Warning: distressing content. Brave John Hunt emotionally read his victim impact statement to the court yesterday while cowardly triple killer Kyle Clifford hid in his cell
Heartbroken father and husband John Hunt emotionally shared how he spent his final hours with his beautiful girls.
The BBC racing commentator moved the court to tears yesterday as he read aloud his incredibly touching victim impact statement after losing his wife, Carol, 61, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28. The three women were brutally murdered in their family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, by Louise’s vile ex, Kyle Clifford, last July.
In a final insult to the Hunt family, the triple murderer, 26, refused to attend the hearing in person and instead, cowardly stayed in his prison cell. Clifford was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole for his heinous crimes. Mr Justice Joel Bennathan said: “If the defendant lacks the courage to face today, so be it.”
Louise had courageously ended their 18-month relationship two weeks before the massacre, and while Clifford appeared to be amicable, he secretly concocted a twisted plan to kill her and her family. On July 9, 2024, at 1.48pm, Clifford parked up near their home and took a black rucksack, carrying a 10in butcher’s knife, to the front door.
He told Carol he had written a card to say bye, before asking to return Louise’s possessions. Within a minute of stepping inside, he launched a violent attack on mum Carol and stabbed her eight times. At 3.07pm, he returned to his car to collect a crossbow, which he carried hidden under a white blanket, and waited for Louise to finish work.
At 4.12pm, he tied her up with duct tape and rope, raped her and shot her in her back with a crossbow. When her older sister Hannah returns home at 6.50pm, he fatally shot her too. She incredibly managed to make a 999 call and messaged her boyfriend to raise the alarm. Emergency services arrived at 7.10pm and she sadly died shortly after.
Grief-stricken John described the killer as “callous, cowardly and vindictive” and was visibly emotional as he read his statement in court on Tuesday, and spoke of the horrific ordeal, which lasted four hours. He said: “I so wanted to deliver these words, eye to eye with Kyle. I will continue to act as if I am doing so.”
With his surviving daughter Amy Hunt by his side, brave John shared how proud he was of his girls, and how impossible life felt after losing three-quarters of his family. He described Clifford as a psychopath who disguised himself as an ordinary human being, and said “the screams of hell” would be waiting for him.
He told how he spent his last hours with his wife and two daughters, and how it compared to the time Kyle tortured and violently murdered them. John shared: “I also spent four hours with them Kyle; in the funeral directors. The usual room wasn’t big enough for three bodies but they removed a partition wall so we could all be together.
“I sat for a while with Louise to my right, she looked so peaceful and Hannah to my left. I couldn’t quite reach to hold their hands at the same time. Amy and I placed a photograph of Chester in Louise’s right hand.” John said mum Carol was at the top of the room, wearing a “beautiful orange dress she had bought for a wedding” they attended.
“I stroked her hair and told her how much I loved her. I thanked her for being such a wonderful partner in life and wonderful mother,” John said, adding: “They were my four hours Kyle.”
In his statement, the father-of-three also said: “I am so proud of all my girls. Unlike you, Kyle, at every step of their lives, they made the correct choices to improve themselves as people. Louise, she enjoyed more success and fulfilment in one morning than you achieved in your entire miserable life.”
