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

[Dotta]

Maybe but if it was club drugs like Ecstasy, it's more likely she would have taken one at the start of the evening, to get high and enjoy the club more or whatever people take that stuff for, not after a few hours. Which could have happened, and might explain why she was dancing with another guy if she was high on E. Maybe her boyfriend objected to that, rather than to her dancing with a man in a club. Who knows. There was a disagreement about something and it just seems off or out of proportion somehow.

Were she and her bf regular clubbers?

But I don't think Melanie's murder was about drugs - which are very common in clubs and not something to abduct and probably rape and then smash someone's face and head in over. Just par for the course. Melanie was an ordinary young woman, a graduate in her first job with a "nice" boyfriend. I think this was a sex killing - someone abducted Melanie when she was extremely vulnerable, someone who targeted her in the club - like the Bible John killer - or who targeted her just outside the club - because she was on her own, probably worse for wear, tired, maybe it had got chilly, her boyfriend had pushed off as had her mates and she had no way to get home. She was very vulnerable to anyone who said they were a taxi driver or maybe even were a real taxi driver or someone she'd got to know who said they'd help her get home.

Sadly it is depressingly common for women on their way home from nights out to be targeted by predators.

I understand.

But he might have lured her out promising some (more?) drugs outside,
they were seen talking in the street and then arguing.

What about?

Maybe he said she had to get into the car (and go to a place?) to be given some.
And she reluctantly agreed.

A witness said the victim went to the underground car park unwillingly.
But, nevertheless, she went
and once in the car - was trapped.

JMO
This is just a theory and my imagination!!!

 

[tes1984]

There were a lot of potential sightings of Melanie outside the club, but none of them have been confirmed.

Couple arguing in the street.
Couple arguing near the river.
Couple arguing in a street further North.
Couple canoodling outside the club.
Woman being coerced towards carpark.
Woman heard shouting "leave me alone".
Woman seen outside taxi rank.

AFAIK none of these potential sightings have been ruled out though.

 

[Dotta]

There were a lot of potential sightings of Melanie outside the club, but none of them have been confirmed.

Couple arguing in the street.
Couple arguing near the river.
Couple arguing in a street further North.
Couple canoodling outside the club.
Woman being coerced towards carpark.
Woman heard shouting "leave me alone".
Woman seen outside taxi rank.

AFAIK none of these potential sightings have been ruled out though.

Oops

Ummm....
So... I picked only those to fit my theory.

Canoodling???
I had to ask Uncle Google about the meaning
as I'm not an English native speaker!

Phew!

 

[tes1984]

A woman (fitting Melanie's general description) and a man were seen kissing and cuddling outside the club at around 2.15am.

 

[Inspector Evans]

Did this club not have door staff?

Been a very long time since clubbing days (and they weren't too frequent) but the ones I went to always had plenty of people lingering outside the doors at closing time which would be 3am and staff would make sure people vacated the premises at that time.

No idea who was interviewed by police in the days after Melanie went missing but again unless there were hundreds in there you'd think she and the mystery man would be remembered by someone once out in the open unless there were some hidden alleys or other spots around the club.

 

[tes1984]

The club had door staff. I think it closed at 2am.

The police interviewed hundreds of clubbers and employees. A lot probably slipped the net though, as nightclubs were very much cash businesses in the 90s.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Why couldn’t the keys have been dropped by accident as the body was being deposited?

They absolutely could have been, but when the killer realised this they'd have probably scrapped the car (if they had another key to drive it!!) or hidden it. At first I believed it was an accidental drop, in a panic. However as I've read this thread I'm now of the opinion they were left intentionally and maybe not at the time of disposal.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

The club had door staff. I think it closed at 2am.

The police interviewed hundreds of clubbers and employees. A lot probably slipped the net though, as nightclubs were very much cash businesses in the 90s.

If I think back to the glorious 90s (rose tinted glasses?!) - I don't think I would remember much about other people in a club unless there was a big incident or someone I fancied. You're out with your friends, in your group, drinks flowing music beating. I'm surprised the group didn't stick together, but maybe this was a known/local setting and sadly they felt safe there.

