Perch Garage murders

Last updated
Perch Garage murders
The A39 heading east away from Wadebridge - geograph.org.uk - 4177219.jpg
The A39 road (Atlantic Highway) near where the Perch Garage once stood
LocationPerch Garage, Wadebridge, Cornwall England
Date5 November 2003
Circa 10pm GMT (GMT)
Attack type
Double murder
WeaponShotgun
Deaths2
VictimsCarol and Graham Fisher
PerpetratorRobert and Lee Firkins
Motive Robbery

On 6 November 2003, Cornish couple Carol and Graham Fisher were found murdered at their home and business they ran near Wadebridge in Cornwall. It has been described as one of Cornwall's most notorious murders. [1]

Contents

Background

Graham and Carol Fisher, aged 60 and 53, were a married couple who ran the Perch Garage at the eponymous Winnard's Perch on the A39 road Atlantic Highway from Wadebridge. [2] The couple had owned the garage and car repair centre for about 20 years. [3] At the time of their deaths the couple had recently celebrated their silver wedding anniversary. [4]

Murders

Old Milestone by the A39, north east of Winnard's Perch Old Milestone by the A39, north east of Winnard's Perch (geograph 6429593).jpg
Old Milestone by the A39, north east of Winnard's Perch

The bodies of Carol and Graham Fisher were discovered at the Perch Garage on the A39 road near Wadebridge. [5] At 9AM on 6 November the body of Carol Fisher was found on the path outside their bungalow by a school bus driver. [6] An armed response team found the body of her husband Graham in their bungalow behind the garage they owned. [7]

It was thought that the couple had been bludgeoned with a sledgehammer and shot to death at close range the evening before, which was Guy Fawkes Night. [8] The dining room table was set for an evening meal, the television was switched on and dinner was burnt in the oven. [7] The gunshots reportedly "sounded like fireworks", which was consistent with it being Guy Fawkes Night. [9]

The Fishers' garage, was described as the scene of "indescribable horror" by the judge at Exeter Crown Court. [10] Mr Fisher was found dead from three shotgun wounds in the kitchen of the home. [11] His wife had apparently been shot in the hand, and left a trail of blood through their bungalow before being shot in the back and the neck as she tried to flee down the garden path. [6] The blood of Mrs Fisher was found on the telephone in the living room and it appeared she had tried to ring 999, but she misdialled and the call never got through. [12] Money was found in safe suggesting the perpetrators had fled. [13]

Police warned that the level of violence used suggested the killers could offend again. [14] In December 2003, retired detectives were called in by Devon and Cornwall Police to deal with the "unprecedented" number of incidents in the year of 2003. [15]

The funeral of the couple was held on 5 August 2004 at the parish church in St Issey. [16] In March 2006, the garage was put up for sale. [17] In 2007 the site was cleared for redevelopment. [18] [19] The site is now home to an art gallery, café and shops. [20]

Investigation

On 29 December 2003 police found two shotguns buried on the beach at Weston-super-Mare. [21] The guns were consistent with those used in the murders and were soon linked to the defendants by fingerprints and DNA evidence. [21] In December 2003, a £10,000 reward was offered by Crimestoppers UK for information surrounding the case. [22]

Passengers on a National Express Coach which passed the garage on the night of the murder was considered by police to be a possibility for important witnesses. [23] The Royal Air Force were asked to help with the investigation. [24] In April 2004, two people from the St Dennis area were questioned. [25] Two people who were arrested were later released. [26]

In May 2004, a reconstruction was broadcast on BBC Crimewatch. [27]

Trial

In late 2005, the murder trial began of Robert and Lee Firkins, two brothers from Weston-super-Mare. [28] [29] On 18 December 2003, the brothers had robbed the B&Q hardware store in Taunton, Somerset. The following day, Lee Firkins was involved in an armed robbery at a petrol station at Fraddon, Cornwall, in which he fired a double-barrelled shotgun at the wall. [30] An inmate claimed in court that Robert Firkins had admitted the murders while on remand. [31]

Craig Mack told Exeter Crown Court that his step-brother Lee Firkins had acted out armed robbery before. [32] The court later heard that the brothers had been high on crack cocaine the night of the killings. [33] The pair had claimed that they were in Cornwall to buy cannabis. [34] The prosecution claimed that the murders had been the result of a robbery gone wrong. [35]

Robert and Lee Firkins were found guilty of murder at Exeter Crown Court. [36] They admitted to the unrelated offences but denied the killings. [37] They were both given life sentences. [38]

Future developments

An appeal was heard in 2008. [39] [40] [41] [42] Their attempt to overturn the convictions was rejected by three judges at London's Court of Appeal. [43]

