{{Short description|Unidentified rapist}} {{Use British English|date=July 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Location map many|Somerset|label=Bath|position=bottom|lat=51.3809|long=-2.3603|label2=Kingswood|pos2=left|lat2=51.46|long2=-2.505|width=300|float=right|caption=All but one of the rapes were committed in Bath, the other taking place in Kingswood.}} 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.<ref name="SL2020">{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Michael |title=The Batman Rapist: What we know about the shocking serial attacker who terrorised women in Bath |url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/in-your-area/batman-rapist-what-know-shocking-3210972 |access-date=18 July 2022 |work=SomersetLive |date=1 August 2020}}</ref><ref name="obrien">{{cite news|title=Net closes on 'Batman rapist'|first=Jane|last=O'Brien|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/754031.stm|date=18 May 2000|website=BBC News|accessdate=13 September 2010}}</ref> 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.<ref name=obrien /><ref name="hopkins">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jan/25/nickhopkins|title=Police link 11 attacks to serial rapist|first=Nick|last=Hopkins|date=25 January 2000|accessdate=13 September 2010|work=The Guardian|location=London}}</ref> 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.<ref name="bennetto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/police-to-dna-test-2000-in-rapist-hunt-704234.html|title=Police to DNA test 2,000 in rapist hunt|date=25 January 2001|accessdate=13 September 2010|first=Jason|last=Bennetto|work=The Independent}}</ref> In January 2001, the Forensic Science Service used the Low Copy Number (LCN) DNA profiling technique to isolate the rapist's DNA "fingerprint".<ref name=serial /> They then began the process of taking swabs for comparison from all the men, believed to be around 2,000 individuals, whose names had come up during the course of the investigation.<ref name=bennetto /><ref>{{cite news|title=DNA hunt for rapist|first=Richard|last=Savill|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=25 January 2001|accessdate=23 October 2016|url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A69461761/STND?sid=wikipedia|via=InfoTrac|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
The perpetrator was nicknamed after leaving a baseball cap bearing a logo from the ''Batman'' film series at the scene of one attack.<ref>{{cite news|title='Batman rapist' attack.|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/%27Batman+rapist%27+attack.-a062108414|date=16 May 2000|accessdate=13 September 2010|work=Birmingham Post|location=Birmingham}} Archived periodical at TheFreeLibrary.com</ref> Police believe that there are more victims who have never come forward.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-19748741_ITM|title=Still desperate to unmask the Batman rapist|work=Europe Intelligence Wire|date=13 December 2003|accessdate=13 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100105110024/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-19748741_ITM|archive-date=5 January 2010|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The independent crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers UK have offered a £10,000 reward for information leading to his capture.<ref name=hopkins /> The perpetrator has also been referred to in the news media as the "Riddler".<ref name=thompson /><ref>{{cite news|title='Riddler' rapist in attack No 17|work=Sunday Mirror|date=14 May 2000|page=14}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Riddler rapist 'is back'|work=News of the World|date=14 May 2000|page=17}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/618136.stm|title=Police hunt serial rapist|date=25 January 2000|accessdate=13 September 2010|website=BBC News}}</ref> As a result of the appeal, six previously unknown victims came forward.<ref name=obrien /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/651773.stm|title=Rapist suspected of more attacks|date=22 February 2000|website=BBC News|accessdate=13 September 2010}}</ref> 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".<ref name="thompson">{{cite news|title=Diplomat's son suspected of 'Riddler' rapes|work=The Observer|date=14 May 2000|first=Tony|last=Thompson|page=15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Victim No 17 holds key to caging rapist|work=Daily Express|date=15 May 2000}}</ref>
==Crimes and investigation== The '''Batman rapist''' is believed to have a detailed geographical knowledge of Bath and operates in "a specific hunting ground".<ref name=hopkins /> All but one of his crimes have taken place in Bath, usually in the Bathwick area of the city; the exception being the abduction and rape of a 19-year-old woman in Kingswood, near Bristol, in September 1996.<ref name=hopkins /> The perpetrator's crimes usually take place during the darker winter months<ref name=steele /> and he attacked women of all ages, and in May 2000 attempted to carjack a 26-year-old woman in Bath while her 7-year-old daughter was in the car.<ref name=steele />
The attacker targeted lone women who had just returned to their cars, abducting them at knifepoint before forcing them to drive to secluded areas in the south of the city where he then assaulted them.<ref name=obrien /><ref name=hopkins /><ref name=steele /> He removed their underwear and ripped their tights during the rapes, but then made them put them back on after the rape is over.<ref name="steele">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1372014/Leaflets-sent-to-25000-homes-in-rape-inquiry.html|title=Leaflets sent to 25,000 homes in rape inquiry|first=John|last=Steele|date=27 October 2000|accessdate=13 September 2010|work=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref> After raping his victim, he often forced them to drive back to the area where he abducted them.<ref name="serial">{{cite news|title=Serial rapist hunt turns to DNA|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1133706.stm|date=24 January 2001|accessdate=13 September 2010|website=BBC News}}</ref>
