GUILTY UK - Sian O'Callaghan, 22, Swindon, Wiltshire, 19 March 2011

[Distant Observer]

Roy Greenslade has an interesting article in the Evening Standard regarding the 'hierarchy of death' in terms of press coverage:

[

Yes it is a good article. I think a number of factors are at play however the cases he refers to as having received huge press coverage are the ones which are the most shocking. Normal innocent girls from good homes living in quiet communities murdered by someone unrelated to them. There also is the opportunity for the public to participate through reading media reports - almost like a real-life detective thriller. Contrast this with say a young black man being murdered in either Clapton or Brixton in London. The assumption will be that it was a drug or gang related crime and that this sort of thing happens all the time and isn't newsworthy. This may or may not be true but the prejudice is extremely difficult to overcome.

One interesting by-product of the attempts to try and identify the second victim was the link to two murder cases where the husbands were found guilty of murdering their wives despite the lack of the body and where they are still protesting their innocence. This was mentioned earlier by badhorsie at #155. I very much hope that these cases can be re-examined. At the time they didn't receive any national publicity and I feel they would benefit from wider scrutiny even if it was just to confirm the guilt of the husbands.

 

[whiterum]

paradoxically there has been nothing reported about his past behaviour to infer any dishonesty in his psychological makeup. I personally would believe what he told me.

His friend says he cheated on his first wife for years. He had sex with a relation of a friend, whilst his wife unknowingly slept in the next room. He was also cheating with a friend of his wife ( his current wife) until his wife found out about it, then he moved in with this woman who lived only a few doors away. I personally wouldn't believe anything, a deceiver, a cheat, not to mention a violent murderer told me.

 

[whiterum]

.

By the time they married at Holy Rood Roman Catholic Church in 1991 Mr Halliwell was working with his father-in-law as a builder.

Neighbours still remember his large transit van parked outside their house

A set of three Ford keys has been recovered from the site by the side of the M5, around a metre from where Melanie's remains were found.
They would have fitted a Ford Transit Van, Escort, or Fiesta, manufactured in 1995 or 1996 - the year Melanie disappeared.

Could have some significance, maybe worth checking out.

 

[Distant Observer]

His friend says he cheated on his first wife for years. He had sex with a relation of a friend, whilst his wife unknowingly slept in the next room. He was also cheating with a friend of his wife ( his current wife) until his wife found out about it, then he moved in with this woman who lived only a few doors away. I personally wouldn't believe anything, a deceiver, a cheat, not to mention a violent murderer told me.

I think someone like CH wouldn't regard adultery/cheating on his wife as dishonesty but merely unfaithfulness. I know many people, myself included who are scrupulously honest, holding positions of trust in banking, finance, politics etc where such behaviour is almost commonplace and not one person for a minute would regard it as dishonest. Immoral maybe but certainly not dishonest in the British legal sense.

 

[Cherwell]

I think Halliwell knows fine rightly the exact year, he is a liar. If no clothes, items, were found with the body, he took them. I assume the girl must have had a purse,cards, etc: He murdered the girl, dug a grave, buried her and dosen't remember the year. If you ask me he remembers the very time, day and year, probably also her name.

I personally wouldn't believe anything, a deceiver, a cheat, not to mention a violent murderer told me.

Thing is, he indicated the correct locations for both bodies, so he didn't lie about that. And he could have said nothing about the earlier murder, no one would even know there was a body buried there, let alone that he was responsible for it. If he has told this much, why would he keep anything back?

 

[whiterum]

I think someone like CH wouldn't regard adultery/cheating on his wife as dishonesty but merely unfaithfulness. I know many people, myself included who are scrupulously honest, holding positions of trust in banking, finance, politics etc where such behaviour is almost commonplace and not one person for a minute would regard it as dishonest. Immoral maybe but certainly not dishonest in the British legal sense.

Now as I personally see it, he was in a position of trust as a taxi driver, people would trust a taxi driver to take their children to school, just as they trust a banker to take care of their money. But I would say that he was not honest he was a liar, as he was not a mere taxi driver but a predator. He abused that trust to abduct and murder. Also someone who lives a double life, cheating on his wife behind backs and murdering young girls and all the time pretending to be a decent family man, is not honest to me.

The man to me was immoral, dishonest and a murderer.

