn't an 18 year old, on her first night out, in an unfamiliar city.

Point taken but I'm sure I saw / read her parents state she would have been completely out of her comfort zone when left alone in the nightclub that night.
Also, on last year's Channel 5 documentary her sister stated that when they were growing up together it was she who had to be the protective one.
So it appears that all her immediate family considered her to be a shy, timid person MOO

 

[tes1984]

Thinking about it, Melanie probably would have realised that her boyfriend had left the club.

Likewise, he probably would have realised that she was hooking up with some other guy.

She was staying at his place at had her stuff there. He would have gone on record if he had told her he was going back home and they had made an arrangement for her to get a cab back (or even walk back) a bit later.

Someone would have remembered if Melanie had been asking the door staff to check the toilets to see if he was there.

She waits around near the exit for 10-15 minutes after he storms out, sitting with a guy who (according to the witness/reconstruction) is apparently lounging with his feet on the furniture, like he owns the place.

 

[tes1984]

Who is this lone wolf romeo, out clubbing on his own, who picks up Melanie without anyone in Bath recognising or knowing him?

Or do people know him, but keep quiet out of fear? The police appear to suspect a local or locals, but there seem to have been too many arrests (and they seem too spread out time wise) for the investigators to have identified a specific group of lads out on the town that night.

 

[Pinkizzy]

Did anyone watch the C5 show about Melanie?

 

[dotr]

Did anyone watch the C5 show about Melanie?

Trying to find a link now, would love to watch, hoping it, (and the playboy murder one) is available in Canada.
Meanwhile, posting these videos..

Jun 8, 2016
Melanie Hall's father Steve says a lot of people knew what happened to her. Her murder took place 20 years ago this week, and investigators say new DNA evidence has brought them a step closer to finding her killer. She failed to show up for work in June 1996 - her remains were discovered by the M5 in 2009. No one has ever been charged.

Dec 31, 2018
Kirsty Young presents, cases include the 1996 murder of Melanie Hall, a sexual assault of an elderly widow in Barrow, Cumbria and A robbery in Shepperton in Middlesex. Plus how police caught Richard Garner, who murdered his father Frank in Goole, East Yorkshire.