John Sweeney real-life victims, how he evaded capture and where he is now

The horrific crimes that John Sweeney committed have inspired the new ITV drama Until I Kill You – which airs tonight (November 3).
The four-part drama follows nurse Delia Balmer’s terrifying experience with boyfriend John – who she later realised was a serial killer. Anna Maxwell Martin plays Delia, while Shaun Evans has taken on the role of John.
But where is John Sweeney now? And how did he avoid capture for so long? Keep reading to find out…

The show debuts tonight (Credit: ITV)

Until I Kill You: John Sweeney and his real-life victims
John’s first victim was believed to be Melissa Halstead. She was an American-born model, originally from Ohio, who struck up a romance with Sweeney in 1986. In May 1990, her torso was discovered in a Dutch canal.
In 1991, John met Delia Balmer, now 71. The pair quickly struck up a romance. However, his dark side soon came out and led to a series of violent attacks on Delia. During one attack, he told her he killed his former girlfriend – Halstead – and disposed of her body in an Amsterdam canal.
Delia – who was with him for three years – went to the police and reported the crime. Sweeney was arrested but, due to a catastrophic failure to realise how dangerous he was, he was granted bail.
While out on bail, in 1994, he attacked Delia again. This time, he held Delia captive and raped her for a week before attacking her with a hammer and an axe. She managed to survive the attack but lost a finger and sustained several other injuries.
He evaded police capture and disappeared.
While on the run, in 2000, he met and murdered Paula Fields. Her body, which was cut into six pieces and stuffed into holdalls, was found in Regent’s Canal, London, in 2001.
His gruesome crimes aren’t thought to stop there, though. It’s thought Sweeney may have committed at least three more murders as three other women who were reportedly in relationships with him have never been located by police.

Delia survived the attack (Credit: ITV)