Police believe April Jones' killer Mark Bridger modelled himself on Grimsby murderer Ian Huntley.
Detective Supt. Andy John, who led the case, branded Bridger an "evil and manipulative" paedophile who may have "borrowed the style" of notorious murders when abducting and killing the five-year-old.
DS John said: "You can never be certain on these things, but on the basis of what we know about our case, and other cases such as that of Ian Huntley, there are elements which you could argue are similar.
"We know he has had an interest in other murders, not only in the UK but further afield, and it's possible he may have borrowed their style."
The similarities between the crimes led DS John to meet with retired Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Stevenson who led the Soham murder probe.
He said: "It was some weeks after we charged Mark Bridger but it was clearly to look at an investigative perspective how they managed their investigation. And secondly to look at any similarities in the circumstances presented.
"I met him face-to-face. It was very much for me to share with him what we were dealing with, what the key issues were for us, what the challenges were, and to hear from him how they approached their investigation.
"How they approached the challenges and what they learnt from it in order for us to try and follow a model and stop us from doing things that perhaps hadn't worked out so well for them."
Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both aged 10, were murdered in the village of Soham, Cambridgeshire in 2002.