Victims described their attacker as wearing black clothing and a baseball cap.<ref name="SL2020" /> He was slim, clean shaven and was about {{convert|5|ft|9|in|cm|abbr=on}} tall with blue eyes.<ref name="SL2020" /> He had a scar below his bottom lip.<ref name="SL2020" /> In October 2000, to coincide with the end of British Summer Time, Avon and Somerset Constabulary delivered leaflets to 25,000 homes in Bath—the biggest leaflet drop in the history of British criminal investigation—asking women to complete a checklist about friends, acquaintances, neighbours or relatives who might fit the profile of: * A white male. * Slim or medium build. * Aged between 30 and 50. * Knew the Bath area well, and had some connection with Bristol, particularly the Kingswood area, and could drive a car. * Had a fetish for tights and could persuade his consenting sexual partners to wear tights, which he may have ripped during intercourse. * Sometimes wore a baseball cap. * Has aroused suspicion with absences from home during the evening and early hours of the morning.<ref name=steele />
The rapist had long periods of apparent inactivity, including a three-year gap between October 1991 and November 1994, followed by a further two years of apparent inactivity until June 1996. Police suspect that there were other attacks during these lulls in activity, although a spokesman has said; "Another possibility to explain the long gaps is that this is a man who comes to the area infrequently, possibly for work reasons."<ref name=hopkins /> His attacks may also have taken place while the rapist is between relationships.<ref name=serial /> The rapist's attacks were usually between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., "possibly on the way home from work", or between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m., and he may have had convictions for car-related crimes "because of the ease with which he breaks into vehicles."<ref>{{cite news|title=The evil rapist who must be stopped now|work=Daily Express|date=27 October 2000}}</ref>
==Murder of Melanie Hall== {{Main|Murder of Melanie Hall}} '''Melanie Hall''' (born 20 August 1970 – disappeared 9 June 1996; declared legally dead 17 November 2004)<ref name="Savill">{{cite news|title=Melanie declared dead 8 years after vanishing from nightclub|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1476893/Melanie-declared-dead-8-years-after-vanishing-from-nightclub.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=18 November 2004|first=Richard|last=Savill|accessdate=12 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304030712/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1476893/Melanie-declared-dead-8-years-after-vanishing-from-nightclub.html|archive-date=4 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/fresh-police-plea-in-melanie-hall-murder-probe-1937162.html|title=Fresh police plea in Melanie Hall murder probe|first=Jamie|last=Grierson|date=6 April 2010|accessdate=12 September 2010|work=The Independent|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409072805/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/fresh-police-plea-in-melanie-hall-murder-probe-1937162.html|archive-date=9 April 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1372014/Leaflets-sent-to-25000-homes-in-rape-inquiry.html|title=Leaflets sent to 25,000 homes in rape inquiry|date=27 October 2000|accessdate=12 September 2010|first=John|last=Steele|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514012732/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1372014/Leaflets-sent-to-25000-homes-in-rape-inquiry.html|archive-date=14 May 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Riddler rapist's evil game of cap and mouse|work=News of the World|location=London|date=14 February 1999|first=Ian|last=Edmondson|page=42}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Young|first=Sydney|title=Please find my perfect daughter|newspaper=Daily Mirror|location=London|date=12 June 1996|page=8}}</ref>
However, as of 2026, it is now seen as highly unlikely that the Batman Rapist is the perpetrator. Avon and Somerset police have narrowed down a list of suspects of Melanie Hall's murder, Police were also able to isolate DNA from the items found with Melanie's body. That DNA did not match the Batman Rapist. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-03-04 |title=Melanie Hall: Fresh probe into woman's murder, three decades on |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwykwn8l32yo |access-date=2026-05-02 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>This effectively ruled him of out her murder in the eyes of investigators.
==See also== *House for sale rapist – another unidentified UK serial rapist, who has been at large since 1979. Suspected to be John Cannan *List of fugitives from justice who disappeared
UK cold cases where the offender's DNA is known: *Murder of Deborah Linsley *Murders of Eve Stratford and Lynne Weedon *Murders of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb and Barbara Mayo *Murder of Julie Pacey *Murder of Sheila Anderson *Murder of Lindsay Rimer *Murder of Lisa Hession *Murder of Lyn Bryant *Murder of Janet Brown *Murder of Linda Cook
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9SZs3aKwGo&t=78 January 2000 ''Crimewatch'' reconstructions and appeal on the rapist (1:18-13:02)] *[https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/in-your-area/batman-rapist-what-know-shocking-3210972 2020 summary on the case by the local newspaper ''SomersetLive''] *[https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/in-your-area/batman-rapist-bath-police-investigation-3263552 2019 article on the case by local newspaper ''SomersetLive'']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batman Rapist}} Category:20th-century English criminals Category:21st-century English criminals Category:Crime in Somerset Category:Criminals from Somerset Category:English rapists Category:Fugitives wanted by the United Kingdom Category:Rape in England Category:Sex crimes in England Category:Unidentified British rapists Category:Unsolved crimes in the United Kingdom Category:Year of birth unknown