BECKY GODDEN-Edwards was viciously murdered by cabbie Christopher Halliwell. The remains of the Swindon girl, who disappeared in 2003, were found buried in a Gloucestershire field in 2011.
Halliwell is now behind bars, serving two life sentences for murdering Becky and Sian O’Callaghan.
But Becky’s mum Karen Edwards, 58, fears there could be as many as 20 more victims of the Swindon serial killer.
The only place she would ever contemplate eyeballing Halliwell again is in the courtroom. But quizzed on what question she would ask him given the chance, Karen told the Adver: “Reveal where all these other girls are. I know he’s murdered others.
“He should give those other families some peace and let them be able to bury their loved ones, because believe me that itself is just an incredible feeling.”
There has long been suspicion that Becky and Sian are not Halliwell’s only victims.
In 2014, a stash of around 60 items of women’s clothing was found around a Ramsbury pond. They included a pair of boots belonging to Sian O’Callaghan, who was abducted by Halliwell from Old Town in March 2011.
Christopher Halliwell Picture: WILTSHIRE POLICE
Steve Fulcher, the former detective superintendent who led the initial investigation into Sian and Becky’s deaths, said the clothing hoard could represent trophies collected by a serial killer.
He wrote in his 2017 book Catching a Serial Killer: “If my suspicions are right, if the evidence in the trophy store suggests a truth that still lies hidden, then Halliwell had a prolific propensity to murder – perhaps as often and once or twice a year.”
He told a BBC documentary last year that the clothing hoard should be checked for items belonging to Highworth mum Linda Razzell. “You don’t have to be a detective, a policeman or even have a double digit IQ to know there’s a potential line of investigation there,” he said.
Following Halliwell’s second trial – in 2016 for the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards – senior investigating officer Det Supt Sean Memory told reporters: “Halliwell talked candidly in 1985 about wanting to be a serial killer and I genuinely believe that’s a distinct possibility.”
Steve Fulcher Picture: STUART HARRISON/ADVER
In a new book, A Killer’s Confession, mum Karen Edwards raises questions about links between Halliwell and missing Swindon sex worker Sally Ann John – last seen in 1995 – and York university chef Claudia Lawrence, who disappeared in 2009.
A friend of Sally Ann came forward in 2017 saying Halliwell had paid for the former sex worker to stay off the streets. Halliwell was said to have been an obsessive client of Sally Ann’s. Police searches around Halliwell’s former home in Broadgreen proved fruitless.
It has been suggested that Halliwell may have been responsible for the death of Highworth mum Linda Razzell. The 41-year-old was last seen in 2002 and her body has never been found. Husband Glyn is currently serving a life sentence for her murder.
Karen said another woman had contacted a Facebook page, Justice for Becky, set up as part of the campaign to ensure Halliwell would stand trial for the 20-year-old’s murder after the authorities dropped her name from the first case in 2012.
Karen Edwards Picture: DAVE COX / ADVER
The social media source claimed a male friend had seen Claudia Lawrence speaking to Halliwell. He had tried to take the case to the police, but claimed they were not interested.
In her book, Karen says Wiltshire Police’s major crimes team arranged a meeting between her and the North Yorkshire detective leading the investigation into Claudia Lawrence’s disappearance. He was adamant Halliwell had never been to York, she said.
She met Joan Lawrence, Claudia’s mother, in 2017 and felt an instant connection: “I felt so desperately sorry for her and her predicament as I knew only too well what she was going through.”
The pair have stayed in touch, with Joan writing to the Swindon mum on the screening of ITV’s A Confession – a dramatisation of the Halliwell investigation.
“We’re a member of a club that nobody wants to join. A unique club,” Karen told the Adver.
“There are an awful lot of families out there that need closure. It’s down to police to get them that closure.”
Cold case detectives at Wiltshire Police continue to investigate any links between Halliwell and other murders. However, the operation - nicknamed Op Major – is yet to find any firm evidence linking the taxi driver to any other deaths around the UK.
A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: “We have not uncovered any links between Halliwell and any other murders across the country.
“We are continuing to conduct proportionate enquiries to establish whether Halliwell may have committed any further homicide offences. We are keeping an open mind and will follow the evidence wherever that may take us.”
A Killer’s Confession is published by Headline, RRP: £14.99.
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