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

[rvlvr]

The police found a set of three Ford keys (one master key and two spares) near to Melanie's body.

Perhaps the killer lost them when he was dumping the body, but who carries their spare key on the same keyring as their main key, let alone the additional spare key as well?

Yeah, it’s a really curious one. I wondered if it was just coincidental, people toss out all sorts of rubbish on roadsides don’t they, especially motorways, I don’t think there’s ever been an update from police to say they got anywhere with that lead?

Edited to add: it reminded me a bit of the novelty keyring in the Shona Stevens case, it was an interesting discussion point when it first came to light but of course it might’ve just been already on the ground in the area where Shona was killed. A man’s recently been charged with Shona’s murder, if he stands trial it’ll be interesting to see if the keyring comes up as evidence.

 

[tes1984]

I guess a lot of people would have stopped there over the years to answer calls of nature. Perhaps a bit of fly tipping too, but you have to wonder how far maintenance workers would have rummaged into the undergrowth to clear rubbish.

Melanie's body was there for 13 years, so again you have to wonder how often the area was cleaaned/maintained.

 

[tes1984]

The police have a partial DNA profile from the rope.

In the Melanie Road case they had a rare blood type, which only occurred in 3% of the population.

They arrested 84 local men who matched the rare blood type, but missed Christopher Hampton in their area of enquiry by three doors.

 

[tes1984]

As for the place where Melanie's remains were found there is no way the person(s) who disposed of the bags walked far off the slip road. It would have been much too risky to park up for long.

View attachment 612918

Google Street View. To see images from 2008, before Melanie's remains were found, click on "See more dates" in top left corner and then on the Oct 2008 box:

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

There was CCTV there so the killer must have parked up out of view, and then carried Melanie's body to where she was found.

What sort of distance would he have covered.. 20 metres? 50 metres? 100 metres?

 

[Inspector Evans]

There was CCTV there so the killer must have parked up out of view, and then carried Melanie's body to where she was found.

What sort of distance would he have covered.. 20 metres? 50 metres? 100 metres?

Looking at the aerial shot is there any way to walk in through the back? Can see big field but presume it's very tough to walk through to the slip road.

Logical assumption here is body was dumped in the dead of night so hardly any vehicles coming down the slip road at that time.

 

[Konstantin]

As for the place where Melanie's remains were found there is no way the person(s) who disposed of the bags walked far off the slip road. It would have been much too risky to park up for long.

View attachment 612918

Google Street View. To see images from 2008, before Melanie's remains were found, click on "See more dates" in top left corner and then on the Oct 2008 box:

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

Which bit exactly where her remains left in? The densely wooded area on the right?

Could there have been 2 people in the car to dump the body faster as it would not have been that light and hard to carry in the dark in uneven terrain. Faster with two people. You wouldn't want to stay parked up for long there even though at night, not much traffic on the road.

Reading the Evening Post article I linked above PK's (supposed) actions were unforgiveable if not downright questionable.

Agreed. At best one could say he behaved like a complete manchild. One assumes or hopes that, as a doctor, he would not have been so reckless as to drink or take drugs (sure!) so he doesn't even have the excuse of being drunk. If he behaved like this then, I doubt it was the first time or his behaviour just came out of the blue. JMO.

 

[Konstantin]

There was CCTV there so the killer must have parked up out of view, and then carried Melanie's body to where she was found.

What sort of distance would he have covered.. 20 metres? 50 metres? 100 metres?

That suggests prior detailed knowledge of that area, then. What sort of person would know that? You'd have to travel that way a lot.

And 100 metres is a long way to walk carrying an unwieldy, large weight. Even 50 metres is really. He must have been fairly strong if just one person.

Maybe the keys aren't related and were just hurled out of a car window by someone else for some other reason. You'd have to assume the body would be found at some point and you wouldn't want to leave something there that could lead to you. And yes, the point of a spare key is you don't carry it around with you.

 

[SteveH]

Which bit exactly where her remains left in? The densely wooded area on the right?

Could there have been 2 people in the car to dump the body faster as it would not have been that light and hard to carry in the dark in uneven terrain. Faster with two people. You wouldn't want to stay parked up for long there even though at night, not much traffic on the road.



Agreed. At best one could say he behaved like a complete manchild. One assumes or hopes that, as a doctor, he would not have been so reckless as to drink or take drugs (sure!) so he doesn't even have the excuse of being drunk. If he behaved like this then, I doubt it was the first time or his behaviour just came out of the blue. JMO.

