Until I Kill You on ITV1 tells the real-life story of serial killer John Sweeney, who is currently in prison serving a life sentence after being found guilty of murdering two women and attempting to kill girlfriend Delia Balmer.
Sweeney admitted to killing Melissa Halstead after her torso was found in a canal in Amsterdam in 1990. The following year he met Delia Balmer and, after telling her of his crimes, she went to the police.
Catastrophic errors saw him released, though. And, as a result, he went on to attack Delia with a hammer and axe. Then, in 2000, Sweeney met and murdered Paula Fields, dumping her decapitated body in Regents Canal in London.
In 2011, after advances in DNA, he was finally jailed for life for the murders. However, according to his son Michael, the warning signs were there long before he met any of the women he so brutally killed.
Until I Kill You: Son of John Sweeney on traumatic childhood
Speaking about his childhood, Michael said Sweeney was never a good role model. In fact, he said that his mum Ann told him that as a baby Sweeney wouldn’t see his son “for days”. Instead, it’s claimed he “went off on a drink binge with friends”.
At the time, Sweeney lived with Ann in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. However, after his violent mood swings took their toll, the family ran away from him in a midnight flit to Northampton. Michael insisted that, due to his mum’s protection, Sweeney “never laid a finger on me or my sister Tracey”.
Ann got remarried and, Michael said, Sweeney would “occasionally turn up”. He said that, during the visits, he also met Melissa Halstead, Sweeney’s first victim. Michael said she once asked Ann if she “would mind” if they got married.
‘Why didn’t he kill my mum?’
Speaking to the Mirror back in 2011, Sweeney’
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