Murders and manhunt
Louise Hunt had broken up with Kyle Clifford on 26 June 2024, due to his views and behaviour. To Hunt, Clifford appeared to accept this. Over the next few days, however, he purchased a crossbow and bolts, a butcher knife, and a Glock air pistol [6] (which was not delivered), as well as large quantities of petrol, duct tape and rope. [7] [8]
Clifford parked on a street near to Hunt's Ashlyn Close home, in Bushey, near Watford, by 13:40 on 9 July 2024. He left the car to check which vehicles were in the Hunt's driveway, before returning to his vehicle, where he searched online for horse racing events [9] to determine if Hunt's father (BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Sports racing commentator John Hunt) would be at home. [8] Clifford approached the Hunts' house with his butcher knife concealed in a rucksack at 14:32, and rang the doorbell. [9] At the door he was met by Louise's mother, Carol Hunt; he told Carol that he was returning some of Louise's belongings. When Carol let him in, he stabbed her to death. [7] The discussion on the doorstep was captured by the Hunts' doorbell camera, which also captured sound from the house throughout the day. It is likely Clifford waited for Carol to die of her stab wounds before he left the property at 15:07, returning to his car and retrieving the crossbow, which he took to the house concealed under a blanket. [9]
Louise was working at her dog grooming business in an outbuilding of the property, with customers coming and going during the afternoon through a side gate. Clifford waited for Louise to enter the house, [8] [9] which she did at 16:11. Shortly afterwards, she was heard to scream. Further sounds described as high-pitched screaming, male shouting, and banging, were heard until 16:26. [9] Clifford then restrained Louise by the wrists and ankles, [8] and gagged her. For several hours, Clifford harmed and raped her. [8] [9] At 17:31, Clifford went to the outbuilding to take Louise's phone. He used it to ask John when he would return home, and then searched online if unplugging a smoke detector fully disconnected it; he was allegedly planning to burn down the house. He left the property to the back garden and returned at 18:20, when he closed the patio blinds. Hannah Hunt was approaching the property at 18:49 when she called Carol's phone. At 18:50, Clifford shot Louise through the back with the crossbow. [9]
Seconds later, Hannah entered the property and called out to ask her mother why she had not answered the phone, before going upstairs. Shortly afterwards, Hannah saw Clifford and began shouting at him; Clifford tried to calm her down before Hannah began crying and screaming. At 18:52, Hannah messaged her boyfriend, Alex Klein, asking him to call the police and telling him that Clifford was tying her up, before her phone was set to silent. [9] [8] Hannah was shot by the crossbow at 18:54, from the front. Clifford left the house, with the crossbow again concealed under the blanket. Based on audio recordings, Hannah likely discovered the bodies of her mother and sister at 18:57. [9] After she was shot, Hannah called 999, [8] possibly before Clifford fled. [10] [11] Armed police were sent to the house just before 19:00, with ambulance staff in attendance. Hannah was still alive when the first response arrived, but she too was soon pronounced dead at the scene. [12] [11]
The police appealed for the public's help locating Clifford, warning that he was considered armed and dangerous and to call 999 rather than approach him. [12] After leaving the Hunts' home, Clifford began driving towards his own house. He stopped at a lay-by in Ferny Hill, before parking up at Cook's Hole Road at 19:32 and going into nearby Lavender Hill Cemetery. He spent the night there, at some point creating a noose from rope and a tree branch; the weakness of both rope and branch meant "any attempt at suicide by hanging would have been improbable." [9] Following a 22-hour manhunt mostly in the London Borough of Enfield, police found Clifford injured in the cemetery near his home in Enfield at around 18:00 on 10 July 2024. [12] He shot himself in the chest when he saw armed police and a police dog approaching. [9] Police recovered the crossbow and Clifford was initially treated for his injuries at the cemetery before being taken to the Royal London Hospital. [12]
Victims
The victims were Carol Hunt, aged 61, and two of her daughters: Hannah Hunt, aged 28, and Louise Hunt, aged 25. [2] Hannah was a beautician. The women are survived by John Hunt, Carol's husband, and Amy, Carol and John's other daughter. [13] [14] The police had no previous contact with the family. [15]
According to information given in the coroner's inquest, Carol died from stab wounds, while Hannah and Louise died from crossbow bolt injuries. Hannah was still alive, found in the main doorway, when the police arrived at the address. [11]
Perpetrator
Kyle Marcus Clifford (born 5 April 1998) was 26 years old at the time of the murders. He lived in Enfield, and is a former security guard [12] and soldier, who briefly served in the Queen's Dragoon Guards. [15] After being found on 10 July, he was taken to a nearby hospital and was treated for serious injuries; the police confirmed that no shots had been fired when they apprehended him. [16] It was later confirmed that Clifford's injuries were self-inflicted, and that he had undergone surgery for a chest wound. He was kept under police guard at hospital but was unfit to be arrested due to his injuries. [10] Clifford had shot himself in the chest with the crossbow, paralysing himself from the waist down. [7]
Clifford's brother Bradley is a convicted murderer, having been sentenced at the Old Bailey in 2018 and still in prison at the time of the Hunts' murders. [12] Police searched a property relating to Bradley as well as Clifford's home. [15]
Clifford was arrested on the evening of 11 July, on suspicion of three counts of murder, [17] but remained in hospital unable to be questioned because of his injuries. [18] On 17 September 2024 he was charged with the murders of the women, [19] appearing remotely at Westminster Magistrates' Court. He was also charged with the false imprisonment of Louise Hunt, [20] and with two counts of possessing an offensive weapon. [20] On 19 December 2024 Clifford appeared remotely at Cambridge Crown Court where he pleaded not guilty to the three counts of murder, as well as the charges of false imprisonment and of possessing an offensive weapon. [21] He was also charged with one count of rape. [21] On 22 January 2025, he changed his pleas to guilty for all three charges of murder, the charges of false imprisonment and of possessing an offensive weapon. [22] He pleaded not-guilty to the charge of raping Louise Hunt, [22] with his defence arguing that the forensic evidence of sexual contact can be explained by the couple having consensual sex on 23 June 2024. The prosecution said this theory was "untenable". [7] Clifford was found guilty of the rape charge, and on 11 March he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. [23]