You can see where her body was found in these photos:

tes1984 says there was CCTV and so the killer must have parked out of view. I can't really see this, as dragging bin bags down a slip road would have been even more of a risk. They also say plenty of people might have stopped their car to relieve themselves. I'm not sure this would be common practice on a slip road especially as Michaelwood Services is a couple of minutes up the motorway.

Unlike the case of Shelley Morgan, whose body was found at the end of a fairly remote country lane near Backwell, I don't think the person needed any special knowledge of the area, although they presumably knew there was foliage there, unless they were just looking for a quick and convenient wooded area and took their opportunity. Why not dump the remains in a copse off a minor road or lane as happened with Shelley? I should just point out that the motorway junction is very close to HMP Leyhill, which is an open prison.

I agree that is is extremely likely that the remains were dumped in the dead of night but motorways are busy with freight traffic at all hours and the police might patrol at any time. Why hang around when you could just deposit the bags in a matter of seconds. There may have been a driver and a passenger to speed things up but why would someone else get involved?

The keys may well not be connected with Melanie's remains.

Another body was found near a motorway a couple of years later not too far to the north.

Marie Wilks "was a 22-year-old seven-months pregnant woman who was abducted from the hard shoulder of the M50 motorway and murdered on 18 June 1988. Her body was found two days later dumped three miles up the road." (Wikipedia) Eddie Browning was jailed for the murder but he was released on a technicality in 1994. Michael Mansfield was his QC (see Barry George).

According to the Wikipedia article "the body of Wilks was discovered at the bottom of the embankment, near the Bushley area in Hereford and Worcester. Wilkes had been stabbed in the side of her neck, severing her carotid artery, and struck on the side of the head. It was later disclosed that Wilks had tried to use her Red Cross training to stem the blood from her punctured artery with her hand, which had successfully helped reduce her blood loss and might have saved her, before the killer had punched her three or four times in the face and broken her jaw, knocking her out and finally killing her. The attack, murder and dumping of Wilks' body would only have taken about 10 minutes in total."

Eddie Browning was a bouncer from South Wales. "Browning openly admitted that, in his duties as a bouncer, he could punch someone hard enough to break their jaw."

"THE man cleared of the M50 murder of pregnant mum Marie Wilks told a friend "I killed her", a court heard yesterday.

Former Welsh guardsman Eddie Browning was paid 675,000 pounds in compensation for wrongful arrest and imprisonment over the 1989 [sic] murder.

But a jury heard Mr Browning, 46, confessed to a close friend that he had murdered Marie. He was arrested the next day."

'I DID MURDER M50 MARIE' Cleared man told pal, court hears. - Free Online Library

Free Online Library: 'I DID MURDER M50 MARIE' Cleared man told pal, court hears.(News) by "The Mirror (London, England)"; General interest

www.thefreelibrary.com

Fortunately Browning, who subsequent to his release was often in trouble with the law, died in 2018.

 

[tes1984]

IMO Eddie Browning looks just like the man who attempted the car park abduction a few hours before Melanie's disappearance. The car park abduction took place a few yards from a police station, so I doubt if the perp was the Batman rapist (or anyone else who knew Bath well).

The police went after another ex soldier for the carpark attack, who was younger and lived closer to Bath than Browning did.

Browning is a somewhat interesting POI for Melanie though. Melanie was found with a broken jaw. Browning did a runner from his wife in May 1996, and his whereabouts are uncertain in June 1996. He had lots of money and spent lavishly on clothes, nights out etc. He really doesn't look like the composite sketch of the man in the nightclub though. He was too old and too blonde (unless he had dyed his hair).

 

[SteveH]

IMO Eddie Browning looks just like the man who attempted the car park abduction a few hours before Melanie's disappearance. The car park abduction took place a few yards from a police station, so I doubt if the perp was the Batman rapist (or anyone else who knew Bath well).

The police went after another ex soldier for the carpark attack, who was younger and lived closer to Bath than Browning did.

Browning is a somewhat interesting POI for Melanie though. Melanie was found with a broken jaw. Browning did a runner from his wife in May 1996, and his whereabouts are uncertain in June 1996. He had lots of money and spent lavishly on clothes, nights out etc. He really doesn't look like the composite sketch of the man in the nightclub though. He was too old and too blonde (unless he had dyed his hair).

Of course I should have said the Marie Wilks murder was eight years before Melanie's disappearance, not two years after. Browning's trial began in October 1989 and he was released in May 1994. He was 32 when he was arrested.

