Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Kyle Clifford spent 10 weeks in hospital with a round-the-clock police guard before he could be interviewed about the attacks on 9 July.

Police video showed him in a wheelchair refusing to engage and answering “no comment” to questions on 16 September.

He shows no emotion when asked about the killings but appears to choke back tears after he is asked about a note on his phone, written about himself.

Image source, Contributed

Kyle Clifford's behaviour in the days following his break-up with Louise Hunt appears to have escalated at an unprecedented rate", according to Det Ch Insp Nick Gardner, senior investigating officer in the case.

Clifford then "plotted a meticulously planned attack on Louise and members of her family", the officer said.

The 26-year-old ex-soldier had shown a "complete inability and unwillingness... to actually deal with [the break-up] appropriately", he added.

Read more: The arrogant ex-soldier who turned into a triple killer

13:07: Clifford leaves his home in Enfield armed with a knife and a crossbow and searches the internet to see if BBC racing commentator John Hunt will be at a meeting that afternoon.

14:32: Clifford is let into the family home after telling Carol Hunt he wants to return some of her daughter Louise’s belongings.

He stabs Mrs Hunt to death.

15:10: Clifford returns to his car to retrieve the crossbow hidden under a white cloth or blanket.

He waits inside the house for Louise, who had been working at the dog grooming business she ran from the family’s back garden.

16:13-18:50: He restrains, rapes and then murders her with a crossbow.

During this time, Clifford used Louise's phone to message her father to find out when he would be home from work. John Hunt replied: "Late, I'm afraid. Everything OK, sweetness?"

18:52: Louise's older sister Hannah Hunt returns to the family home after work and is also shot with the crossbow. She manages to message her partner asking them to call the police.

18:55: Clifford walks away from the property with carrying the black rucksack, with the crossbow hidden under a sheet.

18:57: Hannah Hunt is recorded by home security systems screaming "Oh my God, no" as she realises her sister and mother have been attacked.

18:58: Hannah Hunt uses Carol Hunt's phone to dial 999 and identifies Clifford as the attacker to the call handler.

19:10: Emergency services arrive at the house. Carol and Louise Hunt are found dead and unsuccessful resuscitation attempts are made on Hannah.

A manhunt ensues.

10 July: Clifford is found injured at Lavender Hill Cemetery, in Enfield, in north London, after shooting himself in the chest with the crossbow.

He is taken to hospital with serious injuries and later charged with the murders.

Image source, Met Police

Kyle Clifford's older brother was jailed in 2018 for the "senseless and barbaric killing" a man on a scooter in Enfield, north London.

Bradley Clifford, then aged 24, gave chase and ploughed into the scooter in his Ford Mustang after the rider Sobhan Khan,18, and his pillion passenger hit his car with a bottle and damaged it.

Mr Khan was sent flying into the air and died as a result of his injuries, while the other man was hurt, but survived.

Clifford was jailed for 23 years after being found guilty of murder and attempted GBH with intent.

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Det Ch Insp Nick Gardner said the decision to prosecute on the rape charge had been the correct one, even though Clifford had admitted three murders.

"Absolutely right," he said. "I think it shows the full gravity of his offending and the character that he is."

He agreed with a suggestion that Louise's last few hours of life must have been "horrific".

Det Ch Insp Nick Gardner, the senior investigating officer in the case, has been speaking about Clifford's motives.

"I don't think this is the case of a spurned lover in any way," he said.

"He [Clifford] simply couldn't deal with what he perceived to be a dent to his pride.

"He then sought to control the situation, in terms of weapons purchases, the cold, calculating way in which he lay in wait in the house for her [Louise]."

26 June 2024: Louise Hunt tells Clifford their relationship is over

In a message read out in court during Clifford’s trial, she says: "I'm sorry Kyle but I feel I can't continue with what we have, I feel like it has been broken and I can't ignore how I've been feeling.”

She wishes him well and asks him to “take care of yourself always please”.

30 June: Clifford makes internet searches in relation to crossbows and visits websites where they could be purchased.

3 July: Clifford purchases a crossbow and a pack of six crossbow bolts.

4 July: Clifford buys two petrol cans from Halfords and two rolls of duct tape from B&Q.

Senior investigator Det Ch Insp Gardner echoed the judge's praise for the behaviour of relatives during the trial.

He said he did not know why Clifford had admitted murder, and other charges, but not rape.

"I don't know. The evidence was overwhelming. He was arguing against commonly accepted science."

Mr Gardner added: "He knew the game was up. I have no idea why he failed to plead.

"The jury saw through his lies."

