Sian O’Callaghan: Swindon ‘Serial Killer’ Chris Halliwell’s Ice Picks
SIAN O’Callaghan: Chris Halliwell has not been charged with any crime. He is only helping the police with their inquiries.
But the media wants to speculate and point the finger. This is not without substance – Halliwell has, apparently, led the police to Miss O’Callaghan’s body and pointed them towards a field in Gloucestershire where he says another body is buried.
Still, the press can’t stick to the most basic of facts and the Independent’s i tabloid announced yesterday:
“Police find two bodies in search for missing PA Sian O’Callaghan”
Only, they didn’t.
As for the facts, the Mirror reports:
SIAN O’Callaghan was caught on camera jumping into the taxi of the man suspected of murdering her, police revealed yesterday.
The Express uses its front page to wonder if Sian was the “final victim of a serial killer”.
The Daily Star has an idea as to how many Halliwell might have killed:
“SIAN KILLER: FOUR POSSIBLE VICTIMS.”
Why only four?
“Murders could date back over ten years.”
Or longer!
The Sun leans over the gardens fence at Halliwell’s Swindon home and gossips:
They told how he moved home twice during his ten years as a late-night taxi driver – and how each time he dug a hole to fill with concrete for a building project.
An expert is aroused. We meet Criminologist Dr Kate Painter:
“Men who are proven to have killed twice in a period of ten years have often killed again in between. Research shows a person normally does not start suddenly killing when they reach middle age.”
The Sun then publishes this video of Halliwell behaving well:
The Sun continues its focuses on the man behind the headlines:
“Chris wasn’t a normal boy.”
This comes after the front-page news:
“My brother has a dark side: I’m not shocked”
You know, Chris Halliwell, the man whose neighbours call a top family man.
DOUBLE murder suspect Chris Halliwell has chilling blue eyes “like chips of ice”, his sister said last night. Sarah Halliwell, 45, added: “The horrible look was there when he was a boy and stayed with him as an adult. Even when he smiled it never reached his horrible eyes.”
Send the man down! Only, hold the rope! The Mirror’s front page announces:
“MR NICE GUY”
Is that sarcastic? Well, no. it is a fact:
“How shocked friends describe arrested cabbie.”
Who Are The Missing?
The Sun:
The identity is not believed to be known. Police are probing possible links to two other cases.
LINDA RAZZELL, 41, vanished from the centre of Swindon, Wilts, in 2002 and her body has never been found. Her estranged husband Glyn, 44, was jailed for life but has always protested his innocence.
MELANIE HALL, 26, went missing after visiting a nightclub in Bath, Somerset, in 1996. Her body was found dumped by the side of the M5 about 50 miles from where Sian vanished in Swindon. Cops never found her killer.
The Star goes with:
Neither college lecturer Linda Razzell nor schoolteacher Kate Prout’s bodies were ever found. However, both husbands were jailed for their murders.
The Express opts for:
Earlier there was speculation that the second body could be that of 39-year-old Tina Pryer, who disappeared in Trowbridge, Wilts, in 2001.
But yesterday her family said they did not think the body could be Tina’s and that she had been suffering from depression before her disappearance.
Speculation also surrounded Laura Stacey, last seen leaving the Destiny and Desire nightclub in Swindon on January 20, 2003.
The Mail says:
The body of Mrs Razzell, who was 41 when she disappeared, has never been found, and her husband Glyn, 52, was jailed for life in 2003. But yesterday her family said they did not believe police investigating Miss O’Callaghan’s death would find her body.
Julie Westmore, 58, who became guardian to Mrs Razzell’s four children after she disappeared, said yesterday: ‘We have not been contacted by the police. ‘The husband is in jail for murder and we know without a shadow of a doubt that he did it. I’m sure if the police thought it was Linda they would have been in contact.’
And:
Other list of women reported missing within the last ten years, including Tina Preyer and Emma Scholes, were later found to be safe and well.
Or as the Press Association says:
Police refused to comment on speculation the remains they were looking for could belong to 39-year-old Tina Pryer. The mother-of-three was last seen getting in a taxi in Trowbridge in April 2001.
The Telegraph says of the Razzell case:
Her estranged husband Glyn, a former bank worker, was convicted of her murder in 2003, but has always protested his innocence. His family has campaigned for his release ever since. His sister, Vicky George, said she was desperately waiting for news from Wiltshire Police.
“My brother has always maintained his innocence,” she said. “But we can’t get his case reviewed until there is new evidence, and the police won’t give us access to the files.”
Mrs Razzell’s face features on the paper’s front page.
The Guardian adds:
The only Wiltshire person listed as missing on the Missing People website is a 53-year-old man called Anthony Fryer, who vanished from Swindon in 2005.
But he’s a man, so the tabloid media looks away.
The Orchestrated Public Grief
Is every murder to get a minute’s silence? Those who knew Sian O’Callaghan will mourn her. But why does everyone at a football match need to be made silent? Is this not mourn porn?
Respect by Swindon FC
SWINDON Town players will wear black armbands in a tribute to Sian O’Callaghan at their match in Brighton today.
The club will also hold a minute’s silence before next week’s home game.
A club source said the players – many regulars at the Suju nightclub Sian disappeared from last Saturday – wanted to pay their condolences and express their shock.
Former Swindon striker Don Rogers, 65, said: “It’s brilliant from the club. Her death will have affected most fans.”
Really?
The Photos:
Posted: 26th, March 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (16) | TrackBack | Permalink
