Batman rapist

Crimes and investigation

The Batman rapist is believed to have a detailed geographical knowledge of Bath and operates in "a specific hunting ground". All but one of his crimes have taken place in Bath, usually in the Bathwick area of the city; the exception being the abduction and rape of a 19-year-old woman in Kingswood, near Bristol, in September 1996. The perpetrator's crimes usually take place during the darker winter months and he attacked women of all ages, and in May 2000 attempted to carjack a 26-year-old woman in Bath while her 7-year-old daughter was in the car.

The attacker targeted lone women who had just returned to their cars, abducting them at knifepoint before forcing them to drive to secluded areas in the south of the city where he then assaulted them. After raping his victim, he often forced them to drive back to the area where he abducted them.

Victims described their attacker as wearing black clothing and a baseball cap. He was slim, clean shaven and was about 5 ft tall with blue eyes. He had a scar below his bottom lip. In October 2000, to coincide with the end of British Summer Time, Avon and Somerset Constabulary delivered leaflets to 25,000 homes in Bath—the biggest leaflet drop in the history of British criminal investigation—asking women to complete a checklist about friends, acquaintances, neighbours or relatives who might fit the profile of:

• A white male.
• Slim or medium build.
• Aged between 30 and 50.
• Knew the Bath area well, and had some connection with Bristol, particularly the Kingswood area, and could drive a car.
• Had a fetish for tights and could persuade his consenting sexual partners to wear tights, which he may have ripped during intercourse.
• Sometimes wore a baseball cap.
• Has aroused suspicion with absences from home during the evening and early hours of the morning.

The rapist had long periods of apparent inactivity, including a three-year gap between October 1991 and November 1994, followed by a further two years of apparent inactivity until June 1996. Police suspect that there were other attacks during these lulls in activity, although a spokesman has said; "Another possibility to explain the long gaps is that this is a man who comes to the area infrequently, possibly for work reasons."

Murder of Melanie Hall

Main article: Murder of Melanie Hall

Melanie Hall (born 20 August 1970 – disappeared 9 June 1996; declared legally dead 17 November 2004) was a British hospital clerical officer from Bradford on Avon who disappeared on 9 June 1996 following a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath. On 5 October 2009 a motorway worker found a plastic bin bag containing Hall's bones while he was clearing a vegetation patch on a slip road at Junction 14 of the M5 motorway. The bones in the bag included her skull, pelvis, and a thigh bone, and further remains were found buried and spread around the field by the side of the motorway. Police have not ruled out links to the Batman rapist since the unknown assailant was known to have attempted to carjack a woman at knifepoint, leaving her wounded when she fought back and managed to escape, in the same area of the city a few hours before Hall was abducted.

References

References

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