Overview
- John Sweeney, 69, died in custody at HMP Whitemoor on August 14 and several outlets report cancer as the cause of death.
- Sweeney was convicted at the Old Bailey in 2011 and given a whole-life tariff for the murders of former girlfriends Paula Fields and Melissa Halstead.
- Both victims were dismembered and their remains were dumped in canals in Rotterdam and London with heads and hands still unrecovered.
- The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has opened the routine independent inquiry into the death in custody and the Prison Service has offered condolences to the victims’ families.
- Police maintain open investigative lines into missing remains and possible other victims after detectives long suspected Sweeney may have harmed other former partners.