The mystery behind who killed nightclubber Melanie Hall could finally be solved with the help of AI, as police launch a new review of the cold case 30 years on.
Melanie, a 25-year-old clerical worker, was last seen sitting on a stool at the edge of the dancefloor speaking with an unidentified man at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath, on June 9, 1996, at about 1.10am. It was the same night England played Switzerland in the opening match of Euro 96.
Her remains were not found until October 5, 2009, when a workman discovered them 28 miles north from the city, next to a slip road on the M5 near Thornbury, Gloucestershire.
She had suffered a fractured skull, and reportedly had a broken jaw and cheek bone, indicating she had been subjected to a vicious assault. Her body was naked and had been tightly bound in bin bags, secured by thick blue nylon rope.
Three decades on, Melanie’s killer remains on the loose.
Detectives at Avon and Somerset Police announced this week that have launched Operation Denmark, a fresh investigation into the unsolved murder. They remain hopeful Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology could help provide answers for the young woman’s devastated family.
The contents of 90 crates of evidence are currently being digitised, while police have suggested AI could be deployed to analyse the cold case.
Police previously identified around 100 ‘persons of interest’, which has now been pared down to less than 20, while alibis are being re-examined.
The mystery behind who killed nightclubber Melanie Hall could finally be solved with the help of AI, as police launch a new review of the cold case 30 years on
Melanie’s remains were found 13 years after her disappearance – and her killer remains on the loose. Pictured: Items similar to those worn by Melanie which have never been found
Police have reissued an e-fit of a man they believe may have been with Melanie in the nightclub
Det Chief Insp Ben Lavender, who is leading the cold case team, told The Mirror: ‘With the advancements in AI in the coming years, I am sure it will give us another way of looking into the data that we have got again in intelligent ways.’
He also revealed police have created a database of the now-digitised evidence and are taking another look at CCTV footage found at the time.
The force previously trialled AI in 2024 to review evidential material in 27 complex cases – with answers that would have taken detectives 81 years to solve provided within just 30 hours instead.
Known as Söze, the tool helps detectives save time as well as analyse information in a more abstract way. For example, they can ask the system to show them any links between two suspects.
It can also uncover insights and relationships that were not already possible, by categorizing objects, people, anomalies and patterns far faster than any human can.
Previous efforts to discover the identity of Melanie’s killer have involved more than 400 officers over the years, with 96 hours of CCTV footage ploughed over for clues. Eleven people were arrested but no one has ever been charged.
Detectives now intend to go ‘back from the beginning’ to discover if any evidence was overlooked.
As part of those efforts, police have re-issued the E-fit and a description of a man they believe may have been with Melanie in the nightclub.
Detectives at Avon and Somerset Police announced this week that have launched Operation Denmark, a fresh investigation into the unsolved murder
He is described as white, mid to late 20s, 5ft 10ins, of medium build, with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, bushy eyebrows and clean shaven.
He wore black trousers, black shoes and a brown silk shirt. It is possible he had a gold hooped earring in his right ear and wore a flashy gold watch.
Police are also keen to discover what happened to the clothes Melanie was wearing the night she disappeared.
She wore a pale blue silk dress, black suede mule shoes, a cream single breasted long-sleeve jacket and a black satchel-type handbag. None of these items have ever been found.
Detectives are additionally set to forensically test the bags and rope that her remains were found in, with a partial DNA profile having been recovered.
Mr Lavender said of the items: ‘Both of those are key exhibits for us to look at exploiting all the new technology out there to see what could be found on them.’
Melanie, who was a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, had been on a night out with her German boyfriend and a couple known to them.
They went home and left Melanie on her own in the nightclub, with a witness later reporting that she had seen the 25-year-old talking to a man in the early hours of the morning.
Avon and Somerset Police have released these images of earrings similar to ones belonging to Melanie Hall (left) and her ring (right) which was found near her body in October 2009
Replica of a length of rope that was wrapped around bin liners containing Melanie Hall’s body
Her remains were found next to the junction 14 northbound slip road of the M5 by workmen
That was the last known sighting of Melanie.
Her father Steve Hall previously released a powerful and moving statement detailing the impact the murder has had on their lives.
In remarks released by the police, he said: ‘When Melanie was murdered, it wasn’t just one person’s life that was taken, it changed and ruined many lives after.
‘Mine, my wife’s, my daughter’s, my mother’s – there’s obviously someone out there, and probably some people out there, who know what happened to Melanie.
‘If they felt they could come forward with information which led to us finding out what happened to Melanie, then at least we could feel that we’ve done all we can do for our child.
‘We’re different people now. That night when she disappeared, we changed – we are not the people we were before.
‘We carry a deep sorrow, a deep grief. We’ve lost something very beautiful and very precious to us that we can’t replace…it’s a family with a piece missing.’
Melanie’s sister, Dominique, said in a Channel 5 documentary examining the case, which aired in 2023: ‘I would hope that somebody might think about my mum and dad, they are both nearly 80 now, that someone might find some little drop of compassion or empathy for my mum and dad…and think now would be the time to let them know and have the answers that they need.’
Mr Hall said in the documentary: ‘As each day went by, I wished I didn’t wake up in the morning. But you do. You wake up and you got that little split second and you know something’s wrong and then it kicks into your brain.
‘And you think, ‘oh yeah, it’s Melanie’.
Her sister adds in the programme: ‘Weeks and months went by, you realise she’s not coming back.
‘As young children we were really close. She would be the more timid one of the two so I was slightly more protective. My biggest fear is that whatever it is that happened to her that she was frightened at that time.’
Mr Hall added: ‘In our family we will forever grieve for, and miss our lovely daughter.
‘She will never fulfil her life’s ambitions, never marry, never have children and my wife and I will never have another grandchild.
The building formerly known as Cadillacs in Bath, the last place where Melanie was seen alive
Police closed off the road after Melanie’s body was discovered at the side of the M5 in 2009
‘Her mother’s lasting memory of her youngest daughter is the day she viewed a battered skull and a few broken bones in the coroner’s office at Portishead.
‘We are sure that, after all these years [those responsible for Melanie’s murder] will happily take their awful secret to the grave as we will do the same with our grief.’
Det Chief Insp Lavender said: ‘Somebody knows what happened to Melanie whether that’s just the person who killed her or they’ve told somebody else, or somebody else witnessed something on the evening, maybe someone returned acting suspiciously, blood was seen, anything like that, is really important to us.’
Anyone with information can contact Avon and Somerset Constabulary on 101, using reference Operation Denmark, or through the dedicated Major Incident Public Portal.