viernes, 25 de marzo de 2011

Murdered Sian is found dumped 'with victim No2' - The Sun

MISSING clubber Sian O'Callaghan was found murdered yesterday - as cops searched for the body of another woman killed ten years earlier.

Divorced taxi driver Chris Halliwell is believed to have confessed to BOTH slayings.

The huge hunt for Sian ended in tragedy - near an ancient giant white horse chiselled into a chalk hill.

And police who found Sian's body in a shallow grave were scouring the secluded beauty spot for the remains of a woman thought to have been murdered by the same killer.

The grim search came after Halliwell, 47, was arrested in front of shoppers at a supermarket.

He is said to have confessed to abducting 22-year-old Sian as she left a nightclub in the early hours of Saturday.

Then the father of three is believed to have stunned police by admitting he had struck before - in 2001.

Last night officers from another force asked for a DNA sample from him to see if was linked to ANOTHER clubber's death in 1996.

Det Supt Steve Fulcher confirmed: "A 47-year-old man is in custody having been arrested for kidnap and two murders.

"The location of two bodies have been identified to me by this individual, one of whom has yet to be identified formally but I am quite clear is Sian.

"I have informed Sian's family who are obviously deeply distressed."

Police have sealed off countryside bordering Wiltshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

The area is 13 miles from the Swindon nightspot where Sian was last seen alive and is close to the 374ft Uffington White Horse, carved 3,000 years ago.

A canopy was erected on the roadside and a tarpaulin placed over nearby undergrowth. White-suited forensic teams carried out a fingertip search.

Angus Tucker, landlord of the Blowing Stone pub in Kingston Lisle, said: "I am told there are quite a few police."

Another local said two helicopters had also been seen.

Sian's mum Elaine, 48, dad Mick, 51, brother Liam, 24, and sister Lora, 19, were last night being comforted by family and friends.

Pals said her boyfriend Kevin Reape, 25, was "inconsolable".

Personal assistant Sian had gone to the Japanese themed Suju club with girl friends on Friday night.

She became separated from them and was filmed by CCTV leaving alone at 2.52am.

When she failed to return home, quantity surveyor Kevin sent a text saying: "Worried x."

The message was picked up at 3.24am by a phone mast on the edge of the 4,500-acre Savernake Forest 12 miles away.

Police concentrated their search there - helped by an army of volunteers. Some 400 joined them on Tuesday.

On Wednesday up to 1,000 were set to take part but the plans were cancelled when phone technicians narrowed the possibilities down to a handful of areas.

A smaller search included relatives of Sian and Kevin, and a candlelit vigil for her at St Barnabas Church in Swindon attracted 150 people.

Meanwhile anonymous wellwishers upped a reward for finding her to 40,000.

Sian's family issued a statement thanking people for their support - and saying they were still praying for Sian's safe return.

Their statement added: "This is an extremely difficult time for us and we continue to hope and pray that our beautiful girl is found soon."

Detectives began to suspect Sian had been picked up by someone she knew - or by a rogue cabbie.

They are believed to have kept Halliwell under surveillance for at least two days.

He was said to have been followed by cops into a woodland area on Wednesday night and police are investigating whether he disposed of an object.

On Wednesday they said they "were confident of identifying Sian's whereabouts" by yesterday. And yesterday morning they appealed for sightings of a green Toyota Avensis taxi - hours before arresting Halliwell in a car matching that description.

He is alleged to have told officers that his 2001 victim may have been a vice girl.

She is said to have had personal problems and was presumed to have left the area.

Cops cordoned off his smart three-bedroom home in Ashbury Avenue, Swindon, and put up a forensic tent next to a Ford Ka in the gravel driveway. Two police vans and five officers were guarding the 300,000 semi-detached house as specialist officers began searching it.

One neighbour said Halliwell was divorced from wife Lisa and that they had three children - two daughters Natasha, 19, and Carissa, 17, and a 12-year-old son Shane.

Another neighbour said Halliwell had moved in with partner Heather Widdowson around five years ago.

Brian Jerome, 71, added: "They are the sort of couple who you would choose to have as neighbours. I'm in shock and I hope the police have got it wrong."

Halliwell's sister Sarah, 45, of Stroud, Gloucs, said: "I have had hardly anything to do with him for 20 years.

"There wasn't really a big falling out - we just stopped communicating with each other. I haven't kept in touch. He had no contact with my mother. And she didn't even ask about him when she died a couple of years ago. He couldn't sustain relationships with the family.

"But I can't see him doing anything like this and I hope he's not involved."

Last night it emerged that Halliwell was declared bankrupt last year. A petition was filed at Swindon County Court in January 2010 and described Halliwell as self-employed while running Georges Chauffeur Services.

  • DO YOU know Chris Halliwell? Please call our newsdesk on 0207 782 4104, email exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or text 07825 078923.

    m.sullivan@the-sun.co.uk

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