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For women, ITV's Until I Kill You is the stuff nightmares are made of — and it's based on a true story.
In the harrowing new show, Anna Maxwell-Martin plays Delia Balmer, a woman who survives the repeated physical and sexual assaults of her boyfriend, John Sweeney. The series is a confrontational account of how domestic violence leaves behind not only physical, but also emotional and mental trauma. After surviving one nearly fatal assault, Delia is forced to live in fear that John will find her and attack her once again. By the end of the series, John has been convicted of two murders and is suspected of having committed at least three others.
The series is inspired by Delia's 2017 memoir, Living With a Serial Killer.
Who is the real Delia Balmer?
While ITV's drama may seem too horrifying to be true, the story is based on a real woman. Delia Balmer was born in Canada and raised in America. Though she dreamed of becoming a dancer, she eventually found herself working as an agency nurse in London in the 1990s. It was there that she met John Sweeney, a construction worker, at a pub in Camden. The pair hit it off and began a relationship.
Throughout their relationship, John became manipulative and threatening to Delia. When she eventually decided to call things off, he became physically abusive. He tied her to her bed and kept her imprisoned for a week. During this time, he threatened her with a gun and a knife, interrogated her about her past relationships, and assaulted her. He also allegedly told Delia he had murdered his ex-girlfriend, Melissa Halstead.
John then let her go and vanished. For months, Delia was terrified that he'd come back. One night, she came home to find John hiding in her flat. When a friend noticed that Delia hadn't come to a party, they called the police. When the police arrived, Delia escaped and John was arrested.
However, John was released on bail. On 22nd December 1994, John attacked Delia with an axe and a knife while she was on her way home from work. She lost a finger in the attack, but a neighbour helped her to escape. Delia spent months in hospital recovering.
It wasn't until 2011 that John was found guilty of the murder of Halstead and of Paula Fields, a single mother with whom he had also had a relationship.
Where is Delia Balmer now?
Today, Delia is working as a therapeutic masseuse.
As she told ITV, John Sweeney left her changed forever. “I am a perfectionist but my life is opposite of perfect,” she said. "I often suffer from depression and anxiety, afraid of life and afraid of the future, a compulsive worrier. When I look in the mirror I see a stranger. Certain physical pain, I will have for life. I am stuck. I cannot move on, and cannot go further. Fear holds me back from doing certain things. I live for travel, but it is has also become almost my only escape from reality. Ballet classes have always been an important part of my life."
Since collaborating with ITV on the show, Delia has apparently changed for the better. “It’s a regular thing now that my wife and I take Delia out to a Greek restaurant in London," said show creator Nick Steven to The Guardian. “She is a different person to the one I met two or three years ago. It seems to have been a positive for her. You might expect someone who has been through all that to be tearful with moments of gloomy introspection. But there’s none of that.”
