“These were terrible, wicked crimes. The heads of the victims having been removed, it is impossible to be certain how they were killed. The mutilation of the bodies is a serious aggravating feature of the murders,” Saunders said, according to the Guardian of London. “Not only does it reveal the cold-blooded nature of the killer, but it has added greatly to the distress of the families to know that parts of their loved ones have never been recovered.”
Sweeney, 54, originally from Liverpool, killed Halstead, 33, a former model from Oakwood recruited at age 19 by a top modeling firm, and Paula Fields, 31, a mother-of-three of north London. He was not in the courtroom because he refused to leave his cell, the Guardian said.
Authorities fear three more women and possibly two men might also be victims of Sweeney, who at the time of trial was imprisoned for a near-fatal ax attack on another woman. Halstead’s remains were found in a Rotterdam canal after she vanished from her Amsterdam apartment in 1990. Fields’ remains were found dumped in a London canal.
Saunders said “the method of disposal of the bodies demonstrates that there was a substantial amount of planning. Why the killings occurred, I cannot be sure, but I am satisfied that this defendant is controlling in his relationships with women and, chillingly, that control extends to deciding whether they should live or die,” the Guardian reported.
Sweeney evaded authorities by working for years under assumed names at European and English construction sites. Testimony indicated he hated women and turned violent when they rejected him.
The Guardian said Sweeney kept a “hoard of more than 300 violent and lurid paintings and poems found at his home, with one, entitled the Scalp Hunter, depicting a female victim and a bloody axe.”
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