LONDON (AP) — A former British soldier who used a crossbow and a knife to murder three women at their family home north of London was sentenced Tuesday to a whole-life order, meaning that he would never be released from prison.
Kyle Clifford, 26, had pleaded guilty in January to murdering his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, 25, and her 28-year-old sister Hannah Hunt with a crossbow and their mother, Carol Hunt, 61, with a knife on July 9, 2024. He was convicted of three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment and two counts of possession of offensive weapons.
He was also found guilty of raping Louise Hunt during the “carefully planned” attack on the family.
Sentencing Clifford, Justice Joel Bennathan said he was “a jealous man soaked in self-pity — a man who holds women in utter contempt.”
Prosecutors said Clifford planned the murders for days after becoming enraged when an increasingly concerned Louise ended their 18-month relationship.
During the case, the jury was shown evidence that Clifford gained access to the family home in the quiet residential neighborhood of Bushey, northeast of the capital, by deceiving Carol Hunt on the pretext he was returning Louise’s belongings, before brutally stabbing her to death.
Clifford “lay in wait” for an hour for Louise to enter the house, before restraining, raping and ultimately murdering her with a crossbow. He then fatally shot Hannah Hunt when she returned to the property after work.
Following the murders, police launched a manhunt for the suspect before he was found injured the following day in a cemetery in Enfield, north London. Clifford had shot himself in the chest with the crossbow. He remains in a wheelchair, having been paralyzed from the chest downwards.
