A documentary following the case of the Bushey crossbow murders is set to air on Channel 5 tonight. It comes just one month after John Hunt, the husband of murdered Carol Hunt, 61, and father of Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28, spoke to the media for the first time since their deaths.
John recently shared that he ‘continues to speak to his wife and two daughters daily’, despite their tragic murder in a crossbow and knife assault at their family residence. Kyle Clifford, 26, took the lives of his former partner Louise, her sister Hannah, and their mother Carol in a usually peaceful cul-de-sac in Bushey on July 9 last year.
The court was told during the trial that Clifford was “enraged” after Louise ended their 18-month relationship, which led him to “carefully” orchestrate the attack. He received a whole-life sentence at Cambridge Crown Court in March, having admitted to the murders, and was also found guilty of raping Louise in what was described as a “violent, sexual act of spite”.
In their first interviews since the tragedy, Mr Hunt and his daughter Amy Hunt shared their determination to keep the memory of their family members alive.
Speaking to BBC News, Mr Hunt said: “From the moment I wake up, I say good morning to each of them. Sometimes I say out loud to Hannah and Louise, ‘Girls, sorry I can’t be with you, I’m with your mum at the moment’. As I close my eyes at night, I chat to them as well. So yeah, very close (to me) all the time.”
Amy Hunt expressed: “My mum, Hannah and Louise became a statistic. They became victims of Kyle Clifford. I want to breathe life back into my mum, Hannah and Louise as fully-rounded people.”
Clifford managed to deceive Mrs Hunt into believing he was returning some of Louise’s belongings, before savagely stabbing her to death in a brutal knife assault. After murdering Mrs Hunt, the assailant waited for an hour until Louise arrived home, whereupon he restrained, sexually assaulted and killed her using a crossbow.
He also lethally shot Hannah Hunt with the same weapon when she came back to the house after her workday. Amy reflected on Clifford’s demeanour prior to the tragedy, noting that there were no signs he could commit such heinous acts, although it became apparent towards the end of his relationship with Louise that he was “not that nice of a person”.
She remarked: “Did we have any indication that this man was capable of stabbing my mother, of tying Louise up, of raping Louise, of shooting Louise and shooting Hannah? Absolutely not.”
Mr Hunt commented: “He never once hit her. He was in the house an awful lot in that 18 months – I never heard raised voices once.”
He reminisced about a time shortly before the attack when his three daughters had gone out for sushi, and upon their return, Hannah had mentioned “how lucky” they were as a family. Mr Hunt continued: “It’s a beautiful thing to recall. It was a beautiful thing to hear at the same time.”
In her final moments during the attack, Hannah managed to send a message to her boyfriend and dial 999, informing them of the events and identifying the perpetrator. When asked whether his daughter’s actions had been life-saving, Mr Hunt affirmed: “That’s what I believe. I said it in court and I said many, many times, her doing that has given me life. And I’ve used that to re-ground myself on a daily basis. I get to live. Hannah gave me that, and I’ve got to treat it as a gift from her.”
Clifford chose not to appear for his sentencing, neither in person nor via video link, and the judge did not compel his presence, suspecting he might disrupt the proceedings. Amy criticised this decision, stating it showed a “consistently a system that prioritises the perpetrator” and adding “That’s a traumatising thing for so many people.”
Mr Hunt, who continues to live in the family home, shared that returning to his commentary work has been instrumental in his healing process following the sentencing. Reflecting on the tragedy, he shared: “When it happened I thought, ‘How on earth am I ever going to be able to care about anything ever again?’ It’s fine to sit with that thought in the wreckage of what was our personal disaster. But you come to realise that, with a little bit of work, you can find some light again.”
The Crossbow Murders: The Crime That Shocked Britain is on Channel 5 tonight at 10:30pm.
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