According to Wikipedia "Within only seven months of his release, Browning's wife, Julie, filed for divorce from him because of the "living hell" of living with him...He later married for a third time to Merediel Tomson."

"In 1996, Browning made the news again after police issued a request for the public to help locate him so they could arrest him for allegedly threatening his estranged wife. The wife had dialled 999 from their home and the emergency operators reportedly heard the sound of him attacking her with a chainsaw in the background."

The Times reported he was "being sought" in May 1996.

You are right about Browning and the attempted abductor on 9 June 1996. He was "sandy blond" and "quite thick set" as the woman who was attacked in the car park described him - she was from Cardiff (a lot of Cardiff/Welsh connections):

Melanie abductor could have struck just hours before

A woman who escaped the clutches of a knife-wielding abductor just hours before Bradford on Avon woman Melanie Hall was snatched 13 years ago has…

www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk

From an article on the Bath Rapist in The News of the World' 14 Feb 1999:

"VICTIM No 3 was Linda Hamblin, 42, in June 1996. She needed plastic surgery after she was slashed by The Riddler as he tried to bundle her into her car in Bath city centre. Linda, of Cardiff, was attacked after parking her BMW in Bath's Ham Garden car park.

The monster grabbed her from behind, put a knife to her throat and tried to force her into the car.

BRAVE Linda fought back but the rapist lashed out with his knife and slashed her wrist tendons. Then he ran off, stunned by the mum-of-one's courage.

She was rushed to Bath Royal United hospital with wounds so horrific she had to undergo cosmetic surgery.

Linda sobbed: "He told me he'd slit my throat. I thought he was going to kill me and I'd never see my husband or son again.""

Interesting that Browning was a bouncer. On another forum (not R*ddit) there is a lot of talk about bouncers in the Batman Rapist case. Concerning Melanie someone said:

"I like the bouncer theory, but Melanie Hall was last seen at 1.10am. Would a bouncer have been able to just leave his shift early without it being noticed?

Perhaps the abductor was a bouncer from another club who was at Caddilacs [sic] as a patron on his night off.

Another option could be that out of town bouncers were called in as extra staff on what was obviously going to be a very busy night (during a rare spell of great weather, the first day of the Euro football championships, and only a week after the start of the month when people get paid)."

Of course Browning, who was known for carrying a knife, doesn't look like the e-fit of the bloke who was talking to Melanie in the club, but who knows if that man had anything to do with her murder? Maybe at some point she went off on her own and then the worst happened.

Eddie Browning

 

[Konstantin]

Maybe at some point she went off on her own and then the worst happened.

This is plausible. How was she supposed to get to her boyfriend's place that night? Was he the designated driver? So after he left, she was stuck? She could have tried walking home or to his, or to a phone box, or tried to get a taxi, or had a taxi play the white knight and "rescue" her by offering her a lift.

 

[tes1984]

This is plausible. How was she supposed to get to her boyfriend's place that night? Was he the designated driver? So after he left, she was stuck? She could have tried walking home or to his, or to a phone box, or tried to get a taxi, or had a taxi play the white knight and "rescue" her by offering her a lift.

The police searched a taxi rank in Bath. They never seem to say if Melanie had any cash on her that evening for a cab though. You also needed coins to use a phone box.

It doesn't seem like Melanie had a mobile phone. Only 16% of households owned a mobile phone in 1996. I wonder if her boyfriend owned one. You might expect a 30 year old doctor to be amongst the earlier mobile owners.

 

[rvlvr]

Certainly not defending MH’s boyfriend but I think it’s interesting to compare this case to the Melanie Road murder - like MH, MR had been out with friends and her boyfriend. Unlike in MH’s case, everyone parted on good terms, but MR apparently refused the offer of a taxi and chose to walk home alone instead. And then the worst happened. Perhaps MR’s boyfriend should’ve insisted on putting her in a cab, but MR was a smart, headstrong young woman, and I think it was said she’d made that journey before without incident. He must’ve beaten himself up about it afterwards and I’m sure MH’s fella did likewise.

One thing I’ve always been a bit curious about is the exact time MH’s friends left the club? I think it’s generally said it was before MH’s boyfriend left her, but I’m sure I’ve read/heard it was after too?

I wonder if MH bumped into someone she knew, from school or uni? Jenny King’s murderer knew her from primary school, I think? Perhaps this lulled MH into a false sense of safety.

BBC News | UK | Nightclub killer jailed for life

 

[tes1984]

One thing I’ve always been a bit curious about is the exact time MH’s friends left the club? I think it’s generally said it was before MH’s boyfriend left her, but I’m sure I’ve read/heard it was after too?

