Whoever left Melanie Hall’s body in a slip road ‘would have known of any nearby cameras’, forensic scientist tells new documentary about unsolved murder with culprit still at large – as ex-policeman says case made him think of Christopher Halliwell
- The 25-year-old was last seen on Sunday 9 June, 1996, at nightclub in Bath
- Her remains were found in 2009 next to slip road of junction 14 on M5
Whoever left the body of murdered clubber Melanie Hall next to a motorway slip road would have known about any nearby CCTV cameras, an expert has said.
The 25-year-old, who was a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, was last seen on Sunday 9 June, 1996, at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath city centre at about 1.45am.
Her remains were not found until October 5, 2009, when a workman discovered them next to the northbound slip road of junction 14 on the M5.
An upcoming Channel 5 documentary about the case is set to air this Thursday.
Professor Jane Monckton-Smith, a forensic criminologist, tells in the programme how whoever dumped Melanie’s body there would ‘have to know [if] are there any cameras around, what’s the likelihood of a police car, a patrol car, a speed camera, all of these different things.’
And Retired Detective Superintendent Steve Livings, who led the initial investigation, tells how the case made him think of double murderer Christopher Halliwell, who dumped the remains of one of his victims in a field.
The Body in the Bag: The Murder of Melanie Hall also hears from the young woman’s father Stephen, from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, who tells of his family’s anguish.
The father of murdered clubber Melanie Hall has movingly told how he ‘wished he didn’t wake up in the morning’ after she went missing in 1996. The 25-year-old, who was a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, was last seen on Sunday 9 June, 1996, at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath city centre at about 1.45am
Professor Monckton-Smith says: ‘What a place to leave a body. in some ways a really good place, because, slip road, on the motorway, you’re not getting your usual dog walkers and your joggers coming past.
‘Which I think is why Melanie’s body laid where it did for so long.
‘It was more than likely a deposition site. The murder and murder scene is somewhere else that the police still don’t know. I think that whoever left Melanie’s body, was at least familiar with that area.’
Retired detective Mr Livings says: ‘I became interested after watching the news one evening, about a man called Christopher Halliwell.
‘Christopher Halliwell was a taxi driver. It appears he had murdered two women and he had dumped them on the side of the road in a field.
‘It struck me, this is quite a coincidence. He operated in the Wiltshire area. And it just crossed my mind, I wonder what he was doing in 1996.’
Halliwell is currently serving two life sentences for murdering Sian O’Callaghan and Becky Godden-Edwards in Wiltshire.
Some have always suspected him of murdering more women, and in 2019 he was linked with four other unsolved cases.
Melanie’s father, 79, says in the Channel 5 documentary: ‘As each day went by, I wished I didn’t wake up in the morning.
‘But you do. You wake up and you got that little split second and you know something’s wrong and then it kicks into your brain.
‘And you think, “oh yeah, it’s Melanie”.
Her sister Dominique adds: ‘Weeks and months went by, you realise she’s not coming back.
‘As young children we were really close. She would be the more timid one of the two so i was slightly more protective.
‘My biggest fear is that whatever it is that happened to her that she was frightened at that time.’
A huge police investigation at the time of Melanie’s disappearance failed to uncover any trace of her.
Her remains were not found until October 5, 2009, when a workman discovered them next to the northbound slip road of junction 14 on M5
Speaking in The Body in the Bag: The Murder of Melanie Hall’, the young woman’s father Stephen, from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, tells of his family’s anguish
Melanie Hall’s sister Dominique says in the new documentary that her ‘biggest fear’ is that her sister was ‘frightened’ when she died
Professor Jane Monckton-Smith, a forensic criminologist, tells in the programme how whoever dumped Melanie’s body there would ‘have to know [if] are there any cameras around, what’s the likelihood of a police car, a patrol car, a speed camera, all of these different things.’
Retired Detective Superintendent Steve Livings, who led the initial investigation, tells how the case made him think of double murderer Christopher Halliwell, who dumped the remains of one of his victims in a field
Christopher Halliwell is currently serving two life sentences for murdering Sian O’Callaghan and Becky Godden-Edwards in Wiltshire
She was in a relationship with Dr Phil Kurlbaum, who also worked at Bath Royal United Hospital.
The documentary tells how they had split up shortly before Melanie was last seen.
There have been 11 arrests during the investigation into Miss Hall’s murder but no one has ever been charged.
Officers have received at least 1,700 calls from the public about the case and completed more than 5,700 tasks or investigative actions.
In 2020, police re-issued an E-fit of a man who witnesses said they saw with a woman matching Melanie’s description side Cadillacs nightclub.
Her remains were found next to the junction 14 northbound slip road of the M5 by workmen
He was described as being white, 27 years old, 5ft 10ins, of medium build with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, bushy eyebrows and clean shaven.
He was wearing black trousers, black shoes and a brown silk shirt. It’s possible he had a gold hooped earring in his right ear and wore a flashy gold watch.
There was also an unconfirmed sighting of a woman arguing with a man between 1.45am and 2am on Old Orchard around the corner from the nightclub’s entrance.
Police asked anyone who may have remembered the incident to get in touch.
If you have any information regarding the murder of Melanie Hall, please call 101 and ask for Avon and Somerset Police.
The Body in the Bag: The Murder of Melanie Hall airs on Thursday, September 28 at 9pm on Channel 5.
Police investigation into disappearance and murder of Melanie Hall
June 1996 – Melanie is on a night out with friends and is last seen alive at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath.
October 2009 – A workman discovers Melanie’s remains by the side of the M5 on a slip road.
March 2014 – Police appeal for information about a white Golf GTi which had links to Cardiff which was described as ‘a significant line of enquiry’
June 2016 – Officers discover DNA evidence near the site where Melanie was found and renew their appeal
October 2019 – Police reveal they are focusing on samples of DNA found on a length of blue polypropylene rope wrapped around thin black bin liners which contained the body
October 2020 – Detectives renew appeal with e-fit and details on possible sightings of Melanie on the night she went missing
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