In 2013, BBC News reported that the key witness in the case had been jailed for being hired as a hitman and carrying out a murder. [1] In 2015, a review into the case was launched by the Criminal Cases Review Commission. [44] In 2017 it was reported that advancement in DNA testing could be used as evidence. [45] In 2018, Lee Firkins was sentenced for a triple assault at Broadmoor Hospital. [46] In 2020, Lee and Robert Firkins were granted an appeal. [47] In 2022, Robert Firkins was given a two-year sentence for "throwing excrement over a prison officer". [48]

In June 2023 it was reported that the Firkins were again appealing their convictions. [49]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Allen Muhammad</span> American serial killer (1960–2009)

John Allen Muhammad was an American convicted murderer who, along with his partner and accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, carried out the D.C. sniper attacks of October 2002, killing seventeen people. Muhammad and Malvo were arrested in connection with the attacks on October 24, 2002, following tips from alert citizens. Although the actions of the two individuals were classified by the media as psychopathy attributable to serial killer characteristics, whether or not their psychopathy meets this classification or as a spree killer is debated by researchers.

Lee Boyd Malvo, also known as John Lee Malvo, is an American convicted murderer who, along with John Allen Muhammad, committed a series of murders dubbed the D.C. sniper attacks over a three-week period in October 2002. Malvo was aged 17 during the span of the shootings. He was serving multiple life sentences at Red Onion State Prison in Virginia, a supermax prison. Muhammad was executed in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quentin State Prison</span> California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men

San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.

The Bridgewater Four are four men who were tried and found guilty of killing 13-year-old paperboy Carl Bridgewater, who was shot in the head at close range near Stourbridge, England, in 1978. In February 1997, after almost two decades of imprisonment, their convictions were overturned and the three surviving defendants were released; the fourth defendant had died in prison two years into his sentence. Bridgewater's murder remains unsolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Sarah Payne</span> 2000 abduction and murder of a child in West Sussex, England

Sarah Evelyn Isobel Payne, was the victim of a high-profile abduction and murder in West Sussex, England in July 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wadebridge</span> Town in Cornwall, England

Wadebridge is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel five miles upstream from Padstow. The permanent population was 6,222 in the census of 2001, increasing to 7,900 in the 2011 census. There are two electoral wards in the town. Their total population is 8,272.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Jodi Jones</span> 2003 murder in Scotland

The murder of Jodi Jones is a Scottish murder case from June 2003 in which a 14-year-old schoolgirl was murdered in woodland in Dalkeith, Scotland. Her semi-nude body was discovered behind a wall by her 14-year-old boyfriend Luke Mitchell’s dog Mia, hours after her death. An autopsy revealed the teenager had died of several stab and slash wounds—primarily inflicted to her neck and torso, with a defensive wound to her arm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Sharon Beshenivsky</span> Shooting of a British police officer

PC Sharon Beshenivsky was a West Yorkshire Police constable shot and killed by a criminal gang during a robbery in Bradford on 18 November 2005, becoming the seventh female police officer in Great Britain to be killed on duty. Her colleague, PC Teresa Milburn, was seriously injured in the same incident. Milburn had joined the force less than two years earlier; Beshenivsky had served only nine months as a Constable in the force at the time of her death, having been a Community Support Officer before.

Woo Bih Li is a Singaporean judge of the Supreme Court.

The Wendy's massacre was a mass murder that took place in a Wendy's fast-food restaurant at 40-12 Main Street in Flushing, New York, on May 24, 2000. Seven employees were shot in the head and five of them died. The killings were committed by former Wendy's employee John Taylor along with Craig Godineaux, who had planned to rob the restaurant's safe. Taylor was subsequently sentenced to death, while Godineaux was sentenced to life in prison. After the shooting, the Wendy’s location was closed and boarded up until it was eventually re-opened as a shopping center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Danielle Jones</span> English murder case where no body was found

On 18 June 2001, 15-year-old English schoolgirl Danielle Sarah Jones disappeared from East Tilbury, Essex, England. There was a large and exhaustive search to find Jones' body and it was considered one of the biggest cases Essex Police had to deal with at the time. Despite the police's best efforts for found Jones, her body was never found.

Nireah Johnson was an African American trans woman who was murdered in Indianapolis, Indiana along with her friend Brandie Coleman, by Paul Moore, after Moore discovered that Johnson was transgender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murders of Adam Lloyd and Vanessa Arscott</span>

The murders of Adam Lloyd and Vanessa Arscott in the Thai town of Kanchanaburi on 9 September 2004, were blamed on Somchai Wisetsingh, a decorated Thai police officer. After confessing, then recanting his story, Wisetsingh was convicted of the crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Clark (serial killer)</span> American serial killer (1948–2023)

Douglas Daniel Clark was an American serial killer and necrophile. Clark and his accomplice, Carol Mary Bundy, were collectively known as the Sunset Strip Killers and were responsible for the deaths of at least seven individuals although they are considered suspects in the deaths of several other women and young girls. Clark was charged with six murders in Los Angeles, California and was convicted in 1983. Clark's victims were typically young prostitutes or teenage runaways and his victims were decapitated and their severed heads kept as mementos. He would also perform sex acts on their corpses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Mark Fisher</span> 2003 murder in Brooklyn, New York, United States

The murder of Mark Fisher occurred in the early morning hours of October 12, 2003. Where a 19-years old college student was brutally beaten, shot five times, and left on Argyle Road in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn.

