Did Levi Bellfield kill Melanie Hall?

[sammyt]

Levi Bellfield is a British serial killer serving a whole life sentence for the murders of Millie Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange.

Bellfield will never be released from prison and is suspected of other crimes.

Let's look at the circumstantial evidence relating to Bellfield being involved in the abduction murder of Melanie Hall on June 9th 1996 in Bath.

We'll cover the 'Batman' attack which took place earlier that day in a separate post.


1.   Bellfield attacked blonde women and girls, with medium length hair.  Melanie was blonde with medium length hair.
2.   Bellfield bludgeoned victims with a hammer.  Melanie was bludgeoned to the skull and jaw.
3.   Bellfield committed abduction murders and dumped bodies.  Melanie was abducted and her remains were dumped.
4.   Bellfield was known to visit Bath to buy drugs.  Melanie of course disappeared from Bath.
5.   Bellfield is alleged to have purchased drugs from the Cadillacs door team, and to have worked the doors at Cadillacs.  Melanie disappeared after leaving Cadillacs nightclub.
6.   If Bellfield did sometimes mini-cab, or work the doors, in Bath, then he may have known Melanie.  Melanie's family believe she was taken by someone she knew.
7.   Bellfield occasionally worked as a mini cab driver.  It has been speculated that Melanie was abducted by a mini cab driver.  Police searched a former taxi rank in Bath.
8.   Bellfield has accomplices for some of his crimes, one who was later convicted of murder.  Police believe that Melanie's killer may have had an accomplice.
9.   Bellfield used accomplices to help clean up his crime scenes.  Police believe that Melanie's murder may have involved an accomplice post offence.
10. Bellfield was a car dealer and often drove Ford vehicles.  The master keys to a Ford vehicle were found near to Melanie's remains.  Police suspect that the keys were from a company, dealership or works vehicle.
11. Bellfield used car crushers to destroy vehicles used in his crimes.  The white GTI police were looking for in the Melanie Hall case just disappeared.
12. Bellfield drove up to twenty different cars/vans a year, and was caught when his vehicles were linked to crime scenes.  Melanie's killer may have had his car spotted.
13. Despite using secondary dump sites, Bellfield made no major attempts to conceal bodies.  Although undiscovered for 13 years, Melanie's remains were not particularly well hidden.
14. Bellfield raped and tortured a victim for 14 hours before killing her.  Pathologists believe that Melanie was killed within a day or so of her abduction.
15. Some of Bellfield's known associates have died since the 90s.  It has been alleged that one 'accomplice' in the Melanie Hall case died before the body and DNA was discovered.
16. Bellfield had just turned 28 years old in June 1996.  Police appeals in the Hall case have targeted suspects aged around (and sometimes exactly) 27 years old.
17. Despite being a drug dealer, Bellfield did not take drugs himself when out working/prowling.  Melanie's family don't believe that she would have accepted a lift from a drunk/drugged driver.
18. Bellfield is suspected of other murders and of up to 100 attacks on women.  Police feel it unlikely that Melanie was killed by a first time offender.

[sammyt]

Now let's look at Bellfield as a POI for the failed 'Batman' attack earlier that day.

At lunchtime on 9th June 1996, a 42 year old woman escapes a carjacking abductor in a Bath carpark. Later that night, and only a stone's throw away, Melanie Hall is abducted.

The police may have hold back information, which makes them confident that the Batman committed the daytime attack.

At first glance though, there appear to be some differences between this attack and the known Batman attacks.


1. In the mid 90s, Bellfield was stocky, light haired and around 6ft tall. The carpark attacker was described as thick set, sandy haired and around 5ft 9 or 5ft 10 tall. The Batman in 1994 is described as slim/medium build, dark haired and 5ft 7 tall.
2. Bellfield was known to use a knife. The carpark attacker used a knife. The Batman was also known to carry a knife, but only as a threat.
3. Bellfield was extremely violent towards victims. The carpark attacker cut the victim's wrists when she tried to escape. The Batman flees without violence when thwarted.
4. Bellfield was known to walk away calmly after violent attacks. The car park attacker walked away calmly after slashing the victim's wrists.
5. Bellfield was an infrequent visitor to Bath (although he may have worked there on occasion). The car park attacker strikes next door to the local police station, suggesting he may not be a local. The Batman perhaps seems to know Bath too well to make such an error.
6. Bellfield is a known daytime offender. The car park attack takes place in the daytime on a Saturday. The Batman generally attacks at night and avoids attacking at weekends.
7. In 1995, Bellfield was convicted of attacking a woman in a car. Not a common MO. The Batman of course is prolific in car related attacks.
8. Bellfield has earlier convictions for car theft. Police believe the Batman may also have been involved in car crimes.
9. As a clamper, Bellfield spent a lot of time in carparks, working but also prowling for potential victims. The Batman sometimes uses carparks but generally chooses quieter locations.


