Halliwell trial: Timeline of events that finally caught double killer

December 27, 2002: Becky Godden is last seen by a police officer in the Manchester Road area.

2007: Becky Godden is reported missing by concerned members of her family. It is believed she went missing in 2003.

March 19, 2011: Sian O’Callaghan, 22, vanishes after leaving Suju nightclub in Old Town, where she was seen leaving on CCTV, below. Christopher Halliwell had abducted and murdered her.

March 24 2011 - 11.05am: Halliwell is arrested, initially on suspicion of kidnap, outside Asda Walmart, while his house in Ashbury Avenue, Nythe, is cordoned off, below

11.51am: After detectives conduct an urgent interview with the mini-cab driver, Fulcher, against the advice of his deputy, diverts Halliwell’s arresting officers to Barbury Castle rather than Gablecross so he can personally conduct a further urgent interview.

March 24, 2011: Chief Superintendent Steve Hedley holds a press conference and announces a man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping Sian. He says more news is expected later in the afternoon.

12.11pm: Halliwell arrives at Barbury Castle, where police search teams are already in place, and Fulcher makes a last ditch appeal to the mini-cab driver to tell him where Sian is hidden. The exchange last nine minutes and Halliwell agrees to take Fulcher to Sian’s body.

1.21pm: After taking police to the area where Sian has been buried, Halliwell indicates to Fulcher he wants to talk and asks if the officers “wants another one”.

1.53pm: Following a further exchange on a hill in Uffington over a cigarette, Halliwell agrees to take Fulcher to the site of a second body and they set off for Eastleach, Gloucestershire.

2.43pm: Having identified to the detective the field where the body of a woman he had killed some time in 2003 or 2004, Halliwell is taken to the police station where, Fulcher tells him, he will have his rights explained to him. Later that evening the 47-year-old is revealed at a press conference at Gablecross to have been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and two murders.

March 25, 2011: Forensic teams begin to dig on land in Eastleach and find human remains

March 31, 2011: Halliwell is charged with the murder of Sian O’Callaghan.

April 5, 2011: Police name the woman whose remains were found near Eastleach as Becky Godden, from Swindon, who had been missing for eight years. The news was broken to her family on what would have been her 29th birthday, April 4, 2011

April 6, 2011: Karen Edwards, Becky’s mother, is joined by 20 friends and family to lay flowers at the site where her body was discovered.

April 8, 2011: Halliwell appears via video link at Bristol Crown Court from Long Lartin prison. The case is adjourned until July 14 for a plea and case management hearing.

April 11, 2011: A week after what would have been her 29th birthday, Becky’s friends organised a memorial where 200 balloons will be released adorned with pictures of her.

April 19, 2011: Halliwell appears in court charged with the murder of Becky Godden. The charge alleges that he murdered Becky in Swindon, on a day between December 27, 2002, and January 1, 2006.

July 18, 2011: Hundreds of mourners wearing splashes of pink pour into Old Town for Becky’s funeral at Christ Church.

February 18, 2012: Halliwell appears at Bristol Crown Court as prosecution and defence lawyers conduct intense legal arguments over the admissibility of evidence and whether he can get a fair trial.

May 9, 2012: Halliwell appears via video link from prison at a preliminary hearing at Preston Crown Court. The second charge of murder in respect of Becky is formally removed from the indictment and a provisional murder trial date is set for January 2013.

May 31, 2012: Halliwell pleads not guilty to the murder of Sian O’Callaghan.

October 2012: DS Fulcher, the man who led the investigation codenamed Operation Mayan, is suspended by Wiltshire Police on full pay pending an Independent Police Complaints Commission enquiry following a referral by the Force itself.

October 19, 2012: Halliwell changes his plea to guilty for the murder of Sian O’Callaghan and is sentenced to at least 25 years in prison. It is revealed that DS Fulcher's decision not to caution Halliwell before he led the detective to Becky's grave means that the evidence could not be used in court. It means Halliwell cannot be charged with Becky's murder. Outside court her heartbroken family call for help in bringing him to justice.

Oct 2012: Halliwell’s daughter urges her father to ‘do the right thing’ and give Becky’s family justice over her murder.

November 2012: A petition to review the law on police procedure is launched by Becky’s mum Karen. Prime Minister David Cameron agrees to ‘look very carefully’ into Becky’s case after South Swindon MP Robert Buckland raises it in Parliament. The Justice For Becky is backed by charities and pop star Ed Sheeran.

January 2014: DS Steve Fulcher is found guilty of gross misconduct and is given a final written warning.

April 2014: Police announce new evidence has been found in the Becky case, following an examination of the Eastleach field where her body was found. It is later revealed a bone found belongs to Becky.

May 2014: DS Steve Fulcher resigns from Wiltshire Police

September 2014: Wiltshire Police appeal for information regarding a car that may relate to the case.

November 2014: Detectives search Halliwell’s former home in Ashbury Avenue and find ‘items of interest’

January 2015: Karen Edwards hands a 40,000 signature petition in at Downing Street to change the way in which evidence is gathered

February 17, 2015: Police announce a 51-year-old man has been arrested in connection with Becky’s death. Karen Edwards calls it a ‘firework of emotions’

March 31, 2016: Halliwell is charged with the murder of Becky Godden before magistrates in Chippenham.

April 2, 2016: Halliwell, below, pleads not guilty to Becky’s murder.

September 5, 2016: The trial starts at Bristol Crown Court

September 19, 2016: Halliwell is found guilty of murdering Becky Godden and told he will be sentenced on Friday