The mother of murder victim Becky Godden believes new evidence shows how her daughter’s killer also murdered missing chef Claudia Lawrence.
Last year Christopher Halliwell was found guilty of murdering Becky in Swindon, Wiltshire in 2003, having also killed Sian O’Callaghan in 2011.
Now, Becky’s heartbroken mother Karen Edwards, 56, has revealed shocking new evidence that links taxi driver Halliwell to the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence.
In an emotional meeting with Claudia’s mother Joan, 72, she revealed how a witness saw Halliwell talking to Claudia through the window of a taxi.
Becky Godden’s heartbroken mother has revealed shocking new evidence that links taxi driver Halliwell (left) to the disappearance of Claudia Lawrence (right)
Karen, who claims Halliwell had up to eight victims, told The Mirror: ‘Claudia was asking if he had change so she could ring her dad from a call box.
‘I truly believe this. I feel Christopher Halliwell is a serial killer. He was a beast on the prowl.
‘I feel that he is responsible for a lot of missing women and possibly men. This is not just Claudia this is connected to. This is lots of others too.’
Joan described the thought of her missing daughter being linked to Halliwell as ‘devastating’.
Karen first suggested Halliwell was responsible for the death of Claudia last year, after he was found guilty of Becky Godden’s murder.
Claudia, a chef from York, went missing in 2009. Her body has never been found.
Last year Christopher Halliwell was found guilty of murdering Becky (right) in Swindon, Wiltshire in 2003, after a long fight for justice by her mother Karen (left)
Karen Edwards had an emotional meeting with Claudia Lawrence’s mother Joan and told her of her new evidence that Halliwell had killed her daughter
Halliwell (centre), who has been convicted of killing Miss Godden (bottom left) and Sian O’Callaghan (top right), could be linked to the disappearance of Ms Razzell (top left) and Claudia Lawrence (bottom right)
‘He is definitely a serial killer,’ says Karen, 55, with absolute conviction. ‘I believe he has been up and down the country murdering young women.
‘He used to be a groundworker up north – I know somebody who worked with him on the same building site. He would go and have a pint with the lads and then disappear.
‘Serial killers are usually triggered by dates. That was the day that Halliwell broke up with one of his partners. Halliwell was familiar with York – his father lived in Huddersfield – and the description of Claudia’s murderer is identical to him – a left-handed smoker, 5ft 8-10in, with slightly receding hair and a skinny build.
‘Claudia was reported missing from her home on March 19, 2009 – exactly two years to the day before Sian. It is also the same date that a woman called Linda Razzell disappeared.’
Police began investigating Halliwell when Ms O’Callaghan was abducted on her way home from a nightclub in Swindon in 2011.
CCTV taken near the Suju nightclub showed her getting into a taxi which the father-of-three owned.
Karen Edwards leaves Bristol Crown Court after Halliwell was given a whole life sentence
Police then kept watch on Halliwell for two days – hoping he would inadvertently lead them to Ms O’Callaghan’s body – but arrested him on suspicion of kidnap five days later when they feared he would kill himself.
Aware of his suicidal tendencies, DS Fulcher arranged an interview team to conduct a ‘Safety Interview’, under caution, at the scene of his arrest.
But when Halliwell kept answering ‘no comment’, DC Fulcher authorised officers to bring Halliwell to the nearby Iron Age fort of Barbary Castle – where they believed Ms O’Callaghan was buried – for an ‘urgent interview’.
Halliwell eventually led DS Fulcher and his team to an isolated lane, where he said Ms O’Callaghan’s body was lying in the open.
Then, as he was having a cigarette at the scene, Halliwell confessed to ‘another one’, telling DS Fulcher: ‘I need help, I’m a sick f*****.’
The father-of-three then led the detective to the spot in rural Gloucestershire where he had buried Miss Godden in a shallow grave after strangling her in 2003.
At that time, police had no idea she was missing.
DS Fulcher was later nominated for a Queen’s Police Medal, the highest honour in policing, for his work in extracting the brutal killer’s confession.
But, in a cruel twist, he found himself fighting for his job after breaking police guidelines by taking Halliwell to the site, rather than the police station.
Mr Fulcher was disciplined for misconduct and later resigned, losing his £500,000 police pension and selling his house.
Haliwell was jailed for life in 2012 for beating and stabbing Ms O’Callaghan – who he believed resembled his mother – to death, before pushing her body into the 12ft ravine.
But a judge ruled his confession about Ms Godden inadmissible because DS Fulcher had repeatedly failed to correctly caution the killer and questioned him without a lawyer.
It took four more years of campaigning for it to be allowed.