Fordingbridge deaths: Quadruple murderer loses bid for parole
- Published
George Stephenson was jailed in 1987 at Winchester Crown Court
A man who has spent 36 years in prison for murdering four people at a dinner party has lost a bid for parole.
George Stephenson, now aged 72, was jailed in 1987 for the murders, as well as rape and robbery.
Joseph and Hilda Cleaver, both 82, their son Tom, 47, and Maggie Murphy, 70, were doused in petrol and burned, Tom's daughter Melissa Cleaver said.
She said her mother Wendy was fatally strangled by another man in the attack in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
Co-defendant John Daly was convicted of murdering the 46-year-old woman at Burgate House.
Winchester Crown Court heard how Daly, his brother George and Stephenson originally went to the property to steal shotguns.
'Indescribable torture'
Ms Cleaver said her father, grandparents and Ms Murphy, the family nurse, were bound, gagged and set alight.
In a statement welcoming the Parole Board decision, she said: "They lived for several minutes.
"My mother endured a sadistic, brutal gang rape and indescribable torture before finally being strangled to death.
"Our beautiful dog was clubbed with a pickaxe so violently that she had to be put down.
"We cannot express how relieved we are to learn that George Stephenson's bid for parole has been refused."
The trial judge recommended a minimum jail term of 25 years for Stephenson but the tariff was later raised to 35 years.
The Parole Board said: "After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was not satisfied that release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public."
The panel also refused his request to be moved to an open prison.
It added that he "lacked empathy" and "has been seen to have the capacity for manipulation and deception".
Stephenson will be eligible to apply for parole again in another two years' time.
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