Did serial axe monster murder FIVE women? Detectives use his macabre artwork to try to establish fate of other 'victims' - 5th Apr 2011

A suspected serial axe killer is feared to have murdered up to five women, police revealed yesterday.

Former carpenter John Sweeney, 54, regarded as one of the most dangerous men in Britain, was yesterday found guilty of butchering two girlfriends and dumping their remains in city canals.

But as the psychopath faced the prospect of dying in prison, Scotland Yard launched an urgent appeal to trace three other women who previously had relationships with him.

Detectives are ‘particularly concerned’ about one of three missing former girlfriends, who was referred to in some of around 300 macabre drawings, wood carvings and poems by the Liverpool-born killer.

Officers believe the material is ‘autobiographical and confessional’ and holds clues about other murders.

In addition, Dutch police are investigating claims that Sweeney murdered two ‘German’ men in Holland more than 20 years ago. The Old Bailey heard he had bragged about killing the pair, whose bodies have never been found.

Woman-hating Sweeney is expected to receive a whole-life sentence for murdering American model Melissa Halstead, 33, in Holland in 1990 and crack addict prostitute Paula Fields, 31, in London in 2000.

The dismembered body of Miss Halstead was found in a bag floating on a canal in Rotterdam on May 3, 1990. It was not until 2008 that her remains were identified using an advanced DNA test, paving the way for Sweeney to be charged with her murder. Read More