What happened to John Sweeney? Until I Kill You recalls axe murderer's crimes

The four-part drama, Until I Kill You, is currently being broadcast on ITV. The chilling series is based on the real-life events recounted by Delia Balmer in her memoir, Living with a Serial Killer.

Delia is the only known survivor of Sweeney's brutal attacks, with the axe murderer having taken the lives of Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields, whose bodies were discarded in canals.

Melissa, aged 33, was his first victim. During one of his furious outbursts, he confessed to Delia that he had murdered Melissa, describing how he stayed with her body for days before dismembering it and disposing of it in a river.

While evading capture after a nearly fatal assault on Delia, he murdered Paula Fields, who was 31 years old. Her body was discovered in Regent's Canal in 2001.

In February 2010, the two murders were connected and Sweeney, originally from Liverpool, was apprehended at Gartree Prison in Leicestershire. At the time, he was serving a life sentence for an axe attack on Delia, reports the Mirror.

Sweeney, a former carpenter now aged 67, remains incarcerated and is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

He declined to leave his cell at Belmarsh prison to hear his sentence after being convicted of the two murders.

Judge Mr Justice Saunders, during sentencing, stated: "These were terrible, wicked crimes. The heads of the victims having been removed, it is impossible to be certain how they were killed."

"The mutilation of the bodies is a serious aggravating feature of the murders."

"Not only does it reveal the cold-blooded nature of the killer, but it has added greatly to the distress of the families to know that parts of their loved ones have never been recovered."

The disturbing artwork of Sweeney provided pivotal clues which exposed his intense animosity towards women, found within over 300 artworks and poems.

His work titled 'the Scalp Hunter' depicted a female victim alongside a bloodstained axe.

Moreover, on the reverse side of a scratchcard, he penned a chilling verse: "Poor old Melissa, chopped her up in bits, food to feed the fish, Am*dam was the pits."

Until I Kill You continues on ITV on November 4