The unfolding of Kyle Clifford’s evil plot: Stabbing mother, violating ex, and killing with crossbow

Evil descended on a quiet cul-de-sac in the Home Counties one summer’s day last year. 

That’s the belief of John Hunt, bereft husband and father. 

It is undeniable that considering the brutality and wickedness displayed by Kyle Clifford on that fateful day of July 9, 2024, no one would argue otherwise.

The aftermath of ex-soldier Clifford’s actions, as captured on surveillance dressed entirely in black, resulted in the decimation of the Hunt family from a contented unit of five to a mere duo.

The juxtaposition of the serene setting in the suburban area of Bushey, Hertfordshire, with the ghastly occurrences within the secluded home on Ashlyn Close is almost incomprehensible: Mr. Hunt’s wife, Carol, aged 61, was brutally stabbed to death with a butcher’s knife, while sisters Hannah, aged 28, and Louise, aged 25, were mercilessly shot with a crossbow. Additionally, it has now come to light that Louise was also subjected to sexual assault, reportedly by her former partner, Clifford.

The timeline of July 9 reveals the full extent of his wickedness. 

In between attacking Mrs Hunt when she answered the front door and attacking beautician Hannah when she returned home from work, Clifford subjected Louise to a ‘violent, sexual act of spite’. 

She was bound by her wrists and ankle with duct tape and probably gagged before being violated. 

The chilling sound of ‘whooshing’, consistent with a crossbow being discharged, was recorded on the doorbell security system at 6.50pm. 

This meant her ordeal which began when she returned from a pod in the garden – where she ran her dog grooming studio – lasted more than two-and-a-half hours, a harrowing fact that has been lost in the blanket media coverage. 

Mr Hunt, BBC Radio 5 Live’s racing commentator, and eldest daughter Amy were not at home. 

He has since spoken about ‘the horrid evil that’s swept through our lives, wreaking devastation on an unimaginable scale’. 

For the past week they have been cruelly reminded of that evil – not that they could ever forget – because Clifford, having pleaded guilty to murder in January, pleaded not guilty to rape, thus forcing them to go through the trauma of a court case. 

One distressing piece of evidence – which epitomised both his cruelty and depravity – was that Carol was found in the same room, off the hall, where Louise was raped and killed. 

Her clients were collecting and dropping off their dogs just a few yards away in the garden when Clifford first entered the house and were oblivious to the plight of Mrs Hunt, his first victim, or the mortal danger facing Louise. 

Mr Hunt, who was sitting with relatives in the public gallery at Cambridge Crown Court, had to listen to these details again and hung his head at times. 

Clifford, on the other hand, was too cowardly to sit in the dock, choosing instead to remain in his cell at HMP Belmarsh. 

He was tried and convicted in his absence. A girlfriend or wife murdered by a jilted boyfriend or husband, or vice versa, is sadly not unusual. 

However, this was not a crime of passion committed in a burst of sudden, uncontrolled anger but a cold, calculated, prolonged onslaught in which all three Hunt women were deliberately targeted because Clifford ‘correctly assumed’ the family had encouraged Louise to end their 18-month relationship. 

After Clifford was arrested, police found a note that he had written. One sentence read: ‘I could be a better man. But I choose not to.’

 His perceived sense of betrayal was beyond comprehension given that he slept with other women and repeatedly belittled Louise after she allowed him into her life following their introduction through dating site Bumble in around January 2023.

Admittedly, Clifford initially presented well. 

He was a good looking, well-turned out former soldier who had served with the Queen’s Dragoon Guards and was about to start a decent job at a fire protection and security installation firm in St Albans.

 It was an illusion. In fact, as those who knew him told the Mail, he represented every parents’ nightmare. 

His ‘new’ job lasted five months and he is understood to have been sacked from his next one, at a catering company, where he was on the ‘future leaders’ programme’.

Clifford had come to the attention of the police as a juvenile. 

The offences related to the possession of cannabis, assault without injury and theft.

‘A wannabe gangster’ is how one former classmate at his secondary school remembers him.

‘I never really got on with him and I think I generally get along with everyone,’ the classmate said. 

His military career, meanwhile, was perfunctory and undistinguished. He joined the Army in 2019 and dropped out in 2022. 

‘He was a sub-standard soldier who kept going just enough to scrape through,’ said Amber Knowles, a former corporal who trained him and who spoke to the Mail yesterday.

Clifford was on a section commander’s warning by week five for repeatedly failing to follow instructions. 

He was like a naughty schoolboy, not taking being in the Army as seriously as he should, she said, adding: ‘I was not surprised to find out that he left the military early.

At the very end of basic training, we conduct one big final confirmation exercise where we spend a week in the field, culminating in a ‘final attack’.