I do think it would be good to know if Melanie has previously taken recreational drugs as this could've distorted things and behaviour.

As far as I'm aware, Phillip was a relatively new boyfriend, so this might've been the first time out clubbing together? Perhaps there is a cultural difference between British and German clubs. Here it might not be unusual to dance with the person next to you.
Melanie clearly felt comfortable doing so.

I hope Phillip's version of events has been thoroughly questioned alongside the friends they were out with.
Personally, I do think it was very harsh of him to abandon her in the club.

 

[rvlvr]

The keys might have been dropped by someone else altogether.

Yeah, without knowing what else was found in the vicinity we can’t rule out that they weren’t dropped or thrown there by someone unconnected to the crime, surely. Slip roads are often treated like dumping grounds by inconsiderate motorists and their passengers.

Most accounts I’ve read suggest Melanie’s body was left only ‘metres’ from the road, with the keys found ‘near’ to it. So there must be a decent chance the keys just happened to be there, perhaps tossed from a vehicle.

The keys supposedly relate ‘to a Ford car made around 1995 to 1996’, so potentially they could’ve been there prior to Melanie’s murder.

Melanie murder cops reveal keys clue during Crimewatch

Hundreds of calls have been received following a fresh appeal on BBC show Crimewatch for help in catching the killer of 25-year-old Bradford on Avon…

www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk

 

[Inspector Evans]

If I think back to the glorious 90s (rose tinted glasses?!) - I don't think I would remember much about other people in a club unless there was a big incident or someone I fancied. You're out with your friends, in your group, drinks flowing music beating. I'm surprised the group didn't stick together, but maybe this was a known/local setting and sadly they felt safe there.

I do think it would be good to know if Melanie has previously taken recreational drugs as this could've distorted things and behaviour.

As far as I'm aware, Phillip was a relatively new boyfriend, so this might've been the first time out clubbing together? Perhaps there is a cultural difference between British and German clubs. Here it might not be unusual to dance with the person next to you.
Melanie clearly felt comfortable doing so.

I hope Phillip's version of events has been thoroughly questioned alongside the friends they were out with.
Personally, I do think it was very harsh of him to abandon her in the club.

Oh in clubs still it would be dark. I meant more when Melanie left with whoever and it is lighter outside and anyone still observant at that time could make a decent visual description of who she was with as from the eye witness accounts we do have it seems she stayed in the street area around the club for 15 minutes or so?

 

[Rookie D]

Yeah, without knowing what else was found in the vicinity we can’t rule out that they weren’t dropped or thrown there by someone unconnected to the crime, surely. Slip roads are often treated like dumping grounds by inconsiderate motorists and their passengers.

Most accounts I’ve read suggest Melanie’s body was left only ‘metres’ from the road, with the keys found ‘near’ to it. So there must be a decent chance the keys just happened to be there, perhaps tossed from a vehicle.

The keys supposedly relate ‘to a Ford car made around 1995 to 1996’, so potentially they could’ve been there prior to Melanie’s murder.

Melanie murder cops reveal keys clue during Crimewatch

Hundreds of calls have been received following a fresh appeal on BBC show Crimewatch for help in catching the killer of 25-year-old Bradford on Avon…

www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk

What we do know for certain is that the red master key found with the other 2 black keys, was first introduced by Ford in 1994.

That means that if the keys were placed there by anyone other than the killer/man who deposited the body, they could only have done so between 1994 to 1996 (based on the killer depositing the body very soon after Melanie was murdered)

Otherwise, they would have need to have dropped/placed/thrown the keys at a time when Melanie's body was already there.

I think that's highly unlikely.

In other words, if an innocent person put the keys there, then they could have only really done so prior to Melanie's body having been deposited there (almost certainly in 1996.)

That leaves a window from 1994 to 1996 for anyone other than the killer having dropped the keys there.

Melanie was likely there between 1996 to when she was discovered in 2009.

That's a 13 year window, rather than a 2 year window.