Hannah was heard on audio at the Hunt family home saying "Kyle I swear to God" after returning home and appearing to find Clifford in the house.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said Hannah messaged her partner, Alex Klein, telling him to "call police... immediately. To mine. Now.

"Kyle here. Police now. He's tying us up".

Image source, PA Media

The court heard that customers of Louise's dog grooming business, based in a pod in the Hunt family's garden, were using the gate at the side of the house "not realising what was happening" when Carol was murdered.

The jury panel was told a faint scream could be heard from the address shortly after Louise entered the house, and she was later found to have been restrained with tape at the wrist and ankles.

Det Ch Insp Nick Gardner said, after the trial, that Clifford's refusal to attend the trial, either in person or via an online link, was "cowardice".

Clifford was tried in his absence after refusing to leave his cell at HMP Belmarsh.

"[It] was an absolute act of cowardice by Clifford," said Det Ch Insp Gardner.

"Every reasonable adjustment was made by the judge. The trial was moved here for his (Clifford's) reasonable accessibility needs."

Image source, Reuters

The Crown Prosecution Service said the "weight of evidence against Clifford" gave him little option but to admit murdering the three women.

Prosecutors worked closely with Hertfordshire Police to build a case "which painted a clear picture of a sinister and premediated attack against the Hunt family".

Digital evidence showed Clifford making online orders for a knife, crossbow and duct tape.

He was also captured on CCTV arriving near the Hunt family home in his car on the afternoon of the murders.

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Lucy Manning
Special correspondent, Cambridge Crown Court

Clifford bought the crossbow online. Questions will be raised about their easy purchase but this is also about those who choose to use weapons to attack and murder women.

What is sadly unsurprising, but is still devastating, is yet again innocent women are the victims of male violence in their own homes, by someone they knew.

Clifford was an ex-boyfriend whose response to rejection was to rape and murder.

Prosecutor Helen Morgan KC said that in the days leading up to the attacks, Clifford had searched for how to purchase a crossbow and had accessed pornography, including for a video of former HMP Wandsworth prison officer Linda De Sousa Abreu, who admitted having sex with a prisoner last year.

The prosecutor said the defendant's violent intentions were shown "through the use of weapons and his sexual preoccupations".

The court heard Clifford's killing spree took place over several hours in three separate attacks.He firstly stabbed Carol to death while her daughter Louise was working in a garden office, where she ran a dog grooming business. After Louise came inside, he restrained, raped and then murdered her with a crossbow, jurors heard.

Prosecutors said he then killed Hannah with the crossbow when she came home after work.

Clifford's sister had messaged Clifford on the day of the attacks, asking him "what are you playing at?" when she realised he had taken the crossbow out with him.

He told her he was doing nothing "illegal" and he was shooting it in his friend's back garden, the jurors were told.

Following the murders, he became the subject of a manhunt for a number of hours before he was found injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery, in Enfield, north London, after shooting himself in the chest with the crossbow.

The jury was told he was now paralysed from the chest downwards.

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Clifford and Louise had been in a relationship for 18 months after meeting via online dating, the court heard.

Louise's friends and family "hoped that the relationship would come to an end" after they became concerned about the way Clifford treated her.

The jury was told Louise had shared with her friends that he had a "nasty temper" and that he behaved in an "aggressive manner", with her sister Hannah deeming him to be "disrespectful, rude and arrogant".

Louise had said the relationship was "sucking the life out of me", the court heard.

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

After the verdict, the senior investigating officer said that Clifford "simply couldn't deal with what he perceived to be a dent to his pride".

Det Ch Insp Nick Gardner said he did not think it was the "case of a spurned lover in any way".

"[He] sought to control the situation with everything that he did, in terms of the weapons purchases, the cold calculated way in which he lay in wait in the house for her and then held her falsely imprisoned for a number of hours."

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Prosecutors said the "violent misogyny promoted" by controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate "fuelled" Clifford's attacks.

Clifford searched for Tate's podcast less than 24 hours before the murders, the court was told.

The court heard how the killer hid the fact he had relationships with other women during his time with Louise, and was signed up to online dating sites Hinge and Bumble.

The defendant became "enraged" when his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend Louise ended their 18-month relationship - leading him to "carefully" plan the 9 July murders.

Image source, EPA

Lisa Kiff, a senior crown prosecutor, said: “Kyle Clifford is a murderer and a rapist who carried out a savage act of violence against three women.

“His crimes are among the very worst I have encountered in my career.

“On behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, I want to express my heartfelt sympathies to the Hunt family.

"I have been personally touched by their strength, dignity and courage in the face of overwhelming trauma."

Image source, PA Media