Fears murderer may have killed three more women, says ex-police detective

14 April 2024 , 16:53

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17-year-old Melanie Road was stabbed to death in 1984 by Christopher Hampton (Image: PA)

A man in jail for a murder 40 years ago is a serial killer with three other victims, a retired detective believes.

Painter and decorator Christopher Hampton is serving a 22-year sentence for the 1984 murder of Melanie Road, 17. He was brought to justice in 2016 after detective Julie Mackay led a cold-case review of the killing in Bath, Somerset. DNA evidence helped to convict Hampton.

Now Ms Mackay, a former Avon and Somerset DCI, is convinced he killed three more women in the South West of England in the 1980s. Shelley Morgan, 33, was found dead near Bristol two days after Melanie was murdered, as she walked home from a nightclub. Linda Guest, 35, was found dead in Frampton Cotterell, Glos, in 1985. Helen Fleet, 66, was killed in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in 1987.

DCI Julie Mackay, former head of major crime at Avon & Somerset Police (SWNS.com)

Christopher Hampton, was sentenced to 22 years for the murder of Melanie Road (PA)

All three had been ­sexually assaulted then stabbed multiple times. An unusual rosette pattern of stab wounds on Shelley were also found on Melanie. Ms MacKay, 55, tracked Hampton’s whereabouts during each of the murders, the Sunday Times reported.

Shelley Morgan, 33, was found dead near Bristol two days after Melanie

Linda Guest, 35, was found dead in Frampton Cotterell, Glos, in 1985

She claims to have found evidence he was working in the area when each woman went missing. But records to back her suspicions are lacking, she says. Ms MacKay explained: “None of them had any forensic evidence available. Either the exhibits [objects taken from a crime scene] were lost, or too far gone to do any testing.”

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The killings stopped in the Bristol area after 1987. Hampton began a new relationship and moved house at that time. Ms MacKay has written to Hampton, who is now in his 70s, in HMP Long Lartin, Worcs, but he has not replied.

Helen Fleet, 66, was killed in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, in 1987 (Internet Unknown)

Avon and Somerset Police said: “While there is no established link between any of these unsolved cases or with any solved ones, we remain open-minded and will act appropriately on any new information which comes to light.”

Martin Fricker