If the Batman commits the car park attack, and the Melanie Hall murder... then he has apparently not only graduated to murder, but also changed appearance and MO, lost his car related paranoia and let his car be seen for the first time, and used an accomplice for the first time.

If the Batman commits the car park attack, but not the Melanie Hall murder... then we have two notorious, separate and uncaught offenders on the loose in Bath that day.

If the Batman doesn't commit either of the crimes that day... then we should probably look for a known abduction murderer, with links to Bath and Cadillacs nightclub, a history of bludgeoning blondes, a history of car related attacks, and the ability to make a vehicle disappear from investigation.

Possibly someone who visits Bath, but doesn't know the city well enough to avoid attacking next to the police station.

Possibly someone who occasionally works in Bath as a bouncer or mini cab driver, and knows Melanie Hall at least on nodding terms.

[ttk]

Interesting hypothesis Sammi

My instinct is that I’m not convinced Bellfield was involved

The police do make mistakes, but I reckon that when Bellfield was identified as a serial killer, he would have been exhaustively assessed against unsolved murders, and eliminated

I think that although Bellfield might have had some links to Bath, my instinct is that Melanie’s murderer had closer links to the town.. I suspect that her body was stored somewhere locally after the murder for a short time, before being moved to the motorway verge. He also likely had help

[ttk]

Out of interest Sammi, do you have the source material for Bellfield’s links with abate and particularly his links with Cadillacs

[sammyt]

Mar 5, 2021 9:32:43 GMT ttk said:

Out of interest Sammi, do you have the source material for Bellfield’s links with abate and particularly his links with Cadillacs

Bellfield's links with Bath are confirmed in his prison letters: www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/chilling-prison-letters-levi-bellfield-17514259

In these letters he also declares his interest in middle aged women, and mentions his 'outdoor fun' and 'addictive hobby'.


"I was also attracted to the older woman."


“Dark curly hair, 40-45, slim, the horse type, outdoor dog walker, house-wife type. I had a thing for this type of woman, again who don’t."



Bellfield wrote he had “links to London, Surrey, Kent, Bath, Hastings and even as far north as Blackpool.”


The woman attacked on June 9th 1996 was a 42 year old 'house-wife type'.

The attacker calmly walked away, just like Bellfield did after he beat and stabbed one of his best friends into a coma.

The attacker slashed the woman's wrists after he was thwarted in the abduction attempt.  Bellfield was known to attack women who dared reject or challenge him.  

I'll post the sources asap.  Bellfield's ex has some interesting things to say about Levi stalking women and having a rape kit including a knife.

His former work mates have some interesting things to say too... Levi was accused of raping a woman in a nightclub car park.  In another attack on a woman, he blamed his accomplice.

The stuff about Cadillacs is unfortunately only from forum whispers.  Bellfield did sometimes work the doors outside London though, and travelled around a fair bit for his wheel clamping, drug dealing and car dealing.

[sammyt]

Mar 4, 2021 23:17:33 GMT ttk said:

Interesting hypothesis Sammi

My instinct is that I’m not convinced Bellfield was involved

The police do make mistakes, but I reckon that when Bellfield was identified as a serial killer, he would have been exhaustively assessed against unsolved murders, and eliminated

I think that although Bellfield might have had some links to Bath, my instinct is that Melanie’s murderer had closer links to the town.. I suspect that her body was stored somewhere locally after the murder for a short time, before being moved to the motorway verge. He also likely had help

You're probably right... most of the time the offender turns out to be unknown to the investigation.

Bellfield is an interesting POI.  He certainly committed many rapes and sexual assaults for which he was never charged.  He also ran a paedophile ring with 6 other men, and abused at least 17 girls.  His accomplices include some other real pieces of work.

Bellfield got a mate to help him with the clear up, after he tortured and killed Millie Dowler.  He got another mate to crush the car he used to abduct Millie.

All quite interesting in a case where the victim is abducted, killed and dumped, where the car involved just disappears, and where the police suspect an accomplice.

I'm not convinced that the UK police have identified all the victims of other high profile killers.

I doubt if the likes of Tobin, Robert Black or Halliwell only had 2-3 victims.  These guys are lifetime offenders like I suspect Bellfield was.

Even more prolific killers like Erskine, Nilsen and Sutcliffe had additional victims (despite the cases being officially 'closed').  There was a programme on the other day about ten new potential Sutcliffe victims.

