Until I Kill You: What happened to John Sweeney's victims Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields?

The chilling true crime drama, Until I Kill You, is currently being broadcast on ITV. The series delves into the psyche of serial killer John Sweeney, portrayed by Shaun Evans, and his victims.

The only known survivor of Sweeney's attacks is Delia Balmer, played by Anna Maxwell Martin. The series draws heavily from her haunting memoir, Living With A Serial Killer.

The narrative unfolds to reveal that Melissa Halstead was Sweeney's first victim. He confessed to Delia that he had dismembered Melissa and remained with her corpse for several days before discarding it in a canal.

While evading capture following his near-lethal assault on Delia, Sweeney murdered Paula Fields. His gruesome acts were documented through a collection of unsettling drawings and poems.

This piece examines how Sweeney's two victims encountered him and what their lives were like prior to their tragic ends. The series honours them and their families.

Melissa Halstead

At just 33 years old, Melissa Halstead was brutally murdered by Sweeney. Her body was discovered in a Rotterdam canal in 1990.

Sweeney, a resident of Hackney and Camden in London, claimed to have met her in December 1986.

During Sweeney's murder trial, Ms Halstead's family issued a statement describing her as an "intelligent and very attractive young woman" who had left the US to "seek her fortune".

They expressed their prolonged "agony" when she disappeared for years and their devastation upon the identification of her remains.

"The family's hope for the future is that John Sweeney will never be allowed free to carry out such crimes again," the statement concluded.

Sweeney had confided in Delia about the murder of the American model.

The jury was informed during the proceedings that Melissa had eerily foreseen her demise prior to accompanying Sweeney to Amsterdam.

She had ominously warned her sister that should she ever disappear, "John Sweeney would have killed her".

A scratchcard owned by Sweeney bore a macabre verse on its reverse: "Poor old Melissa, chopped her up in bits, food to feed the fish, Amsterdam was the pits."

An additional sketch depicted a headstone inscribed with: "RIP Melissa Halstead."

Paula Fields

At the age of 31, Paula's life was cruelly ended by Sweeney, and her remains were discovered in Regent's Canal in 2001.

A sister of Paula read a statement reflecting that the two years preceding her tragic end were merely "a small part" of her existence.

She expressed: "For 29 years Paula was a normal girl, a loving mother, daughter, sister and an aunt. We know she is never coming back and we never said goodbye."

Originally from Liverpool, Paula relocated to London in 1998, briefly working at a launderette. Her life took a turn as she grappled with drug addiction following her move to the capital.

Her family shared in a statement: "In 1990 Paula came to London for a while to stay with family and then returned to Liverpool. During this time she was not taking any drugs."

Paula returned to London in 1999 with her sons, and a few months into 2000, some family members began to notice changes in Paula's lifestyle.

They added: "Then in December 2000, Paula went missing. Paula had only been in London for 14 months. During that time she had become involved in taking drugs and prostitution."

Until I Kill You continues on ITV at 9pm