- You wanna know what happened with me and Melissa?
I killed her in Amsterdam, I chopped her up,
and I put her in a canal,
- We're requesting that all relatives send us blood samples for potential DNA profiling,
- Have you found Melissa?
- No, sir, we have not,
We won't stop looking for her,
- Sweeney's been granted bail, - H-He'll kill me, I know it,
- Get in the house,
- Got some news about Sweeney, He's out of the country,
Least now it's safe for us to start thinking about getting you discharged,
- Would you like to meet again?
Coffee? Or a meal,
- You look cold, Do you wanna come in, have a cup of tea?
- Just for a few minutes, then,
- Sure, love, What's your name? - Paula,
- We think he might have killed a woman, and the lawyers are saying we don't have enough to charge him,
We want to build a case against him for his attack on you in December 1994,
and you'll be called to give evidence, - No,
- After all that monster did to you,
Why don't you want to be part of something that will put him away?
- I solemnly declare and affirm this is my lost fingertip,
- Miss Balmer, Miss Balmer, - This is the scar made by the knife
that pierced through my right breast and right lung! - Miss Balmer!
- If you carry on like this, you'll destroy this case and Sweeney will be back on the street,
He's laughing at you, Delia,
Captions by Able,
Captions were made with support from NZ On Air,
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- Would you like some water? - No, I want wine,
- Miss Balmer, in your own time,
please tell the court about the events of the night of Thursday the 22nd of December 1994,
- You mean the night he killed me?
- If that's how you prefer to put it, yes,
- It was the shortest, darkest day of the year, It was about 6,30 PM,
I'd cycled home from work, There was no one on the street,
I arrived home, I lent my bike up against the railings as I always did, I went to unlock my front door,
I went to pick up my bike, As I was carrying it in, I heard him call my name,
I looked over my right shoulder, and he was coming up the steps,
- Who do you mean by 'he', Miss Balmer?
- Him, John Sweeney,
Even though it has been seven years since the attack, I am still affected by my injuries,
Some days I feel like there's a metal clamp crushing my chest,
and if I am touched, even softly, on my right breast,
I get a horrible feeling like an electric shock,
Both my arms hurt, I can't grip properly,
I have difficulty lifting anything of any weight,
And on cold days, the metal in my left arm feels like ice,
I don't like looking at my injuries, I have scars all over my body,
I don't like trying on clothes in shops cos I feel like everybody is looking at them,
And I especially hate how my little finger looks,
I used to be proud of my hands, but now when I look at my little finger, it makes me feel sick,
- Thank you, Miss Balmer,
Could you please tell the court what have been the long-term effects of the attack on your mental health?
- Oh, well, I have been diagnosed with PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder,
I feel anxious, I get angry with people, I have nightmares,
And I have― I have been to see psychiatrists and therapists,
Most of them have said I need antidepressants,
which I have refused because I will not put chemicals into my body,
Drugs trick you into thinking that everything is all right when it is not,
And do you know, I have lost what little confidence I had,
I feel as though,,,
I am in,,,
a black hole,
And I am scared,,,
to wake up in the morning and face a new day
because I feel I have lost my future,
- You had the option to give your evidence from behind the screen
so that the defendant would not be able to see you,
But you chose not to do that, Why was that, Miss Balmer?
Was it because you wanted to see Mr Sweeney?
- No, Why should I hide from him? I'm not scared of him,
- You invited Mr Sweeney to live in your home,
You were intimate with him for almost four years,
Can you tell me why?
- Cos I'm soft and stupid, and I couldn't see through him,
- Did you love Mr Sweeney, Miss Balmer?
- No, I did not, I have never loved anyone,
- You told Barstock Road Police that Mr Sweeney had tied you to a bed and repeatedly rapedyou,
That's correct, isn't it?
- Yes,
- And yet after your ordeal,
when the police offered to install you in refuge accommodation in Kings Cross, you refused,
- Because the Kings Cross is full of drug addicts and prostitutes,
- Or was it because you still had feelings for Mr Sweeney?
- No,
- Did you hope that he might return to your flat
so that you could resume your consensually sadomasochistic relationship?
- No, that is not,,,
- Oh my,,,
- Why do you have to twist everything
and make me out to be a liar?
It is unnecessary, and it is dishonest,
Why is the law allowed to treat people like this?
You see, because I just want to be left alone,
- Well done, Delia, Well done,
- Uh, I wasn't there, I was 200 miles away in Skelmersdale,
Delia Balmer's lying because she's got a grudge against me,
- What about Miss Balmer's neighbour, Joshua Wilson?
