Serial killer on the Rochdale Canal

IT HAS  been calculated that 61 bodies have been dragged from the Rochdale Canal in Manchester in just six years, with it being believed a serial killer is on the loose.

It is the university psychologist Professor Craig Jackson, Head of Psychology at Birmingham City University, who has calculated the drownings and believes that such an alarming number of deaths could only be the result of a serial killer, Alan Tilbury reveals.

Drunks

Of course, some of the drownings may have been following nights out at the many bars along the waterway through the city, where drunks have stumbled into the canal, but this hardly accounts for such an exceptionally large number of deaths.

In view of the number of drownings, a few years ago a fence was erected along the wall by the side of the waterway to stop people falling in, but perhaps this was the wrong approach if a serial killer is responsible.

In 22 cases the police stated that there was nothing suspicious about the deaths. But this leaves 39 drownings completely unexplained.

'Gay Slayer'

The professor told the Daily Star that a 'Gay Slayer' could be responsible for the drownings and believes the high number of deaths is 'alarming', and that such a high number of bodies found in the Rochdale Canal is not the result of accidents or suicides.

He adds that canals are not popular suicide spots, especially for men, but are however popular dumping sites, and water can be a sure way to erase DNA evidence, and the fact several of these discoveries were made in Manchester's Gay Village could also be significant.

Manchester police, whilst having no explanation for the huge number of deaths in the waterway, maintain there is 'no link between the various incidents recorded'.