I therefore feel that the statistical likelihood of someone else other than the killer having deposited the keys, is extremely unlikely, and forms part of the reason why I believe it was the killer who put the keys there; either dropping them by mistake, or by placing them deliberately.

Interestingly, Ford stopped producing those red master keys in 1998/1999; after which the keys for the immobilizer system were changed and the red master key soon became defunct soon afterwards.

 

[dotr]

Maybe the killer accidentally dropped the one key and upon realizing that, returned later to toss other keys in that direction to cause (which it appears to have done), confusion?
It would be safer to just drive by and throw the other keys, rather than get out of a vehicle to retrieve the original key. speculation.

 

[Jenesaisquoi]

Maybe Melanie grabbed the keys in a last ditch attempt to provide a clue as to the perp.

 

[Rookie D]

Maybe the killer accidentally dropped the one key and upon realizing that, returned later to toss other keys in that direction to cause (which it appears to have done), confusion?
It would be safer to just drive by and throw the other keys, rather than get out of a vehicle to retrieve the original key. speculation.

The keys were found linked together as a 3, and so they were not discarded separately.

This means they were all deposited together.

Dropping all 3 keys and not realising is possible, but not as likely as someone having deliberately discarded them with the body.


There is of course another option to consider; that the keys belonged to the killer's previous victim BEFORE he killed Melanie.

That would mean the killer leaving a trophy from a previous victim, next to the body of his most recent victim.

Using that logic, it is possible that IF the killer killed again AFTER Melanie, that he then deliberately left an item belonging to Melanie beside the body of his following victim.

It's purely an hypothesis, but not beyond the realms of possibility.

 

[Rookie D]

Maybe Melanie grabbed the keys in a last ditch attempt to provide a clue as to the perp.

I would be almost certain that Melanie's body was already dismembered and wrapped up in bin bags before the killer got out of his car to deposit her body.

The slip road was a deposition site and not the scene of the murder.

Otherwise, there would have been no need to use black bin bags and ropes for containment and concealment purposes.

If Melanie was alive when she arrived at the deposition site, she would have been found without any other items that were used to conceal her body.

Melanie's killer very much treated her body akin to him having taken out the trash.

The killer seemingly spent some considerable time with her body, before depositing her remains in a relatively remote spot. He wanted to conceal what he had done, including trying to hide her identity by trying to destroy her face, and dehumanise her in the process.

Unlike the case of Melanie Road, whose killer was a complete stranger, who chased her along the street, then stabbed and murdered her, then raping her multiple times, and leaving her in the street.
Christopher Hampton was thankfully caught and put behind bars, but his M.O is in stark contrast to the man who took Melanie Hall's life. Hampton was an impulsive psychotic and sexual deviant driven by sexual desire, power and rage; whereas Melanie Hall's killer seems more calculated and perhaps possessed clinical psychopathic traits that Melanie didn't realise until it was too late.
He most certainly charmed her into a false sense of security before then revealing his true intentions.

 

[tes1984]

Melanie's body wasn't dismembered. She was wrapped in bin bags, which were secured with the rope, and then presumably carried from a vehicle to the deposition site.

We don't know if Melanie Hall's killer was a complete stranger to her or not. I suspect she did know him, but I'm not ruling out a stranger murder just yet.

Likewise we don't know if Christopher Hampton knew Melanie Road or not, or if he lured her into a false sense of security before attacking her.

 

[Rookie D]

Here's No1 suspect in hunt for murder victim Melanie Hall's killer

This is the man linked to the brutal killing and dismemberment of "bag of bones" murder victim Melanie Hall.

www.mirror.co.uk

According to this article in the Mirror, Melanie's body was described as "dismembered."

If she wasn't dismembered, then this article is particularly misleading


It also says that Melanie's body was burned

It's the first time I've heard that


The article does state that Melanie disappeared in "January 1996" instead of "June 1996," so perhaps this article is full of factual errors; not surprising for a tabloid newspaper.


Oh, and I've just learnt how to copy a link! A proud moment for me, haha!