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

[wfgodot]

The Sun continues on with....

There may be more bodies, says cabbie

Last night a source close to the probe said: "He hinted after being picked up that there could be other victims. They are preparing to go back over the last 20 years."

The insider added: "When he was first picked up he did chat to detectives, although he has subsequently stayed silent."
---
The cabbie ....is to be quizzed over her death and that of Melanie Hall, 26, from nearby Bath.

(more at link above)

 

[badhorsie]

The Sun's source is most likely a tea lady in the police canteen lol
The Sun does love sensationalism

 

[Saturn]

I think the Police have a very good idea of who was involved, but a person who probably had a big involvement died before her body was found, however finding the evidence they needed was another matter.

All the clues point to that person, and although I don't believe he was the killer, he helped cover up what I think was a fatal accident.

I've never seen the link to the Transit keys before, but that just puts the lid on it for me.

Unsure how much I can post, as it's so long ago, I can't remember how much was in the MSM, and how much was through word of mouth, ie not just rumour, but knowing people that were interviewed and what the line of questioning was.

 

[Redgoblin]

I suppose one must ask, why were the keys there in the first place. If they were found buried which is what the MSM are saying that LE have said, why bury a set of keys near a deposition site?

Perhaps the keys got buried with the body or near to the body by accident?
Or put their to frame someone else?

 

[Saturn]

If the Police's inkling was correct, they would have been dropped by accident, by someone who would have access to quite a few keys, and would be expected to have all keys, even the red master key, and buried over time. A few years of being on the surface but with vegetation growing and dying back would bury them a few inches under the surface: even the Highways Agency admitted that verge had not been cleared for several years.

 

[Robin Hood]

This might answer a question re. one of the men

http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/m...d-to-murder-of-melanie-hall-66331-25006591/2/

John Cannan and
Christopher Clark
He was previously interviewed by police over Melanie Hall’s disappearance but was released due to a lack of evidence. A month later he attacked a woman in Bath and was jailed for life.

 

[Redgoblin]

A couple of new developments in the case - News posted 3rd October.

Police today said the long-running investigation had been boosted by two new significant developments.

They have recently received information about a distinctive white Volkswagen Golf GTi cabriolet which has been recovered and is now being forensically examined.

The ageing car has a white soft top and an A-registration, which means it dates from 1983-84.

Police believe the car was being used in the Bath area in 1996 when Melanie was murdered.

They are now in the process of identifying and tracing its owners around the relevant time.

The Golf, which is almost 30 years old, was tracked down in Gloucestershire where it was still being used by its current owner.

Police say the current keeper is nothing to do with what happened historically.

Detectives refuse to say what makes the car suspicious but describe the information they have received about it as “very interesting and significant”.

The second breakthrough relates to the origin of the blue rope used to tie up Melanie’s body.

Although it was mass-produced and commonly used police say they now have ‘a credible account’ of where it came from.

Source: SWNS

 

[aneurin]

The BBC is reporting that 44-year-old was arrested at his Bath home last week but released on bail until 19 December.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25087061

Not that this necessarily means anything; I believe that something like a couple of dozen people have been arrested on suspicion of murdering Melanie down the years.

 

[gregjrichards]

New article about a car which may have been used in Melanie's murder has been released today. I hope information comes forward about who drove it. A White Volkswagen Golf Gti hard top - registration C752 CYE - was last known to be registered on August 7 1996.

"This could be the car used by the unknown killer of nightclubber Melanie Hall who was brutally murdered 17 years ago, police revealed today.
Melanie, then 25, disappeared on a night out in Bath, Somerset, in June 1996. Her remains, dumped beside a slip road on the M5, were not found until 13 years later.
The hospital worker had been battered around the head and her body was wrapped in black bin bags and bound with blue rope."


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tclubber-Melanie-Hall-1996.html#ixzz2wRkiEjVx

 

[Supernovae]

Police ask the CPS for a charging decision regarding a suspect:

https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/newsroom/melanie-hall-murder-cps-asked-for-charging-decision/

http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/...-police-seek/story-23019787-detail/story.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-29429196

 

[Supernovae]

Incidentally, it doesn't seem to have been discussed in this thread, but one criminologist linked this case to Levi Bellfield, on the basis of similarities between Melanie Hall's appearance and injuries and those of Amelie Delagrange and Marsha McDonnell, although it looks like the police have someone else in frame:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/383124/Milly-Dowler-s-killer-and-the-missing-bones

http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/TV-d...rder-Melanie/story-18422418-detail/story.html

 

[Redgoblin]

It would have to be someone else as the main suspect is supposedly a resident of Bath, which LB has never been... well not to my knowledge anyway. Thanks for the recent news reports Supernovae.

 

[martin123]

the prime suspect in this case for along time was Mark shillibier I believe he even confessed to killing her once.the problem is the police just lack that crucial bit of evidence to charge someone.

 

[Earth]

I think Bellfield could be a likely suspect. She fits his modus operandi.

I think he began killing way before Milly.

I think he killed Patsy Morris, Melanie Hall, Lin and Megan Russell, Debbie Linsley http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-21875096, Sally-Ann Light (stabbed outside the Tower of London in '89, can't find anything), Penny Bell http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Penny_Bell; there are more I can't quite find right now. I think though, that whoever killed Melanie is a psycho and this was not a one-off murder.

 

[martin123]

I agree completely i dont believe this was a one off murder. My first feeling about this case was that the batman rapist had something to do with it but now im not so sure. There does seem to be a long list of credible suspects for this case.

 

[0101ABA]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ton-kill-woman-12-years-day-Melanie-Road.html

A killer who was jailed for the 1984 murder of Melanie Road is being investigated over a chillingly similar unsolved case, it has emerged.

Christopher Hampton was given a life sentence yesterday after he admitted raping 17-year-old A-level student Miss Road before knifing her to death after she left a Bath nightclub in 1984.

The circumstances mirror the fate of Melanie Hall, 25, who disappeared after leaving a Bath nightclub in 1996 – 12 years to the day from the murder of Miss Road.

 

[Ellmau]

Police say they're not linking the cases.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36256790

 

[Redgoblin]

The police did have a POI they released on bail that was residing in the West side of Bath, which would if true eliminate CH from their enquiries. That said, if they need time for the science to catch up, or other evidence to fall into place they wouldn't want to jeopardise a POI even though they may be locked up for a different offence., I'm not suggesting CH here per se, as there are other persons which have previously been mentioned above.

 

[PastTense]

Detectives investigating the unsolved murder of university graduate Melanie Hall 20 years ago could finally catch her killer following a major DNA breakthrough in the case.

Miss Hall, 25, who worked at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, vanished following an evening out at a nightclub in the city on June 9 1996...

The investigation was hampered however by the fact experts had been unable to isolate enough DNA evidence to help them with their inquiries. But now, thanks to advances in forensic technology, detectives have confirmed for the first time that they have a sample to work with.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...20-year-old-melanie-hall-murder-investigatio/

 

[MelmothTheLost]

The Daily Wail are also carrying the story:

Police hunting killer of Melanie Hall who went missing after night out 20 years ago make DNA breakthrough

Police investigating the murder of university graduate Melanie Hall who disappeared 20 years ago have had a DNA breakthrough which could lead to her killer finally being identified.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...iller-Melanie-Hall-make-DNA-breakthrough.html