Dutch, British team up to solve canal murders   

By The Holland Times Tuesday 30 March 2010, 12:03

Dutch and British police have launched an investigation into two unsolved murders they believe were perpetrated by the same offender. In the BBC program, Crime Watch on Monday, the two authorities asked for public help for leads into the "canal murders."

The television broadcast is the first time Dutch investigators have sought help from the London public. The murders, committed nearly a decade apart, were found to have "striking similarities," according to the Crime Watch host.

The first murder was in Rotterdam in 1990, when a bag was found in the Westersingel canal containing the body of a woman. Her head and hands were cut off. In 2007, investigators discovered the victim was a 33-year-old American woman who had been living in London but had been in Amsterdam for one month before her disappearance.

In London in 2003, a 31-year-old British woman's body was discovered in similar conditions. Fishermen found a number of heavy bags containing the woman's limbs and torso in the Paula Fields Regent's Canal. Her head and hands were never found.

According to Crime Watch, the Metropolitan Police of London were unexpectedly called by the Rotterdam authorities. Already, the two country's police have discovered a link between the victims - a 53-year-old  carpenter who reportedly had a relationship with both women. The man, from North London, is currently serving a 1994 sentence for the attempted murder of his then-girlfriend.