He identified you as a person he saw attacking her,
- Yeah, He's mistaken,
- In March last year, after your arrest,
police searched your flat at Sicily Crescent,,, - Mm-hm, Yeah,
- ,,,and discovered an artist's portfolio containing 201 of your drawings,
Two of those drawings are of particular relevance
to your attempted murder of Delia Balmer,
- Well, I didn't attempt to murder Delia Balmer,
- Will the jury please turn to picture exhibit page five in the bundle?
This drawing shows a boot about to crush a cockroach,
Did you do this drawing, Mr Sweeney? - Yeah,
- Do you remember if it was before the attack on Delia Balmer on the 22nd of December 1994 orafter?
- I've just told you I didn't attack Delia Balmer,
so it's impossible to say if it was before or after,
- In the bottom right-hand corner are the words 'a cornered cockroach',
Is this your handwriting, Mr Sweeney?
- Yes, I think it is, - Yes,
The cockroach has a woman's head, Who is this woman, Mr Sweeney?
- Delia Balmer,
- Picture exhibit page six,
This is an enlarged detail of the same drawing angled to make it easier to read,
What you are looking at, ladies and gentleman, is the front section of the boot,
As can be seen, there are words clearly visible on it,
Mr Sweeney, would you please read what is written,
Mr Sweeney,
- 'May you never die until I kill you,'
What point were you making by writing those words on the boot?
- No point,
Just black humour,
- Moving on, Page seven in the bundle,
This drawing shows a section of a man's body, The man is wearing jeans and a belt,
Tucked inside the belt is an axe
with blood clearly visible on the blade,
Blood is dripping from the blade on to a bloody scalp fringed with blonde hair,
Did you do this drawing, Mr Sweeney? - Yes,
- Do you remember when you drew it? - No,
- I'd like to draw the jury's attention to the two patches of white Tipp-Ex correction fluid
on the blade of the axe,
Using ultraviolet light, scientists were able to discover words written beneath the Tipp-Ex,
Please turn to picture exhibit page eight,
Under the first patch of Tipp-Ex is a date of birth,
13th of October 1956,
Under the second patch, the words 'made in Liverpool',
Where were you born, Mr Sweeney? - I was born in Kirkdale, You know that,
- An area of Liverpool, - Yes,
- Yes, And what is your date of birth?
- 13th of October 1956,
- So the words you Tipp-Exed over refer to yourself,
- I didn't write that, I didn't― I didn't put Tipp-Ex on that, I didn't write that,
- Yet in the opinion of the handwriting expert that we consulted, it is your writing,
Let us turn back now to page seven,
As can be seen, there is a further patch of Tipp-Ex at the bottom of the page,
Ultraviolet light revealed more writing,
Please turn to page nine in the bundle,
December '94,
The very month and year Delia Balmer was subjected to a near fatal attack,
- I didn't attack Miss Balmer, I didn't write this,
And I certainly didn't put Tipp-Ex on it,
- You do admit doing this drawing, - Yes,
- Of a man with a bloody axe,
The very weapon used in the attack on Delia Balmer,
An extraordinary coincidence, Would you not agree, Mr Sweeney?
- That's what coincidences are, isn't it? Eh? Extraordinary,
- Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
in a moment, you'll go out and consider your verdicts,
The only verdicts that I can accept are ones in which you are all agreed,
- My Lord, the jury have been in retirement for nine hours and 40 minutes,
Mr Foreman, have you reached a verdict on which you are all agreed?
- We have,
- Is that in relation to all four counts?
- Yes,
- On count one of the indictment,
the attempted murder of Delia Balmer,
do you find the defendant, John Patrick Sweeney,
guilty or not guilty?
- Guilty, - You fucking idiot!
You're all fucking idiots!
- Christine says his sentencing will be in three weeks,
- The whole world is laughing at me,
- No one's laughing at you,
No one with a shred of decency
could look at this and make a judgement about you,
The only person this vile drawing says anything about is him,
- It's my face, David,
- It's not your face,
This is your face,
- You're starting early,
- To John Patrick Sweeney spending the rest of his life behind bars,
- To the damn police releasing a box of cockroaches in his fucking cell,
- Four life sentences,
One for the attempted murder, One each for the firearms offences,
- Four life s―? Oh, fantastic,
- Yeah, We couldn't have done it without you, Delia,
- Oh, will you join us for a glass of champagne, Chris?
- Oh, any excuse,
- Come on, Delia, Come on,
- So he'll spend the rest of his life in jail,
- Uh, well,,,
Actually, the, um,,,
the judge ruled that he'll be eligible for parole in nine years,
- What was that?
- Four life sentences,,,
and he's up for parole in nine years?
