Two gardens in a street where the double murderer Christopher Halliwell lived are being dug up by specialist officers, it has emerged, including one at his former address.
Taxi driver Halliwell is serving a full life term after being convicted of the sexually motivated murders of Sian O’Callaghan and Becky Godden.
Following his convictions, the former Wiltshire detective who caught Halliwell, Steve Fulcher, said he believed he had killed other women. Wiltshire police refused to confirm the work they were doing on Broad Street in Swindon was connected to Halliwell, but one of the gardens they were searching was that of his former house.
The force said in a statement that their inquiries were being carried out as part of an ongoing case by a major crime investigation team and related “to intelligence that the force has received”.
DCI Jeremy Carter, who is leading the investigation, said: “While we do not have plans at this stage to search inside the properties, there will be some disruption to the occupants. I would like to make it clear that those living at the addresses have no involvement in the investigation and we thank them for their understanding and patience.”
Halliwell was convicted last year of murdering sex worker Godden in January 2003. He had sex with her, strangled her and buried her body in a field in Gloucestershire.
In 2011 he picked up office worker O’Callaghan in his taxi after she left a nightclub alone in Swindon before stabbing her in the head, strangling her and leaving her partially clothed body next to a road in Oxfordshire.
Police only found out about the killing of Godden because Halliwell led officers to the field where he had buried her body after he was arrested over O’Callaghan’s disappearance.
Halliwell, 53, lived at a number of addresses in Swindon – including Broad Street.
