UK NEWS HEROIC POLICEMAN HOUNDED FOR MAVERICK INVESTIGATION Steve Fulcher tried to solve a suspected murder but didn't expect to become the villain himself Thursday November 22,2012 By Adrian Lee IN THE eyes of many the moment when Steve Fulcher threw away the rulebook was a brilliant piece of old-fashioned policing. In a windswept field in the middle of nowhere the detective looked his chief suspect in the eyes and persuaded him to confess to the abduction and killing of a young woman. A few hours later, calmly drawing on a cigarette, the murderer pointed shocked officers to the grave of a second victim. For Det Supt Fulcher, one of the brightest officers in the Wiltshire force, it should have been a triumph. Today however his previously unblemished 26-year career hangs in the balance. Fearing the suspect, minicab driver Chris Halliwell, would clam up during questioning the detective did not read him his rights or immediately offer a lawyer. The calculated gamble backfired when one of the murder charges later collapsed even though Halliwell revealed the precise location of both bodies. Now there is growing anger over the fate of Det Supt Fulcher and calls for a review of legal procedures. In the heat of a very charged atmosphere this policeman was doing his job Fulcher was acting on more than a hunch when he pinpointed Halliwell for the disappearance of Sian O'Callaghan. She had been missing for five days in Swindon after a night out in March last year.