- Oh, that's insane,
- Honestly, none of us can make head or tail of it, It's―
- It's the same old fucking shit is what it is!
- Sorry, - No,
No, I'm sorry, David,
- Well, it's not your fault, You're not the bloody judge,
- Well, this will probably be my last visit,
- Oh?
- Yeah, the rules are very clear on FLO exit strategies,
Unless Delia actually requests to see me, which I don't see happening,
I'll be out of her hair now, - Ah,
I wonder what my exit strategy should be,
- What, seriously?
- No, no, - Oh,
- No, no, no, Delia and I,,, we're in this for the long haul,
We've found the teeth that match each other's wounds,
We're fine! We're fine,
Adios, amiga,
'To John Stevens, Police Commissioner,' What's this?
- Police and the courts shouldn't be allowed to get away with treating victims like they treated me,
- Oh, come on, Delia, now,
Stop, eh?
It's over, sweetheart,
L-Let's go out, - I don't want to go out, My chest hurts, and it's very, very cold,
- All right, well, then let's get a takeaway,
What do you want? Indian? Chinese? - Do you know what, David?
We can't afford takeaways, not now that you're taking so much time off,
- For Christ's sake, Delia, We're not fucking paupers, for,,,
- Let me look,
David Blunkett?
- Yes, Sir John damn Stevens got some flunky to reply, so I'm going over his head,
- 'The letter I received from the Metropolitan Police was an insult,
'I did not want to assist the law, I was forced to,
'Them thanking me for testifying totally misses the point,
'You might as well torture someone then thank them for letting you torture them,
'I do not accept their thanks,
'The police can stick their thanks up their―'
Oh yeah, That'll work,
- You want to go out later?
- Mm-hm, Of course,
I wish I'd known you before,
- Before what?
- Well, Sweeney, The police, the trial,
- That's a stupid thing to say, David, There's no point wishing for something that never was,
- When the defence barrister asked if you still loved Sweeney, you said,,,
you'd never really loved anyone, Is that really true?
- You know that about me, David, I don't go in for any of that mushy stuff, So,,,
- It's love, Delia, It's not mushy stuff, for,,,
- So now you're not giving me any wine cos you're feeling sorry for yourself,
- I'm paying for it,
Oh,
Oh! Now look what you've done!
- Keep your voice down, - No, I won't keep my fucking voice down, David!
Do you know I made a spectacle of myself in the Old Bailey?
You think I care about making a spectacle of myself
in a Greek fucking restaurant!
- Sorry,
- Whoa, Everything all right? Where are you off to in such a hurry?
- Home, Out of my way!
- Hold on a moment, Have you been drinking, madam?
- Yes,
I don't― I don't know what business it is of yours,
- Are you American?
- No, I'm not fucking American,
I was not drunk and disorderly, I was walking home,
I have not done anything wrong,
- What's your name?
- Delia Balmer, I used to live in Lavinia Gardens, I'm in your computer,
The 22nd of December 1994, My,,,
I was attacked with an axe, I nearly died, There was a trial at the Old Bailey last year,
- How do you spell Balmer?
- Delia Balmer?
She's been here all night?
- Yeah,
- Did you not even check her on the system?
- She doesn't have a record,
- Not as an offender, As a victim,
I'm sorry about the night you had, Delia,
You're free to go,
I'll have a car run you home,
- I'm not getting in a fucking police car,
- Delia! Oh, thank Christ,
Where have you been? I've been worried sick!
I've been wandering the streets half the night looking for you,
- Yeah, well, I was arrested, so,,,
- What? What happened?
- I want to talk about it, I just want to sleep,
- Do you want me to come in with you?
- It's not working between us, David,
We're holding on to something that's gone,
- Well, do you want to talk about that?
- I mean, is there any point? Cos I'll only get angry,
Right, Bye, then, David,
Stupid, Stupid,
Stupid, Stupid bitch,
- Yes,
OK, bye,
- Hi, Uh, sorry to interrupt, - Mm-hm,
- Uh, I'm on Lincoln Ward, and, um,,,
I'm a qualified therapeutic masseuse,
and I was just wondering if that might be something that would be useful here or,,,?
- Absolutely, but I'm afraid we don't have the budget,
- All right, I can work for free,
Hi, Uh, my name's Delia,
Sister said you'd like a cranial massage?
- You know, whenever I used to get shampoo at the hairdressers,
I'd always ask for the extra conditioner just to make it last longer,
You are good, Delia,
- Yeah, well, my lecturer at college said I was the best in the class,
All the other students said I pressed too hard,
- Well, they were obviously idiots,
So, is there a Mr Delia at home? - Nope,
- What, you? So petite and cute,
- Some lucky fella's missing out,
- Delia, it's after 11,
- Go away, Tessa, Delia is my handmaiden,
Isn't that right, Delia?
