The man who shot and stabbed John Hunt’s wife and daughters has pleaded guilty to three counts of murder.
Kyle Clifford, 26, shot his ex-girlfriend, 25, and her sister with a crossbow and stabbed their mother Carol Hunt to death at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, in July.
He tied ex-partner Louise arms and ankles with duct tape and shot her through the chest with a crossbow bolt at her home.
The wife of BBC commentator John Hunt, Carol Hunt, sustained stab wounds to her knee, hands, back and torso after the attack by Clifford with a 10 inch butcher’s knife.
Louise’s sister, Hannah, was found in the main doorway of the house with a crossbow bolt to the chest. She was still alive when police arrived at the house at approximately 7.10pm on July 9.
She had called the police and told them she feared that she was gong to die as she had been shot and her sister and mother had been attacked too.
Clifford became the subject of a manhunt for hours before he was found injured in north London cemetery after he shot himself in the chest with the crossbow.
This morning, he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment against Louise Hunt, and two counts of possession of offensive weapons – the crossbow and the knife – as he appeared in court via a video link.
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He pleaded not guilty to a charge of raping Louise Hunt.
After the brutal attacks, the Home Office said that Yvette Cooper was urgently reviewing whether tougher crossbow laws were necessary although there was no proposal to take action on crossbows outlined in the King’s Speech on July 17.
The consideration of such laws is ongoing and no decisions have been made yet, according to PA.
Before the election, the Conservatives were evaluating the possibility of introducing firearms licensing-style rules after an attempt to murder Queen Elizabeth with a crossbow.