John Sweeney's chilling crimes and the lives of victims Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields explored

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 programme details how Melissa Halstead became Sweeney's first victim. He confessed to Delia that he had dismembered Melissa and remained with her body for several days before disposing of it in a canal.

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

This article delves into how Sweeney's victims encountered him and their lives prior to these tragic events. The series honours them and their families, reports the Mirror.

Melissa Halstead

Melissa was a mere 33 years old when she was brutally murdered by Sweeney. Her remains were 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 described her as an "intelligent and very attractive young woman" who had left the US to "seek her fortune".

They expressed their prolonged "agony" over her disappearance and the devastation they felt 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," they added.

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

The jury heard during the trial how Melissa had eerily foreseen her demise before accompanying Sweeney to Amsterdam, telling her sister to suspect "John Sweeney would have killed her" if she were ever to disappear.

Etched onto the back of a scratchcard owned by Sweeney was a disturbing verse: "Poor old Melissa, chopped her up in bits, food to feed the fish, Amsterdam was the pits."

Another macabre artwork by Sweeney depicted a headstone engraved with "RIP Melissa Halstead."

Paula Fields

At just 31 years old, Paula Fields' life was cruelly ended by Sweeney, with her remains discovered in Regent's Canal in 2001.

A sibling of Paula's articulated her family's grief and memories with a heartfelt statement, saying the harrowing two years leading to Paula's death represented only "a small part" of her entire life.

She reminisced: "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 had settled in the nation's capital around 1998 and briefly took up employment at a local launderette.

Her journey through life became plagued by substance abuse following her relocation to London.

Paula's family recounts that in 1990 she visited London to stay with relatives and returned to Liverpool without any drug problems, elucidating 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."

However, when Paula returned to London in 1999 with her sons, her family started observing worrying alterations in Paula's behaviour as early as 2000.

"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