One problem with Bellfield as a POI is his weight.  He wasn't 20 stone yet, but he was a big man, probably around 14-15 stone in the mid 90s.  He could have disguised his high pitched voice on occasion like JJD was able to do.

[sammyt]

Speculation about Bellfield from the old websleuths forum:

www.websleuths.com/forums/threads/uk-melanie-hall-25-bath-somerset-9-june-1996.131706/

"Bellfield had connections to Bath, he used to buy drugs from the club where Melanie went missing and work on the doors quite frequently."


Story about Bellfield attacking a woman... and working the doors as far afield as Berkshire:

www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/264376/woman-claims-evil-levi-bellfield-kicked-her-in-the-ribs-three-times/


Bellfield has a friend help clean up after killing Millie Dowler:

www.mylondon.news/news/local-news/court-hears-man-who-helped-5985479


Scrap dealer arrested on suspicion of destroying Bellfield's car for him after the Millie Dowler murder:

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/136362/Milly-murder-Scrap-dealer-bailed


Allegations that Bellfield drugged and raped one girl when working the doors, and sexually assaulted another. Other allegations that he sex trafficked a 14 year old girl. This article mentions Bellfield stalking women, raping girls in his kitted out van, and even keeping an empty flat for him and his crew to take girls to. Mention also of Bellfield's wheel clamping pal NM, who is currently in prison for a samurai sword murder:

www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20080226/281642480869441

[sammyt]

The police have apparently tracked Bellfield's movements nationwide via his wheel clamping business.

Bellfield didn't start wheel clamping until 2000, so I doubt his movements in the mid 90s have been tracked.

Bellfield travelled for drug dealing, door work, car auctions, and for horse events with his ex-girlfriend. He was known to disappear for days on end.

He used up to 40 aliases, paid for things in cash, changed cars up to 20 times a year, and often drove unregistered vehicles.

[andrew]

Very interesting defo the car and links to bath. I couldnt rule him out at all hes a very good suspect. Definitely killed lin Russell and Michael stone is innocent of that im sure of it.

[sammyt]

Mar 8, 2021 1:56:15 GMT andrew said:

Very interesting defo the car and links to bath. I couldnt rule him out at all hes a very good suspect. Definitely killed lin Russell and Michael stone is innocent of that im sure of it.

Yeah Bellfield is a good POI for the Russell murders.  He was highly mobile in the mid 1990s.

The main problem is that he has an alibi from his ex-girlfriend, who says they spent that entire day together.  It was her birthday.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-41652456

She suspects Bellfield of many other crimes though, and doesn't offer an alibi for a month earlier, when Melanie Hall disappeared.

[sammyt]

Interesting claims from Joe Collings, Bellfield's former partner.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-41652456

Bellfield's criminality was not confined to hammer attacks.
His former partner revealed that in late 1996 she found a jacket, balaclava and carving knife in a bin liner in the garage of the home they shared. She told how he would stalk an alleyway near a neighbouring train station.
"And that was one of his hunting grounds, he used to go and wait for people to see if he could get someone down there" she says
Bellfield, it has been reported, also used his job as a nightclub bouncer to lure young teenage girls into a van kitted out with a mattress where he would drug his countless victims before raping them.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/7580089/levi-bellfield-ex/

Bellfield regularly bragged about raping girls when he returned from work as a doorman, according to Joe.
But without evidence, she was too scared to say anything.
Joe says: “I knew about a lot of the rapes. He’d come home bragging about it, but when I was in that position with two kids, what could I do?
I’ve got to live with the guilt every day knowing potentially I could have stopped him".
“He bragged about raping a disabled girl on the bonnet of the car in the car park of a club. There were doormen who were there that knew, and nothing was ever done about it."

[sammyt]

I take back what I said about Bellfield avoiding drugs. He apparently became a cocaine fiend, getting high on his own supply.

[sammyt]

Bellfield was able to avoid the detectives in the Millie Dowler enquiry on eleven occasions.

After failing eleven times to meet with Bellfield, the police just dropped him as a suspect!!

This is food for thought in the Batman case... the Batman could have used similar tactics to Bellfield to avoid having been one of the 2,000+ men from Bath who were questioned.

[sammyt]

Mar 8, 2021 1:56:15 GMT andrew said:

Very interesting defo the car and links to bath. I couldnt rule him out at all hes a very good suspect. Definitely killed lin Russell and Michael stone is innocent of that im sure of it.

What do you think of the idea that Bellfield was the stocky, light haired car park attacker, earlier that day?

[sammyt]

Here's the composite from a Bellfield attack in 2003.

Doesn't look much like him to me...