Events from 2004 in England

Events from 2003 in England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Bamber</span> British convicted murderer

Jeremy Nevill Bamber is a British convicted mass murderer. He was convicted of the 1985 White House Farm murders in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, in which the victims included Bamber's adoptive parents, Nevill and June Bamber; his adoptive sister, Sheila Caffell; and his sister's six-year-old twin sons, Daniel and Nicholas Caffell. Returning a majority guilty verdict, the jury found that, after committing the murders to secure a large inheritance, Bamber had placed the rifle in the hands of his 28-year-old sister, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, to make the scene appear to be a murder–suicide.

This is a list of sex workers who were murdered in the United Kingdom.

References

  1. 1 2 "Firkin brothers' murder convictions questioned after witness jailed". BBC News. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  2. Matthews, Chris (2017-10-09). "Garage murder victim predicted he'd be killed by "someone he knew"". CornwallLive. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  3. "Ordeal of murdered garage couple". 2003-11-08. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  4. "Cornish village in shock over couple's murder". The Independent. 2003-11-08. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  5. "Murder victim's brother speaks of grief". 2003-11-27. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  6. 1 2 Eve, Carl (2023-06-27). "Court to hear brothers' garage double murder appeal this week". CornwallLive. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  7. 1 2 "Dedication of Fisher murder squad". 2006-01-19. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  8. "Two arrested over garage murders". 2004-05-17. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  9. "Murder shots 'sounded like fireworks'". 2003-11-07. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  10. "Wadebridge garage murder: Victim 'predicted' killer's identity". BBC News. 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  11. Live, Teesside (2004-07-13). "Gun horror: Pair charged". TeessideLive. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  12. "Couple 'beaten after being shot'". 2005-11-22. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  13. "Brothers 'shot TV dinner couple'". 2005-11-16. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  14. "Garage killers 'may strike again'". 2004-05-06. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  15. "Police call in retired detectives". 2003-11-26. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  16. "Funeral for double murder victims". 2004-08-05. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  17. "Double murder garage goes on sale". 2006-03-14. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  18. "Double murder garage site cleared". 2007-04-05. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  19. "New owner of murder garage speaks". 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  20. Eve, Carl (2022-11-05). "Court of Appeal to hear from brothers convicted of murder". PlymouthLive. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  21. 1 2 "Killers' 'ruthless' past revealed". 2006-01-19. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  22. "Reward offered to catch killers". 2003-12-02. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  23. "Passengers may have murder clues". 2004-05-10. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  24. "RAF to help murder hunt officers". 2004-04-14. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  25. "Two questioned on garage murders". 2004-04-21. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  26. "Murder suspects are released". 2004-05-19. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  27. "Reconstruction of garage killings". 2004-05-25. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  28. "Murder trial breaks for Christmas". 2005-12-22. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  29. "Man denies 'sick' garage murders". 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  30. "Murder accused out to 'buy drugs'". 2005-12-09. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  31. "Murder accused 'made confession'". 2005-11-30. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  32. "Garage accused 'acted' using gun". 2005-11-21. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  33. "Accused brothers 'high on crack'". 2005-11-23. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  34. "Judge sums up garage murder case". 2006-01-12. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  35. Morris, Steven (2005-11-17). "Robber brothers deny brutal murder of garage owners". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  36. Matthews, Chris (2020-08-06). "Both brothers convicted of 2003 garage murders granted appeal". CornwallLive. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  37. "Garage pair murder case adjourned". 2006-01-03. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  38. "Murders pair get life sentences". 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  39. "Brothers' murder appeal date set". 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  40. "Brothers' murder appeal commences". 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  41. "Appeal denied witness questioning". 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  42. "Murder appeals judgement reserved". 2008-12-12. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  43. "Brothers lose appeal over murder". 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  44. "Murderers Lee and Robert Firkins get fresh hope of appeal". BBC News. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  45. "Brothers convicted of Cornwall murders pin freedom hopes on DNA". BBC News. 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  46. "Double murderer sentenced for Broadmoor triple assault". Bracknell News. 2018-05-21. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  47. "Wadebridge petrol station couple's murderers granted appeal". BBC News. 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  48. Huntley, David (2022-02-09). "Convicted murderer threw 'excrement' over prison officer". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
  49. "Wadebridge petrol station couple's murderers begin appeal". BBC News. 2023-06-28. Retrieved 2023-08-05.