THREE decades on from the murder of Melanie Hall, her father is still tormented by questions about her final moments.
The 25-year-old NHS worker was last seen next to the dancefloor of a club in Bath, Somerset, in the early hours of Sunday, June 9, 1996.
Her remains were found 13 years later, buried in four black bin liners by a motorway slip road.
There were signs that she had died from a brutal assault to the head.
In 2016, her family offered a £50,000 reward for any details that would lead to the conviction of Melanie’s killer — and that sum was matched by The Sun.
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Three years ago her dad, Steve Hall, 79, also made an appeal in this paper for more information.
He now hopes a documentary on Channel 5 tomorrow night will lead to more people coming forward with information.
Last night he told us: “The bit we fear is how she felt at the time.
“As a father you want to be there for your children, particularly in a time of crisis.
“I wasn’t there and I just hope she didn’t suffer too much.”
The artist and teacher is determined to do everything he can to get justice for his beloved daughter.
Steve, and Melanie’s mum Pat, 78, have never given up hope of finding the killer.
Steve, who appears in 90-minute programme The Body In The Bag: The Murder Of Melanie Hall, says: “This is the way I can do something for Melanie by trying to help find her killer.”
Cops have over the years looked at whether her attacker could be a well-known serial killer or rapist.
Men in the frame have included taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, whose victim Sian O’Callaghan was murdered with a blunt instrument after leaving a club in Swindon in March 2011, and serial killer Levi Bellfield whose three victims from 2002 to 2004 include Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
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The police even wondered if Suzy Lamplugh suspect John Cannan — serving three life sentences for the murder of Shirley Banks in October 1987 — could have conspired from prison to have a rapist find a victim at the Bath club.
The senior investigating officer, Detective Superintendent James Riccio, believes Melanie knew her killer.
He has taken a fresh look at more than 700 witness statements taken shortly after she went missing 27 years ago.
He says: “My team and I continue to be humbled by the courage, bravery and support that Melanie’s family have shown and desperately want to find answers for them.”
Melanie had gone to Cadillacs with her medic boyfriend Philip Karlbaum, but he left when he allegedly saw her dancing with another man.
He has always denied playing a part in her disappearance.
The main focus of the investigation, titled Operation Denmark, is the identity of a man seen speaking to a woman fitting Melanie’s description at about 1.10am.
It could be the same man spotted arguing with a woman close to the club around half an hour later.
There were no reports of screams or a woman being dragged to a car, so the belief is Melanie went willingly with her assailant.
Steve, who lives in Bradford on Avon, near Bath, said: “She wasn’t the kind of person who would go off with strangers.
“We felt whoever she went with was someone she was comfortable with.”
‘Find answers’
Her dad feared the worst two days after Melanie went missing.
He recalls: “Very early on we thought we’d never see her again.
“She was at a stage in her life where she was enjoying her job, enjoying the company of her new boyfriend.
“We knew she had not disappeared of her own free will.”
Workmen found her body by chance, next to junction 14 of the M5 motorway in October 2009.
This discovery was a major breakthrough for the police — yet devastating for Melanie’s parents.
Steve says: “We had a beautiful girl, now we have a bag of bones, and when you try to get your head around that, it is a terrible thing.”
Little DNA evidence was left at the scene, firstly because Melanie was stripped of her clothing and secondly due the passage of time.
But scientists have been able to form a partial DNA profile of who-ever bound her thanks to the 4mm blue polypropylene rope found wrapped around the bin liners.
The other clue left behind was a set of Ford car keys found nearby.
Det Supt Riccio is keen to trace the outfit Melanie was wearing that night, which included a pale-blue dress, black satchel-type handbag and silver drop earrings.
So far 11 people have been arrested in relation to the case but no one has been charged.
He believes one piece of evidence could change that.
The cop concludes: “Someone knows who killed Melanie and some- one knows how she ended up at the side of the M5.
“These dark secrets need to be brought into the light.”
- The Body In The Bag: The Murder Of Melanie Hall, airs tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 5.
