17 February 2023 , 21:19
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A female witness has come forward claiming evil killer Christopher Halliwell "stalked her" in Yorkshire and could have killed Claudia Lawrence.
The woman, in her 60s from Bridlington, who does not wish to reveal her identity, believes she bumped into killer Halliwell on several occasions.
She says her first encounter happened near Tinsley Marina in Sheffield in 2009, the year the chef went missing in York.
Then a few years later she is convinced she saw him again at the White Horse beauty spot in North Yorkshire.
She claims after letting slip where she worked, the same stranger appeared at the garden centre in nearby Pickering on at least three occasions with staff branding him her ‘stalker’.
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“I will never forget those piercing blue eyes,” she said. “Just thinking about it makes me shiver.”
Claudia Lawrence went missing in 2009 (rossparry.co.uk/ Rossparry.co.uk SWNS)Swindon taxi driver Halliwell, 58, is behind bars for the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards, 20, in January 2003 and Sian O’Callaghan, 22, in 2011.
But the authors of a new book called ‘The New Millennium Serial Killer’, former police intelligence officer Chris Clark and Bethan Trueman, are convinced he has killed many more.
They have uncovered a new witness who places Halliwell, a keen fisherman, in Sheffield and near Claudia’s home in North Yorkshire.
The witness said the fishing lakes searched by North Yorkshire police last year is close to where she saw the mystery man who she thinks is Halliwell.
“I think he was involved in Claudia’s disappearance,” she said of Halliwell.
Talking about her first encounter she told how she stopped to chat to him in Sheffield while out walking with her ex.
“He was staying on a canal boat doing some fishing. He said it wasn’t his. He was renting this one,” she said.
“He got out a cigarette and tapped it on his leg to get one out of the packet. It was a very distinctive move.
“I am sure I saw this same man again when we were out walking at the White Horse near Thirsk. It was around March 2011 just before Halliwell was arrested.
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“It looked like the same guy. He had these piercing blue eyes, balding, quite tall and skinny.
Forensic officers at an address in Swindon where Halliwell once lived (Rowan Griffiths)“He had two suitcases which he put in the back of the car.
“He turned round to talk to me and asked me where I worked and I stupidly told him.
“He had a Zippo lighter, tapped his leg again and offered me one.
“That’s what tripped my memory and I thought ‘is this the same guy?
He said when she and her partner left, the man followed them for quite a while, forcing them to put their foot down to lose him.
Then three days later she said he turned up where she was working at the time as a garden centre sales assistant.
Police searching for Claudia Lawrence in North Yorkshire (Peter Harbour)“People at work started saying ‘your stalker here’s again!’ One time the manager had a word with him,” she said.
“He came and bought things at the shop including a blue rope.
“I was trying to upsell and said ‘you need scissors’ and he said ‘ I’ve got this’ and he showed me a knife in a sheath, it was like a double-sided fishing knife.
“I said ‘put that away we've got CCTV’ and he said ‘if it works!’ I looked behind me and I could see it was not flashing. It was unplugged.
“He also spoke to me about putting his card on the staff notice board. I read it and it said ‘Christopher' on it and he said ‘call me Chris’. “
Police divers searching Sand Hutton Gravel Pits near York (Tom Maddick SWNS)“It’s his eyes, they look through you like glass. They are very disturbing. I’ve got goose pimples just thinking about it now,” she said.
“He told me he was looking at relocating to that area and was touting for work as a taxi driver.
“He did say to me he was familiar with student accommodation as he would take them when they are starting university. He mentioned York.
“When I saw him he just said he was staying with somebody with a view to coming up here."
She said she contacted North Yorkshire police in 2020 about it but felt they dismissed it.
The officer who caught Halliwell, Steve Fulcher, also believes Halliwell has killed more and has written a forward for the book.
He says the 60 trophy items found in the bank of a Wiltshire lake suggests that Halliwell had a “prolific propensity to murder perhaps as often as once or twice a year.”
Tim Hicks, from the North Yorks Enquirer is also convinced of a link and said: “He was itinerant not just in his location but his type of employment too.
“He was a binman, a grave digger, a groundsman, a labourer, window cleaner and window fitter. He also loved fishing.
“He is a serial killer but he’s only been convicted of two murders so far when he could be behind far more. ”
North Yorkshire police force have previously been asked about potential links with Claudia’s disappearance and Halliwell but have said before: "There are no known links between Halliwell and the Claudia Lawrence case.”