Jennifer and Stephen Chapple: Ex-soldier 'not same' after war

Collin Reeves admits killing the couple but denies murder

An ex-soldier who killed a couple in their home while their children slept upstairs had "bottled up his feelings" about war in Afghanistan, a jury heard.

Collin Reeves admits manslaughter but has denied murdering neighbours Stephen and Jennifer Chapple in Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset, on 21 November.

Mr Reeves' wife Kayley said the 34-year-old told her prior to the killings his "head's not in the right place".

She had told him she wanted a trial separation minutes before the attack.

Mrs Reeves told Bristol Crown Court that her husband, an ex-Royal Engineer, never talked about the time he spent in Afghanistan between 2008 and 2009.

"He hasn't been the same since he came back from Afghan," she added.

"He just bottles it up, he never talks about his feelings."

Jennifer and Stephen Chapple died from multiple stab wounds

Mr Reeves, of Norton Fitzwarren, had been involved in a long-running dispute with the Chapples over parking spaces outside their homes, the court heard.

Jurors were told he climbed the fence separating his garden from the victims', and entered via the back door of their home before launching a frenzied minute-long attack on the couple in their living room while their children slept upstairs.

Mrs Chapple, 33, suffered six stab wounds to her upper chest and shoulder, causing fatal injuries to a major blood vessel and her heart, prosecutor Adam Feest QC said.

Her 36-year-old husband was found close to the rear door and had also suffered six stab wounds, as well as three other minor injuries.

Ceremonial dagger

Mr Reeves, who had been working as a lorry driver, stabbed them with a ceremonial dagger he had been given when he left the Army in December 2017.

His wife told the court they had not been getting on and she suggested a trial separation on the evening of the killings.

Mrs Reeves said she then heard screaming soon afterwards and saw the ceremonial dagger was missing from the frame where it was usually displayed.

The court was shown a police interview given in the days after the killing, of Mrs Reeves saying her husband had been more "agitated and stressed" since returning from Afghanistan.

"He's got mental problems, he told me his head's not in the right place," she added.

Trial separation

Mrs Reeves said she blamed herself for not listening to her husband when he came to speak to her on the evening of the killings, and instead suggested a trial separation.

"I wish I listened to him. He's in a bad way. I pushed him away when he needed me the most," she said.

Mrs Reeves said that the family had previously had a good relationship with the Chapples, but that it had deteriorated when they got a second car and it obstructed Mr Reeves' parking space.

The trial continues.