Crossbow killer admits murdering mum and daughters

Nick Johnson
BBC News, Hertfordshire
Reporting fromCambridge Crown Court
Danny Fullbrook
BBC News, Hertfordshire
Contributed Three individual headshots: left - woman, with brown hair and wearing pink top, smiling; centre - woman with dark hair parted in centre wearing orange top; right - woman with dark hair smiling. (None of her clothing is visible).Contributed
Carol Hunt, Hannah Hunt, and Louise Hunt were killed in their home in Bushey, near Watford

A man has admitted murdering his ex-girlfriend and her sister with a crossbow and their mother with a knife in an attack at the family home.

Carol Hunt, 61, was stabbed to death and Hannah Hunt, 28, and Louise Hunt, 25, suffered fatal crossbow bolt injuries in Bushey, near Watford, on 9 July.

Kyle Clifford, 26, from Enfield, north London, changed his previous not guilty pleas to their murders during an appearance via video link at Cambridge Crown Court.

The three women were the wife and daughters of BBC racing commentator John Hunt, and Louise was a former partner of Clifford.

Clifford, of Rendlesham Road, changed his pleas having denied murdering the three women during a hearing at the same court in December.

He has also now pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and possession of an offensive weapon.

He pleaded not guilty to a charge of raping Louise Hunt and is due to stand trial on that charge on 3 March.

PA News Sketch of man with dark hair and dark beard wearing white round-necked topPA News
Kyle Clifford was found in a cemetery in north London with injuries to his chest following a manhunt

On the day of the murders, Hertfordshire Police had been called by Hannah, who told officers she feared she was going to die as she had been shot and her sister and mother had also been attacked.

She was found in the main doorway of the house on Ashlyn Close and was still alive when officers arrived at about 19:10 BST.

Louise's arms and ankles had been tied with duct tape and she had been shot by a crossbow.

Their mother had stab wounds to her knee, hands, back and torso.

Contributed John Hunt with his left arm around Carol Hunt shoulder and her left hand touching his midriff. He is smiling at the camera; she is laughing while looking at him. She is wearing a V-neck peach coloured top with a necklace; he is wearing a white shirt with a mauve tied with black spots on itContributed
Carol Hunt's widower John Hunt previously said the family's devastation "cannot be put into words"

The attack in the quiet cul-de-sac sparked a manhunt which ended with Clifford being found severely injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield.

The killer, who served in the military from 2019 for about three years, had shot himself in the chest with the crossbow.

Mr Hunt and his other daughter Amy issued a statement after the attack, saying: "The devastation we are experiencing cannot be put into words."

Supplied A photo of Kyle Clifford who has short dark hair and a beardSupplied
Kyle Clifford is due to stand trial at Cambridge Crown Court charged with rape
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