Kyle Clifford admits to horrific crossbow murders in Bushey family home
Triple crossbow killer Kyle Clifford has pleaded guilty to murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC star John Hunt in a horrific attack last July.
The 26-year-old murdered Carol Hunt, 61, wife of BBC horse racing commentator John Hunt, and two of her daughters, Hannah, 28, and Louise, 25, at the family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, on July 9.
Louise and Hannah had been shot with a crossbow and Carol had been stabbed several times with a 10-inch butcher’s knife. All three had been bound and gagged.
Clifford has now pleaded guilty to three counts of murder at Cambridge crown court, having initially denied all charges against him.
He also admitted one count of false imprisonment against Louise, and two counts of possession of offensive weapons – the crossbow and the knife – but pleaded not guilty to a charge of raping Louise.
Hannah managed to call 999 at one stage, telling an operator an intruder had wounded her, stabbed her mum and tied up her sister before shooting her too.
Kyle Clifford previously entered a not guilty plea for murder (Picture: Hertfordshire Police/PA Wire)
A court sketch of Kyle Clifford when he previously appeared in court in December (Picture: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)
David Burns, prosecuting at a previous hearing said: ‘She stated the intruder was in the property. He had shot her, her mother and her sister and she feared she was going to die. The phone call then cut off.
‘She managed to re-establish connection and called an ambulance. The phone call cut off again. Police found Hannah Hunt lying in the doorway. She had been shot with a crossbow in the chest.
‘They found Louise tied up and she had also been shot with a crossbow. They found their mother Carol who had been stabbed with a knife and suffered multiple injuries.
‘All three were treated at the scene but all three passed away.’
Clifford was arrested the next day at a cemetery close to his home in Enfield, London.
He was subject of a police manhunt for several hours before being found injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery, having shot himself in the chest with the crossbow.
Carol was married to BBC horse racing commentator John Hunt (Picture: Facebook)
Close family friends left flowers at the scene in Bushey last summer after the attack (Picture: Jonathan Brady/PA)
Officers taped off the scene after their bodies were found inside their family home (Picture: James Manning/PA Wire)
Commentator John, who works for BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky TV, returned to work for the BBC in Brighton on September 9.
In a moving statement, he described the attacks as a ‘horrid evil that’s swept through our lives, wreaking devastation on an unimaginable scale’.
But he also praised surviving daughter Amy’s response as ‘magnificently inspirational’.
The two of them said: ‘The devastation that we are experiencing cannot be put into words.
‘We would like to thank people for their kind messages and for the support we have received in recent days. These have provided great comfort to us for which we are very grateful.
‘As you can imagine, this is an extremely difficult time for us, and we need time and space to come to terms with what has happened and start the grieving process.’
A GoFundMe page set up to support them raised more than £120,000.
Clifford, of Rendlesham Road, Enfield, north London, will face a trial for the charge of rape at the same court later this year.
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