Oh, Nabil,
- Delia,
Mum, this is the lady with the magic fingers,
- Thanks for looking after him,
- You're leaving us? - Yeah, for a bit,
I've hit a good patch, so Mum is gonna pamper me at home,
You take care of yourself, Delia, - Yeah,
- Thanks for making this shit bearable,
- Come on, you, Let's get you home, - Let's do it,
Thanks so much,
- Barns Green Serious Crime Command, DI Steve Smith speaking,
- Hi, this is Detective Astrid De Vries, Amsterdam CID,
Scotland Yard gave me your number,
I understand that your department investigated the unsolved murder of a woman, Paula Fields,
- Uh, most of the team have moved on, but, yes, the Paula Fields investigation was based here,
How can I help?
- I've got some news on the prime suspect in the case, John Sweeney,
We've identified the remains of a former girlfriend of his,
a young American woman, Melissa Halstead,
A few weeks ago, a cold case team in Rotterdam found a tissue sample in storage
of an unidentified female body found in a bag in a canal in Rotterdam in 1990,
We just got a DNA match with blood supplied by Melissa's family back in 1995,
It's her,
100%,
Melissa Halstead's remains have been lying in Rotterdam's municipal cemetery since 1990,
I was present at the exhumation,
The condition of the body might be of interest to you,
Her head, hands, and feet had been removed,
- Same as Paula Fields,
We need to figure out how to work together on this,
John Sweeney has served almost six years of his nine-year sentence,
Add to that the months he was on remand, and the reality is he could be out in two years,
That's at least how long an investigation of this magnitude will take,
And we're not helped by the fact that neither us nor the Dutch have a shred of forensic evidence
linking Sweeney to the murders of Melissa Halstead or Paula Fields,
- Well, on Melissa Halsted,
her dismembered remains were found in a canal in Rotterdam on May the 3rd 1990
but only recently identified 19 years later,
On Paula Fields, her dismembered remains were found in Regent's Canal on the 19th of February 2001,
We can connect Sweeney to the two women ― various recorded eyewitness accounts ―
but no connection with their murders,
However, what are the chances of two women having relationships with the same man both ending upmurdered,
dismembered, heads, hands, feet removed, put in bags and dumped in canals?
- Then there's this woman,
Delia Balmer, the survivor,
the girlfriend who came between Melissa and Paula,
the woman whose attempted murder Sweeney is currently doing time for,
On the 31st of May 1994,
Delia Balmer made a statement to Barstock Road Police
in which she said Sweeney told her he murdered Melissa,
That evidence has never been put before a jury,
- Delia Balmer?
What John Sweeney told you in 1994 was true except for one detail,
He disposed of Melissa's body in a canal in Rotterdam, not Amsterdam,
- I never said the canal was in Amsterdam,
just that he said he killed her in Amsterdam, Why are you here?
- We're reopening the investigation into the murders of Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields,
and we intend to charge John Sweeney with both offences, but it's a given he'll plead not guilty,
- No shit,
- We know the trial in 2001 was very difficult for you, - Ha!
- But if we can get the case to court,
we'd greatly appreciate it if you would consent to give evidence,
It― It would be much easier this time,
You'd just have to talk about what he told you he did to Melissa,
- No, No, - That's all,
- No,
- We think it's a bad idea to put Delia Balmer on the stand,
Bad for us but very bad for her,
- You told her Sweeney's coming up for parole? - Yeah,
I thought she'd relish the opportunity to testify against him,
- It's not about that for her, She thought her ordeal was over,
She just wants to be done with all this, She is that terrified of being cross-examined again,
- We want to suggest a compromise,
The Dutch have requested a videotaped statement
of Delia talking about Sweeney's Melissa confession,
If she agrees to it, perhaps we could apply to the judge
to let the video statement serve as her evidence in the trial,
That way the jury get to see her but she avoids the ordeal of being cross-examined live,
- Live is what we need,
Our case against Sweeney is still only circumstantial,
The jury needs to see Delia Balmer in real time
telling them what Sweeney told her he did to Melissa Halstead,
- Sorry, boss, You gotta see this,
Merseyside Police conducted a search on Sweeney's family home,
They found this lot in the original police evidence bags,
It was restored to the family in 2001 after he was convicted,
but no one thought to hang on to it because the case wasn't about Melissa,
Look at this,
- A scratch card? - Turn it over, boss,
We've confirmed that's Sweeney's handwriting,
- 'Poor old Melissa, Chopped her up in bits,
'Food to feed the fish, Amsterdam was the pits,'
- And that's not all,
He's even dated them,
- Amsterdam, Easter 1990,
Still think we need Delia in court to win this thing?