BBC News | UK | Nightclub killer jailed for life

The Crimewatch reconstruction says that the friends left at 1.10am, which is usually the time given as the last confirmed sighting of Melanie.

Several other people think they might have seen Melanie after 1.10am, but none of them actually knew Melanie. The witness who may have seen her with the well dressed man, said that the couple left the club shortly after 1.10am.

I need to double check what time PK left the club. IIRC it was just before 1am, but I may be misremembering.

I don't think PK spent hours brooding in his car (which going by the reconstruction seems to have been left parked in the street, not in the big carpark). If he was parked in the underground carpark, did he really expect Melanie to wander there alone at 1am to look for him?

If Melanie's friends leave after PK, then (again going by the reconstruction) why doesn't she ask them if they've seen him?

 

[Eastend Eagle]

The Crimewatch reconstruction says that the friends left at 1.10am, which is usually the time given as the last confirmed sighting of Melanie.

Several other people think they might have seen Melanie after 1.10am, but none of them actually knew Melanie. The witness who may have seen her with the well dressed man, said that the couple left the club shortly after 1.10am.

I need to double check what time PK left the club. IIRC it was just before 1am, but I may be misremembering.

I don't think PK spent hours brooding in his car (which going by the reconstruction seems to have been left parked in the street, not in the big carpark). If he was parked in the underground carpark, did he really expect Melanie to wander there alone at 1am to look for him?

If Melanie's friends leave after PK, then (again going by the reconstruction) why doesn't she ask them if they've seen him?

How much do we know of the couple who went to the nightclub with Melanie and Dr K? Do we know their names or anything?

 

[tes1984]

How much do we know of the couple who went to the nightclub with Melanie and Dr K? Do we know their names or anything?

They worked at the hospital, and were apparently friends of Melanie, rather than friends of PK.

They all attended a barbecue earlier in the day. It would be interesting to know where the barbecue took place.

 

[lee sumner]

Which bit exactly where her remains left in? The densely wooded area on the right?

Could there have been 2 people in the car to dump the body faster as it would not have been that light and hard to carry in the dark in uneven terrain. Faster with two people. You wouldn't want to stay parked up for long there even though at night, not much traffic on the road.



Agreed. At best one could say he behaved like a complete manchild. One assumes or hopes that, as a doctor, he would not have been so reckless as to drink or take drugs (sure!) so he doesn't even have the excuse of being drunk. If he behaved like this then, I doubt it was the first time or his behaviour just came out of the blue. JMO.

or was melanie kissing the man on the dance floor. dr phil said she was all over him, so he left the club in anger, not knowing she probably met her killer shortly after.

 

[tes1984]

or was melanie kissing the man on the dance floor. dr phil said she was all over him, so he left the club in anger, not knowing she probably met her killer shortly after.

I find it hard to believe she was dumping her boyfriend like that. He pops to the toilet, dancing man swoops in and within minutes is kissing Melanie?

Apart from one witness, nobody seems to recall this dancing man. He's not there with Melanie when her friends leave the club.

Melanie is supposed to be staying at her boyfriend's, all her stuff is there, and he's also pretty much her boss at work. Yet she doesn't care about any of this once she spots dancing man through the crowd?

 

[tes1984]

The FBI analysed how far lone offenders can carry dead bodies, and the maximum distance was less than the length of a football pitch.

The UK police certainly don't seem to have ruled out the possibility that Melanie's body was carried by two offenders. She was also draped in bin bags, bound with rope, which would have made carrying her difficult for even the strongest offender.

It all depends if the car was parked near the overgrowth, or further up to avoid the motorway CCTV.

The criminologist JMS said the killer was evidence savvy enough to avoid the cameras, but perhaps he was caught on camera, and the footage was just never checked and was wiped 48 hours later. Nobody knew there was any connection between Melanie and Thornbury until many years later.

 

[Konstantin]

The criminologist JMS said the killer was evidence savvy enough to avoid the cameras, but perhaps he was caught on camera, and the footage was just never checked and was wiped 48 hours later. Nobody knew there was any connection between Melanie and Thornbury until many years later.

Exactly, who would be checking those cameras?

I suppose there would be a risk if someone did check and saw a person or two people carrying a suspicious looking large package but where was the camera and what was it focussing on? Presumably it was pointed at the traffic on the slip road so maybe could pick up that a car stopped?

I think you are bang on and we can't rule out that the offender/s just didn't know about the camera and were lucky because it was never checked as nothing happened on that road to merit it being looked at.