Chilling CCTV reveals crossbow killer shopping for two DIY objects earlier than murders

Chilling CCTV footage of Kyle Clifford buying DIY items said to have been used in the brutal murders of his ex-girlfriend and her family has been shown to jurors as his rape trial commences

Triple killer Kyle Clifford was caught on CCTV buying rope and petrol cans as he plotted to massacre his ex-girlfriend and her family with a crossbow, a court heard.

In footage shown to court, the accused man is allegedly amassing his murder kit days before stabbing to death Carol Hunt, the wife of BBC horse-racing commentator John, and fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, 25, and her sister Hannah, 28.

Clifford, of Enfield, north London, has admitted the murders, false imprisonment and possession of offensive weapons, but denies raping Louise Hunt. A trial into the single rape charge has commenced today (Wednesday).

In the footage, the 26-year-old ex-soldier can be seen buying 30m of rope at a Toolstation in Enfield, north London, before he is captured picking up two large cans of petrol days later, which prosecutors say was bought to destroy evidence, reports the Mirror.

He was later caught on CCTV buying two rolls of tape at a B&Q, which was used to restrain Louise before he allegedly raped and killed her, Cambridge Crown Court was told.

Jurors were also told he spent £357 on a crossbow and six bolts, as well as £89 on a “high-level butchering knife” from Amazon.

After his sick shopping trip in Enfield he then talked his way into the Hunts’ home in Bushey, Herts, last July 9 to carry out his plot, prosecutors said.

The court heard after a doorstep conversation with Carol, 61, he fatally stabbed her in the back, torso, knee and hands with a 10-inch butcher’s knife and lay in wait for Louise and Hannah.

Unaware her mother had been killed, Louise returned from the garden from where she ran her dog-grooming business and Clifford then allegedly bound her hands and feet with duct tape before raping her in a harrowing attack lasting two-and-a-half hours, the court heard.

He is accused of using her phone to text her dad John, asking when he would be home, to which Mr Hunt replied: “Late, I’m afraid.” Soon afterwards, Clifford shot Louise through the chest with his crossbow.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the court Clifford was furious after Louise ended their relationship, adding: “This rejection angered the defendant. He was angry at Louise, but also at the Hunt family generally, as he correctly assumed that friends and family members had advised Louise to end the relationship with him. The attack was carefully planned and executed.”

She told jurors: “That attack included an act of sexual violence, committed out of spite, when she was restrained and unable to escape him. The forensic evidence that was discovered is not a historic artefact of previous sexual intercourse between them.”

Clifford, who has not attended court, previously admitted the triple murder but denies raping Louise, who had allegedly dumped him after he boasted about sleeping with other women.

He claims he had consensual sex with Louise 16 days prior to the killings. The trial continues.

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