Melissa Halstead was an American-born model whose torso was discovered in a Dutch canal in 1990, months after her date of last contact in 1989. She was one of several victims of English killer John Sweeney. Halstead's remains were unidentifiable at the time, as dental records and fingerprints could not be obtained. DNA was used to identify the body after nearly two decades.
Background[]
Halstead, originally from Ohio, met the divorced Sweeney in late 1986 while she was working internationally as a model and photographer. He had a history of domestic abuse against his previous wife, along with suffering the same treatment himself as a child.
About a year into their relationship, he had been charged at least once for domestic violence against her. He was subjected to fines until the pair relocated to Austria, where he was jailed for attacking Halstead with an axe, causing an injury to her head. After another reconciliation, they settled in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Discovery[]
After killing Halstead around April 1990, Sweeney transported her dismembered body in a duffel bag from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, where he disposed of it in a canal. He returned to England soon after, where he began another abusive relationship. The body surfaced in early May, and after efforts to identify the victim failed, she was interred. Halstead's family did report her missing to Dutch authorities, although they knew little about where she resided in the city of Amsterdam, and little could be done to attempt to locate her. As Rotterdam was within a different jurisdiction, no connection was made to the unidentified torso.
Investigation[]
In 1993, Sweeney alluded to killing Melissa Halstead during an ordeal with his then-girlfriend in England. He claimed to have arrived home where two German men were in Halstead's company, leading him to murder each of them and dismember their remains after three days. He claimed to have disposed of the bodies in the same way. After eventually separating from Sweeney safely, his girlfriend at the time contacted police about the confession, which they dismissed as an effort to scare her into submission. He would later go on to assault her with a knife; she survived the attack.
In 2001, Sweeney committed a similar murder of Paula Fields in a London canal. Toward the end of the decade, Dutch police began reviewing unsolved cases, leading to the 2008 identification of Halstead. Sweeney was later convicted of both murders.
Gallery[]
Media[]
- The crimes of John Sweeney were documented in an episode of The World's Most Evil Killers.
Sources[]
- The World's Most Evil Killers
- Springfield News-Sun
- BBC