Claims twisted double killer Christopher Halliwell could have killed missing chef Claudia Lawrence

MISSING chef Claudia Lawrence’s dad has urged police to look into claims double killer Christopher Halliwell could be responsible for her disappearance.

Peter Lawrence, 70, wants officers to “take this seriously” after a senior detective claimed Halliwell could have had something to do with his daughter’s case.

The desperate dad also slammed cops for releasing the suspicion to the public before police could look into it properly.

He said: “North Yorkshire Police obviously need to take this seriously and see if there is anything to it.

“We have been through this so many times over the past seven years.

“Similar things are happening and you just want it to be either found to be true and then it can be put to bed, or found not to be true and we can forget it.”

Taxi driver Halliwell, 52, was jailed for life last Friday for murdering sex worker Becky Godden, 20, in 2003.

He led cops to the young woman’s shallow grave after being arrested for abducting and killing 22-year-old Sian O’Callaghan when she left a nightclub in 2011.

The monster killer was already serving a life sentence for the second murder after being convicted four years ago.

Detective Steve Fulcher yesterday revealed he believes Claudia’s disappearance fits the suspected serial killer’s behaviour.

He explained Halliwell’s absent dad lived “a few streets” from where Claudia was last seen and said it is possible he knew the city well.

He told the Sunday Express: “It fits his pattern of behaviour – abducting women walking alone whether late at night or early in the morning.”

Fulcher, now a security consultant in Somalia, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme there was “unquestionable” evidence Halliwell killed again.

He said: “I spent a lot of time with Christopher Halliwell.

“He was contrite, fully contrite, crying on my shoulder when I dealt with him.

“There’s no question, from all the information I gathered when I was running this inquiry in 2011, that he has committed other murders.

“There’s lots of things, but the principal thing he said was ‘the police want to interview me about eight murders’.”

The detective, who caught Halliwell, 52, after Sian’s abduction in 2011, has now questioned why police failed to follow up his connection to two other cold cases – Claudia Lawrence and Linda Razzell.

Claudia was last seen on March 18 2009 and was reported missing the following day when she failed to turn up for a shift at the University of York.

Despite multiple arrests no-one has ever been charged with her disappearance.

North Yorkshire Police believe she was murdered, although her body has never been found.

Linda vanished after setting off to work at Swindon College in 2002. Her body has never been found.

Her husband Glynn is currently serving a life sentence for her murder – but still claims he is innocent and the victim of a wide-ranging conspiracy.

Fulcher told the Today programme Linda had a “direct relationship” with Halliwell.

He added: “My issue was no investigation has occurred. We were aware of Claudia Lawrence, we were aware particularly of Linda Razzell.

“She had a relationship, a direct relationship with Halliwell. We know that Halliwell has killed women, has a propensity for killing women, and had a direct relationship with Linda Razzell.

“Whether or not he’s responsible for those murders isn’t the issue. The issue is why was no investigation conducted into those issues.

“We have a clear multiple murderer and we have concerns about his association with particular women.”

Dad-of-three Halliwell, from Nythe in Swindow, originally confessed he killed Becky to Fulcher after leading the detective to the field where he dumped Sian’s body.

But Fulcher failed to caution Halliwell and the admission was later ruled inadmissible by a High Court judge.

The detective was later found guilty of gross misconduct by a disciplinary panel but kept his job after receiving a final written warning.

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