The trial of a child killer accused of murdering a sixth form student has been halted and the jury discharged.
The judge sitting at Chelmsford Crown Court said 62-year-old Peter Tobin was ill, needed surgery and was not fit to stand trial.
Tobin, who was convicted of murdering 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton in December, denies murdering 18-year-old Dinah McNicol.
The trial began on June 23, but jurors had not heard evidence for more than a week because of Tobin's illness.
Mr Justice Calvert-Smith told the panel that Tobin had shingles with "complications". He said the problem would require "surgical intervention".
Lawyers later said a new trial date had been fixed for December 14 and the hearing was expected to last for five days.
Miss McNicol, of Tillingham, Essex, disappeared in August 1991 after attending a music festival in Liphook, Hampshire. Her remains were found in the garden of a house in Margate, Kent - where Tobin lived in 1991 - in 2007.
Miss Hamilton vanished from Bathgate, near Edinburgh, in February 1991. Her remains were found buried in the same garden in Margate in 2007.
Jurors were told that Tobin had been convicted of murdering Miss Hamilton and was serving a life sentence.
They were also told that Tobin had a conviction for indecently assaulting two 14-year-old girls in 1994.