‘I would have described it as basic by any trained soldier’s standard, but after we finished Clifford was the only one to admit that he didn’t have a clue what was going on. It didn’t shock me.’ 

Moreover, had Louise been aware of his reputation as an inveterate ‘ladies’ man’ who tried it on with female recruits known to have boyfriends, she would surely have never got involved with him. 

‘He just loved to pursue the ladies,’ Ms Knowles added. 

‘Although his direct chain of command while in basic training, he would try to flirt with me. 

‘One time we were on a break and I heard Kyle saying he would nip to a shop. I asked him to get me some milk and after I asked him how much did I owe him his response was ‘your smile is enough for me, Corporal’, which goes without saying was utterly inappropriate. 

‘Ultimately, I would have described him as unremarkable, hence why, when the news broke about the triple murders, we were all utterly blown away.’ 

Friends ‘noticed a change in Louise almost immediately’ after she started seeing him and one recalled how she began to dress more conservatively and cut off ties with male friends. 

The red flags surrounding Clifford were numerous. 

He was a fan of Andrew Tate, who is facing charges of rape and human trafficking.

He watched a number of his videos, police would later discover, which feature the self-styled ‘misogynist influencer’ talking about hitting and choking women, trashing their belongings, and stopping them going out. 

Clifford also shocked dog lover Louise’s friends at a gathering the couple were hosting by watching clips of animals being harmed – something he thought was funny.

This was not the only time he behaved inappropriately in public. 

During a discussion about a road rage incident, Clifford embarrassed himself by justifying the use of violence.

It’s easy to understand why.

 In 2018, at the Old Bailey, his older brother Bradley, now 30, was convicted of murder and attempted GBH for deliberately mowing down two teenagers on a moped – one survived, the other didn’t – after they smashed a bottle over his £35,000 Ford Mustang when a row erupted outside a bar. 

Two brothers now both serving life. 

Louise knew about Bradley because, apart from anything else, Clifford visited him in prison every other week but never accepted the reason why his brother was serving life, it emerged in court – hence he made no secret of his views about violence. 

‘He’s telling people these stories and that’s when she [Louise] thinks: ‘He’s not the man for me’,’ Detective Chief Inspector Nick Gardner, of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, told journalists. 

The final straw came at a friend’s wedding in Scarborough when Clifford ‘implied’ that he had cheated on her. 

He definitely had, as it turned out.

‘She was not his only partner,’ revealed DCI Gardner. 

‘There were at least two other relationships and one of the women considered herself to be his girlfriend.’ 

The women in question were former work colleagues. 

Following the ‘Scarborough episode’, she texted him to say it was over. 

‘He just accepts it,’ DCI Gardner added. ‘The break-up was amicable. There was nothing to suggest threats of violence.

‘It [the murders] was completely unforeseeable from the Hunts’ perspective.’ 

Louise created a reminder that she had ‘done the right thing’ in leaving him in the form of a list which included: ‘brother being prison … racist comments … road rage … belittling language.’ 

The court heard the testimonies of loved ones who highlighted Clifford’s ‘nasty temper’ and his disrespectful, rude and arrogant behaviour. 

Within hours of them splitting up, however, he had signed up to several dating sites, although police cannot be certain if he met anyone. 

Either way, just two weeks later Louise, her sister and their mother were dead. Clifford began assembling his ‘murder kit’ almost as soon as he had received Louise’s text. 

He spoke to his brother in jail – all prison calls are recorded – about buying a crossbow because they shared interest in dangerous weapons, although there is no evidence Bradley egged him on to carry out the attacks. 

Both the crossbow, which fired six bolts, and the knife were bought online shortly afterwards. 

On the morning of the murders, Clifford, one of four children from Enfield, north London, went to a garden centre with his family just as if it was any other day. 

His mother who was born in Malta and his retired heating engineer father are well liked in the area. 

He also received a message from his sister Sian. The conversation that ensued, which was disclosed in court but not reported, is chilling with hindsight. 

Clifford was asked: ‘Why are you taking your crossbow out? What are you playing at? It’s illegal.’ 

He brushed off her concerns and replied: ‘I’m at Zack’s. lol [laugh out loud]. Chill. Shooting in back garden. Chill.’ 

She then tells him: ‘Hmm, OK. Well, don’t take it out. Put it in the boot.’ 

He reassures her, saying: ‘Yeah, it’s wrapped up in the boot. DW [don’t worry]’. 

But at 1.07pm, he left Enfield and began the 40-minute drive to Bushey. 

When his brother Bradley was given life at the Old Bailey, the judge told him: ‘No parent should have to bury their child.’ 

Now more than seven years on, history has repeated itself in the most tragic way.