Batman rapist

The Batman rapist is an unidentified serial sex offender who committed at least seventeen sexual assaults on women in the city of Bath, Somerset, between 1991 and 2000. He is the subject of Britain's longest–running serial rape investigation, codenamed Operation Eagle; he has now eluded capture for more than 30 years. Detective Inspector Paul James of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, leading the operation, said it is "one of the most complicated and protracted investigations" that the force has ever undertaken. In January 2001, the Forensic Science Service used the Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA profiling technique to isolate the rapist's DNA "fingerprint".

The perpetrator was nicknamed after leaving a baseball cap bearing a logo from the Batman film series at the scene of one attack. Police believe that there are more victims who have never come forward. The independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers UK have offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to his capture. The case was highlighted on the BBC's Crimewatch on 25 January 2000, including an appeal from Avon and Somerset Constabulary for information from the public. As a result of the appeal, six previously unknown victims came forward. Callers also gave the names of four potential suspects, including the son of a British diplomat, and "dozens of calls were received from prostitutes and partners of people with similar sexual habits".

Crimes and investigation The Batman rapist is believed to have a detailed geographical knowledge of Bath and operates in "a specific hunting ground". After raping his victim, he often forced them to drive back to the area where he abducted them.

Victims described their attacker as wearing black clothing and a baseball cap.

Murder of Melanie Hall

Melanie Hall (born 20 August 1970 – disappeared 9 June 1996; declared legally dead 17 November 2004) was a British hospital clerical officer from Bradford on Avon who disappeared on 9 June 1996 following a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath. On 5 October 2009 a motorway worker found a plastic bin bag containing Hall's bones while he was clearing a vegetation patch on a slip road at Junction 14 of the M5 motorway. The bones in the bag included her skull, pelvis, and a thigh bone, and further remains were found buried and spread around the field by the side of the motorway. Police have not ruled out links to the Batman rapist since the unknown assailant appeared to have attempted to carjack a woman at knifepoint, leaving her wounded when she fought back and managed to escape, in the same area of the city a few hours before Hall was abducted.