Kyle Clifford has admitted murdering the wife and two daughters of racing commentator John Hunt in a crossbow attack.
Clifford, 26, tied 25-year-old former partner Louise Hunt’s arms and ankles with duct tape and shot her through the chest with a crossbow bolt at the family home in the quiet cul-de-sac of Ashlyn Close in Bushey, Hertfordshire, in July.
Her sister Hannah Hunt, 28, was found in the main doorway of the house with a crossbow bolt to the chest and was still alive when police arrived at the property at around 7.10pm on July 9.
Ms Hunt’s 61-year-old mother Carol Hunt, the wife of beloved BBC 5Live racing commentator John Hunt, was stabbed by Clifford with a 10in butcher’s knife.
Police had been called by Hannah Hunt, who told officers she feared she was going to die as she had been shot and her sister and mother had also been attacked.
Clifford pleaded guilty to three counts of murder at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday as well as one count of false imprisonment against Louise Hunt, and two counts of possession of offensive weapons – the crossbow and the knife.
He pleaded not guilty to a charge of raping Louise Hunt.
Police spent hours searching for Clifford, who served in the military from 2019 for around three years, before he was found injured in Lavender Hill Cemetery in Enfield after shooting himself in the chest with the crossbow.
Following the attacks, the Home Office said Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was urgently considering whether tougher crossbow laws were needed.
In the King’s Speech, which took place just days after the killings, there was no proposal to take action on crossbows.
It is understood the review is ongoing and no decisions have yet been made.
Mr Hunt returned to work at Brighton Racecourse in September.
He told how his “knees buckled” at one point as he recalled a weekend he spent in Brighton with Carol shortly before she was killed, but said he feels she and his daughters “are with me at all times”.
Mr Hunt and his third daughter Amy previously issued a statement following the incident, which said: “The devastation we are experiencing cannot be put into words.
"Amy and I are determined to take small steps forward whenever we feel able. To that end, today was a good day and I’m grateful for it.”
Clifford, of Rendlesham Road, Enfield, north London, will face a trial for the charge of rape at the same court later this year.
