A man who killed and butchered two women before dumping their bodies in canals has died in prison. John Sweeney, 69, is understod to have died of cancer at HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire, on Friday, August 14.

Sweeney, a carpenter from Merseyside, was known as the “Canal Killer” after being handed a whole-life prison tariff in 2011. He murdered and dismembered two of his former girlfriends with the heads and hands of both victims never recovered. Melissa Halstead’s body was found in a Rotterdam canal in 1990 before the remains of Paula Fields were discovered in London’s Regent’s Canal in 2001.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “These were horrific crimes and our thoughts remain with the victims and their loved ones.

“As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is investigating, and it would be inappropriate to comment further before the conclusion of its findings.”

In addition to the two murders, he also launched an axe attack on a girlfriend, nurse Delia Balmer, who was only saved when a neighbour arrived to help. She suffered serious injuries in the attack.

Following his arrest, police discovered over 300 demonic, misogynistic paintings, sketches, and poems created by Sweeney which contained hidden clues detailing his murders.

Former model Miss Halstead, 33, from the US, was killed in 1990. Her dismembered body was thrown into a canal in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. She was only identified 18 years later by DNA, although her head and hands have never been found.

The body parts of Paula Fields, 31, were found in six holdalls floating in the Regent’s Canal in Camden, north London, in February 2001. Her head, hands and feet are still missing.

Ms Balmer wrote a memoir about her near-fatal experience living with Sweeney which was adapted into a television miniseries called Until I Kill You by ITV in 2024.