Sweeney, 54, had denied murdering Paula Fields and Melissa Halstead A man found guilty of murdering two women whose bodies were found mutilated and dumped in canals in London and the Netherlands, is due to be sentenced.
John Sweeney, 54, of no fixed address, had denied murdering Paula Fields, 31, and 33-year-old Melissa Halstead.
The body of Ms Halstead was found in a Rotterdam canal in 1990 while Ms Fields’ body was found in Regent’s Canal in 2001.
Officers are trying to trace three other women associated with Sweeney.
The two murders were linked in February 2010 and Liverpool-born Sweeney was arrested at Gartree Prison in Leicestershire, where he was serving life for an axe attack on another former girlfriend.
In a statement read out following the verdict at the Old Bailey on Monday, Ms Halstead’s family said they hoped that Sweeney would “never be allowed free to carry out such crimes again.”
A statement read by a sister of Ms Fields said: “For 29 years Paula was a normal girl, a loving mother, daughter, sister and an aunt. We know she is never coming back and we never said goodbye.”
The bodies of Melissa Halstead and Paula Fields were found in canals in London and the Netherlands The killer was described in court as a “hateful, controlling and possessive man”.
Detectives had found several weapons and 300 pieces of gruesome artwork and poems in his north London house.
Several other artworks were also found in his prison cell in Gartree Prison when he was arrested for the two murders in 2010.
Det Ch Insp Howard Groves, who led the investigation, said: “As he contemplates a life behind bars, I can assure him that this investigation will continue as we seek to identify and trace other potential victims in the UK, Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, who may have suffered a similar fate to that of Melissa and Paula.”
A picture by Sweeney of Melissa Halstead found in Sweeney’s cell The Metropolitan Police said the force was still trying to trace three unidentified women, who have not been seen for years. Detectives believe they may have been ex-girlfriends of Sweeney.
One of them was a Brazilian, called Irani, who frequented pubs and restaurants in Highbury and Holloway Road in north London in 1996 or 1997. Officers believe she worked in kitchens as a cleaner.
The second woman is thought to be a Colombian, called Maria, who was living and working in, or just frequenting, pubs and restaurants in the Finsbury Park and Holloway Road in 1997 and 1998.
The third woman officers are trying to trace is a British woman, called Sue from Derby or Derbyshire, who was believed to be aged in her late-20s or early-30s in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
She was also seen frequenting the Holloway Road and Seven Sisters area. Officers believe she was attending a nursing college and went to Switzerland to work.
Dutch police are also believed to be investigating claims that Sweeney killed two German men who he caught having affairs with Ms Halstead.
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