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

[tes1984]

According to this the police are now focussing on LESS than 20 potential suspects.

There's no guarantee that the perp is even in the case files though.

Christopher Hampton wasn't on any lists for Melanie Road, and the Batman Rapist is still at large despite over 2000 suspects being DNA tested.

 

[tes1984]

If the police are going with the sighting of the couple arguing between 1.45 and 2am, then why is Melanie still in the very immediate area 30-45 minutes after supposedly leaving the club?

IIRC there was one witness who thought he saw Melanie near the club getting some food and then trying to get a taxi.

The police later searched a local taxi office, but the main taxi rank in Bath was further south, very near to where the attempted abduction of LH took place hours earlier.

It's amazing that Bath had CCTV cameras in 1996, but they didn't put at least one of the cameras in the busiest part of the city.

 

[Deadbeat]

A lengthy and informative news article from just 4 days ago…

Melanie Hall: Fresh probe into woman's murder, three decades on

Melanie Hall was last seen on a night out in Bath before her body was discovered 13 years later.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Hustling01]

Glad this is being looked at again. I do think its connected to the batman series. Hope they get a full dna profile

 

[tes1984]

Glad this is being looked at again. I do think its connected to the batman series. Hope they get a full dna profile

The police don't seem to think it's connected, although I don't think they've ever formally ruled out a connection.

The LH attack doesn't seem to have been part of the linked Operation Eagle (Batman) series. However A&S police don't exactly make it clear which cases they think were the Batman. Was it 14 attacks or was it 17? I've never seen a conclusive list anywhere.

The police went after an ex military man for LH, but didn't have enough evidence to charge him. Presumably this suspect was tested in 2000 against the full DNA profile in the Batman case and ruled out.

 

[tes1984]

It may no longer be relevant, but in one of the Crimewatch appeals, former DCI Riccio mentions that two witnesses saw the suntanned man. One of them was the man who featured in the Channel five documentary. I'm not sure if the other witness was Melanie's boyfriend, or the friend who saw Melanie in the club at 1.10am, or someone else entirely.

The police focus now seems to be on the couple seen arguing between 1.45pm and 2pm in Old Orchard, around the corner from the nightclub entrance.

DCI Lavender, who is running the current enquiry, says the last sighting of Melanie was at 1.10am, when her friends were leaving the club. No mention of the possible sightings of Melanie chatting with the man in the reception area/leaving the club with him.

DCI Lavender also confirms that the keys found near Melanie's body still haven't been linked to a vehicle.

 

[dotr]

March 15, 2026

Verifying Device

''Julie also recalls the case of Melanie Hall, who was killed 12 years to the day after Melanie Road in 1996.

Hall, 25, was also last seen alive at a nightclub in Bath.

Her body was later discovered in October 2009, wrapped in bin bags beside the M5.

Julie said: “It was unbelievably coincidental – two Melanies, same day, 12 years apart.

“I know they’re still hopeful that they might get that breakthrough, even though that’s 30 years on now.''

 

[Professor Moriarty]

Julie said: “It was unbelievably coincidental – two Melanies, same day, 12 years apart.

I sometimes read people saying "I don't believe in coincidences" and I saw a programme in which a retired detective said this. Anyone who doesn't "believe in coincidences" is silly. They happen all the time. I saw a statistician saying that if you looked out of your window and saw three cars that all had your initials in the registration plate, you might think it was crazy. But if you think of all the people, all over the world, who might look out of their windows and see cars, a number of them would see three cars with their initials in their registration. Why shouldn't one be you?

Ever had the experience of going away on holiday to another country and bumping into someone from home? I have. Many have. Why not?

 

[Deadbeat]

An article from 5 days ago. Christopher Halliwell is still somewhat considered a suspect…

Christopher Halliwell person of interest in new BBC One appeal

A killer from Swindon, Wiltshire, remains a person of interest in a police investigation into the unsolved murder of a 25-year-old woman.

www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk

 

[tes1984]

Halliwell has the right sort of MO, but I've never seen anything to link him to Bath.

Presumably he can't be ruled out by comparison to the partial DNA profile, or by his work diaries, cash withdrawals, petrol receipts etc.

He liked prowling in his cab, outside nightclubs in Swindon, but didn't become a taxi driver until a couple of years after Melanie disappeared. He did own at least 40 cars though, so I wonder what he was driving in 1996.

The VW Golf possibly associated with the Melanie Hall case, doesn't seem like the sort of car anyone could really pretend to be a mini cab driver in. Too boy racerish IMO.