- Videotape her statement,
I'll talk to the judge, see if we can keep her out of court,
- Delia, please tell us what John Sweeney told you during the spring bank holiday of 1994,
- No,
I wanna talk about Saturday the 29th of June 2002
when I was wrongfully arrested by Barstock Road Police
for being drunk and disorderly,
A policeman twice my size
put handcuffs on me
and then shoved me into a police van,
I spent the whole fucking night in a,,,
dirty, smelly police cell,
I wrote to the station superintendent,
And when he wrote back to me, he didn't even fucking apologise,
He said what had happened to me was an unfortunate incident
and he tried to shut me up with a cheque for £42,50
for the dry cleaning of my suede coat that they fucking ruined!
- We didn't know she was intoxicated until she let rip for the cameras,
- It's not a problem, though, is it, boss?
Not now we've got the photos and the scratch card and everything?
- There's has been a development,
Sweeney knows that we don't intend to put Delia on the stand,
He's instructed his counsel to go back to the judge and insist that she be compelled to testify,
Given the seriousness of the charges against him,
the judge has granted his request,
- Yeah, well, I knew the creep wasn't finished with me,
I knew he'd find some way of stomping out what little life I have left,
- But it's not the end of the road, We've got one card up our sleeve
where we can apply for a medical exemption,
We'd get you to see a forensic psychiatrist,
with your permission, obviously, and see if we can get you declared unfit to give evidence,
- That's my only way out of this?
Seeing a shrink who'll say how nuts I am?
- Well, yes, but I wouldn't have put it that way myself, But yes,
- Well, what choice do I have? I can't leave the country cos my passport's expired,
so I'm trapped yet again,
- Delia, medical exemptions aren't easy to get,
So if the psychiatrist thinks you're even slightly intoxicated,
that'll go into the report to the judge, and it'll be game over,
You mustn't drink any alcohol before the session,
- Oh, no, I'll have to have a drink, otherwise I'll be a mess,
- But a sober mess,
And that'll count in your favour,
- Oh shit,
Come on, Delia,
- I bought two bottles of wine and a bottle of brandy last night,
and I didn't touch a drop,
so now,,,
I feel dreadful,
- Are you clear about the purpose of this session, Delia?
- Yep,
You're gonna decide whether or not I'm mentally fit to give evidence in court,
When I was lying on the steps, thinking I was about to die,
I thought of my mum and dad,,,
and my brothers Stewart,
They were alive then, Mum and Dad, They died a couple of years ago, within a year of eachother,
And I thought of them each,
And how they,,,
how they were so far away,
I-I thought about how I would never see them again and how they would never see me,
And I,,,
I clung to that memory of their faces
because I wanted my last thoughts
to be only of them,
Can I go now?
- Of course you can,
But,,,
there's still 30 minutes left on the clock, Delia,
paid for by the Met,
If there's anything you want to talk about, anything at all,
now might be a good time,
- I just want to go home,
- The only thing holding her together is her anger,
If her fear becomes greater than her anger,
which is very close to where she is now,
I think there's a real possibility she might try to take her own life,
- Dr Howes will tell the judge that under no circumstances should you be compelled to testify,
It's over,
- 'It was like he was letting out something that he'd been keeping deep inside,
'He told me that he killed Melissa in Amsterdam
'and that he sat with her body for three days,
'He didn't say how he killed her,
'He said he had cut her up and put her in a bag
'and threw her in a canal,'
Yeah, two life sentences, No parole this time,
It's what they call here a whole-life tariff, so,,,
you know, he'll spend the rest of his life in jail,
- Oh, it's about goddamn time,
How do you feel, Delia?
- Oh, I don't know,
Not much of anything,
You know, they told me that he refused to leave his cell when they read out the verdict,
- He must have been real mad, - Mm,
- Good riddance, I say,
You won, Delia,
He tried to kill you and he couldn't because you were too strong,
- Oh, I,,,
I don't know if strength has much to do with it, Stew,
- Yes, it did,
You were always the strong one in our family,
- Do you think that? - I know it,
You remember when we first moved to Detroit in '64
and there was that tornado
and the neighbour's house moved off its foundations?
- Yeah, What about it?
- Dad was scared, and he wanted us all to go into the basement,
You wanted to stay upstairs and watch the storm,
- Yeah, I remember,
I enjoyed it,
You did,
We were all scared,
But not you,
Captions by Able,
Captions were made with support from NZ On Air,
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