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.

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