I understand where you are coming from, looking at it from the British legal sense maybe, but to regard him as being honest certainly doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Clio]

SIAN O'CALLAGHAN: Hundreds take memorial walk for Sian starting at Suju nightclub in Swindon

From Swindon Advertiser article http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/8948343.SIAN_O_CALLAGHAN__Hundreds_to_walk_in_Sian_s_memory/


Also

The inquest into the death of murdered Sian O'Callaghan is expected to be opened and adjourned later today

from http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/n...twt&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Firefly75]

SO possibly died from head injury.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...om-head-injury-inquest-hears-115875-23031073/

 

[Suspicious Minds]

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=128719860525280&topic=593
Yes it does seem poor SO died from head injury, so sad but IMO (as a female better than a sxxxxl assault) r.i.p. Sian

 

[Sarahlou]

Melanie Hall also had head injuries.. I'm thinking he may have killed her too. Her body was also found in Gloucester IIRC, as was the unnamed victim he took the police to.

 

[whiterum]

They might find that the 'unknown lady' died with similar injuries. If that is the case there could possibly be more victims, women of a similar age. Serial killers usually kill the same type of victim, in the same manner.

 

[whiterum]

Melanie Hall also had head injuries.. I'm thinking he may have killed her too. Her body was also found in Gloucester IIRC, as was the unnamed victim he took the police to.

I think he could have too. I hope they are checking back on any vehicles he owned or had access to in the past. You never know,they could find evidence to link him to other murders.

 

[SilkySifaka]

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=128719860525280&topic=593
Yes it does seem poor SO died from head injury, so sad but IMO (as a female better than a sxxxxl assault) r.i.p. Sian

It makes it so much more pointless though. At least when there is sexual assault, as awful as it is for the victim, you can feel that terribly big question of "why" is answered. Perhaps not why her vs another but at least the motive. Her family can't even have that. He just decided to kill her. Plus the betrayal of it being a friend of his children.

 

[Cherwell]

It makes it so much more pointless though. At least when there is sexual assault, as awful as it is for the victim, you can feel that terribly big question of "why" is answered. Perhaps not why her vs another but at least the motive. Her family can't even have that. He just decided to kill her.

I don't think it's as simple as that. As you say, the motive of a rapist or sexually motivated killer can be understood to a degree, since most people have experienced normal sexual desire. But some people get a thrill (sexual or otherwise) through other things: power and control, or sadism for example. Such people may get their kicks without involving conventional sexual acts.

Having said that, none of these things may apply in this case. As Aneurin said earlier, this may be "one of those individuals who regard murder as a potential solution to a particular kind of problem".

 

[whiterum]

this may be "one of those individuals who regard murder as a potential solution to a particular kind of problem".

Now he himself is a particular kind of problem to a lot of people, eager to take a leaf out of his book as regards his method of problem solving.

Oh well, if you dish it out you gotta be willing to take it.

 

[whiterum]

Sian was formally identified by her mothers partner.

"I think the actual cause of death has not yet been defined but is likely to be head injuries of some description."

Sian was formally identified by Pete Shawe, the partner of her mother Elaine, who had known her for four years.

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local/8949645.SIAN_O_CALLAGHAN__Family_bearing_up/

 

[Firefly75]

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=128719860525280&topic=593
Yes it does seem poor SO died from head injury, so sad but IMO (as a female better than a sxxxxl assault) r.i.p. Sian

Agree. I really hope she didn't have to go through SA as well as part of her ordeal. It's completely senseless the poor girl had to die the way she did.

 

[wfgodot]

And she may never be identified unless CH gives up more

SIAN O’CALLAGHAN: MYSTERY OF SECOND BODY BAFFLES POLICE

---
Police say the victim, who is thought to have been killed between 2003 and 2005, does not match the dental records of anyone reported missing and a trawl of the national DNA database has also drawn a blank.
---

more at Express link above

 

[Cherwell]

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. Some sources had implied that they only found an arm or a few bones, but if they are talking about dental records, then there may be an eventual result although unfortunately not a quick one. They would obviously check the people known to be missing first.

 

[Clio]

And she may never be identified unless CH gives up more

SIAN O’CALLAGHAN: MYSTERY OF SECOND BODY BAFFLES POLICE

more at Express link above

The Express says "a trawl of the national DNA database has also drawn a blank".

The last TV news report I saw showed Det Steve Fulcher saying they hadn't got a proper DNA sample from the remains recovered from Eastleach yet. That was last Friday after the inquest on SO. Even if they have now got a good sample and checked against the database, it just means her DNA isn't on file i.e. she had never been arrested.

Reporter Rupert Evelyn said last Friday

Wilts police tell me they've had numerous contacts from families of missing women who're fearful the Eastleach body maybe their relative

from http://twitter.com/rupertevelyn/statuses/53917957721571328

I would imagine that it will take some time to cross check these leads.

As far as Dental records are concerned, I don't think there is a national database. Even if police managed to recover the relevant remains, each dentist would have to be contacted individually I believe. Wouldn't the police need to have some probable missing persons names to make this a viable thing to do?