Christopher Halliwell, a convicted double murderer, has been identified by a former detective as a strong suspect in the unsolved 1994 murder of Julie Finley, who was strangled and left in a carrot field near Liverpool over three decades ago. Halliwell is currently serving a whole life sentence for the killing of two other young women, and calls are increasing for police to question him about Finley’s death.

Julie Finley, 23, was found murdered on August 6, 1994, ten miles outside Liverpool, close to Rainford in Lancashire. Witnesses reported hearing her scream for help shortly before her killing. Police had previously ruled out local suspects, but recent investigations have revisited Halliwell’s possible involvement. At the time of Finley’s murder, Halliwell, then a window fitter, lived in Aughton, roughly five miles from the crime scene, and drove a white “D-reg” Ford Transit van matching descriptions of a vehicle seen near the site.

Ian Clarke, a former Acting Detective Sergeant who worked on the original investigation, stated that Halliwell should be considered a prime suspect based on these facts. Clarke pointed to Halliwell’s known pattern of targeting women in their early 20s, who were lured into vehicles and then murdered in rural locations without overt sexual assault but with a similar modus operandi, including the use of a blunt object. He said there was no local perpetrator fitting the profile at the time and suggested that an interview with Halliwell could yield information, though he acknowledged Halliwell might choose to remain silent.

Additional context links Halliwell to other crimes in the region. He was convicted for the murders of Becky Godden-Edwards in 2003 and Sian O’Callaghan in 2011. Authorities have noted Halliwell’s ties to Gloucestershire, where his family lived near locations connected to these victims and where Melanie Hall’s remains were found in 2009, 28 miles north of where she disappeared following her 1996 nightclub vanishing in Bath.

Detective Chief Inspector Ben Lavender of Avon and Somerset Police has suggested that Halliwell’s connections to towns near these crime scenes could be significant. Electoral roll checks and witness accounts have further fueled interest in interviewing Halliwell regarding Finley’s case.

Julie Finley’s mother, Pat, 81, has publicly appealed for answers, expressing frustration over the decades-long wait for justice and urging authorities to question Halliwell. She emphasized the toll that the unresolved murder has taken on the family and expressed hope that renewed investigations might provide closure.

Police have not officially confirmed if Halliwell will be re-interviewed, but the case has gained renewed attention through appeals from detectives and the victim’s family, highlighting the ongoing challenges in solving cold cases involving serial offenders.