John Sweeney, 69, who became known as the canal killer, was given a whole-life tariff in 2011 for the murders of his former girlfriends Paula Fields and Melissa Halstead.

John Sweeney, 69, who became known as the canal killer, was given a whole-life tariff in 2011 for the murders of his former girlfriends Paula Fields and Melissa Halstead.

John Sweeney, who has died at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, previously boasted of his violence in lurid paintings, writings, and - in one case - a picture which showed a bloody…