Police have launched a fresh investigation into the crimes of evil Midland serial killer Philip Smith after fears that he went on a nationwide killing spree while working on a funfair. Cops suspect that Smith, who was caged in 2001 for the brutal murder of three Birmingham women, may have killed up to TWENTY more people as he toured the country. West Midlands Police had been co-ordinating the investigation but inquiries stalled after the suspension of former top murder squad cop, Detective Chief Superintendent Ellie Baker. Now Britain's elite National Crime Faculty is probing the fair-ground routes used by Smith in a new bid to identify more of his victims around the UK. So far cops have interviewed the killer three times but he has remained tight-lipped, refusing to comment on the suggestion that he may have claimed more victims. Last night a senior police source told the Sunday Mercury: "The National Crime Faculty is responsible for the geographical mapping of serious crimes. "They are currently looking for any rapes, murders, suspicious deaths and robberies that took place along the routes Smith travelled during a 20-year period. "They are concentrating on the fairground runs which span the country and meet up at the Goose Fair in Nottingham each year. The main focus of the investigation will be in Nottingham itself. Then officers will trace the fairground routes north, south, east and west." Father-of-three Smith, known as 'Big Foot' because of his 6ft 3ins height and huge frame, spent much of his life working as a fairground hand. He was just 14 when he left school and followed his father Harry into working for Billy Danter's funfair ,which travelled extensively throughout the country. During his life Smith, 39, moved around the country. He lived in Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire; Ross on Wye in Here-fordshire; Cardiff, and Athlone, Ireland, before coming to Birmingham. It was in Birmingham that he went on a 96-hour killing frenzy that left three women dead. Leicester Crown Court heard how he picked up Jodie Hyde, 21, at a Birmingham pub in November 2000. He later strangled her, doused her in petrol and set her on fire. Three days later, he met Rosie Corcoran, 25, in a pub and then drove her to Rashwood, Worcestershire, where he battered her to death. An hour and a half later, Smith mowed down Birmingham care worker Carol Jordan, 39, as she crossed a road on her way to work. Smith stopped his car then dragged the badly hurt mum-ofsix around a corner where he beat her to death with a brick. He then kicked her beyond recognition with his steel toe-capped shoes. He was jailed for life. After the court case other women came forward and claimed that they, too, had been molested by the serial killer. Police forces up and down the country re-opened their unsolved murder files to see if they could find any links to Smith. A police source said at the time: "There seems little doubt that Philip Smith carried out other murders in the past. "It is virtually inconceivable that he would murder three women in and around Birmingham in four days and not have killed before." In October 2001, West Midlands Police convened a meeting of representatives of other forces, including Gloucestershire and West Mercia, who have unsolved killings in their areas. Initially it was thought that Smith could be responsible for up to 40 killings nationwide, as revealed exclusively by the Sunday Mercury soon after he was caught. At first nine murder files were earmarked to be re-opened. They included the case of Wolverhampton prostitute Janine Downes 22, who was sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Her body was dumped in a lay-by near Shifnal, Shropshire. But after months of investigation no further charges were brought against Smith despite cops interviewing him behind bars three times. The source added: "The police had very little intelligence to go on but attempted to interview Smith three times when they obtained a compulsory order that he attend. "In each of the interviews Smith has refused to say anything about any of the other murders he has been linked with. "West Midlands Police also held a conference with some of the other forces who had unsolved murders in their area. But nothing came from that in the end. "That is why the National Crime Faculty is now taking over the Smith investigation. "Since the departure of Detective Chief Superintendent Ellie Baker from the murder squad, the investigation has lacked any coordination and direction. "The National Crime Faculty has the additional resources and intelligence to carry out a more comprehensive case review and establish if there are any murder clusters that could be linked to Smith." The National Crime Faculty, which helped crack the murders of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, is also thought to be conducting geographical profiles around other British serial killers including Robert Black. Black is serving 10 life sentences for the murder of three British schoolgirls in the 1980s, including Susan Maxwell. | 
