Confession tapes of murderer and sex offender Colin Howell have been broadcast in public for the first time, revealing his apparent intention to ‘put right what was wrong’.
Howell, 65, and his former lover Hazel Stewart, 62, murdered their respective spouses Lesley Howell, 31, and police officer Trevor Buchanan, 32, in May 1991.
Both victims were found in a fume-filled garage in Castlerock, County Londonderry, but Howell covered up the killings as a double suicide for nearly two decades.
Police had originally believed Mrs Howell and Mr Buchanan died in a suicide pact, after discovering that their partners were having an extra-marital affair.
But the victims had actually been drugged before being murdered and their bodies arranged to make it look as though they had taken their own lives.
Howell’s crimes only came to light in 2008 when he confessed to elders in his church and then police – and he was imprisoned for at least 21 years in 2010.
He also implicated former Sunday school teacher Stewart and she was jailed for at least 18 years in 2011. She was told last July that she cannot appeal the sentence.
Howell was also imprisoned in 2011 for five-and-a-half years for indecent assaults on five female patients, although this ran concurrent to the sentence for murder.
As he continues to serve his sentence at high-security Maghaberry Prison, a new documentary airing on BBC Two this Sunday has broadcast his confession tapes.
But Howell’s daughter Lauren Bradford-Clarke has criticised the BBC today after saying the corporation denied her plea to hear the tapes before they were broadcast.
Colin Howell was jailed for at least 21 years in 2010 after confessing 17 years after the murder
Howell implicated his ex-lover Hazel Stewart (above) and she was jailed for at least 18 years
Colin Howell’s daughter Lauren Bradford-Clarke (pictured) has criticised the BBC today after saying the corporation denied her plea to hear the tapes before they were broadcast
In ‘Confessions of a Killer‘, Howell is heard talking in a police interview about Stewart’s role in the murders and says: ‘Definitely as a person she was a victim.
‘There was a co-operation but arising from, you’ve told me, I didn’t know she had a fear, but obviously it’s clear she had a fear and didn’t know how to escape from it.
‘So yeah she responded and did certain things that she now, at the time had even, especially now, regrets. But in terms of the driving force as to why these things happened, she’s been a very unfortunate victim of Colin Howell and I regret that.’
Howell also claims he had decided to confess because of changes in his marriage, finances and ‘a sudden inability to function with patients’ at his dental practice.
He says he had been ‘involved in intermittent sexual behaviours with patients’ at the practice.
The killer, who went to church in Coleraine, adds that he realised ‘as a Christian I was a fake’, saying: ‘My world fell apart.
‘I walked in here probably believing that this was the only way that I could be real and that it would put right what was wrong, that’s why I came and confessed.’
Howell adds that his justice in the law would be ‘deserved’ after his confession, and he had prayed the consequences would be ‘bearable to the people who I’ve said sorry to’.
Police officer Trevor Buchanan (pictured) was one of the two victims of the double murder
Murder victim Lesley Howell (above) was found in a fume-filled garage in County Londonderry
Murder victim Lesley Howell receiving a nursing award with her mother May Clarke
The case was turned into an ITV mini-drama in 2016 called The Secret (pictured), which starred James Nesbitt as Colin Howell and Genevieve O’Reilly as Hazel Stewart
The BBC has faced criticism from Ms Bradford-Clarke after she claimed she was refused a request to listen to her father’s confessions before they were aired.
She told BBC News NI’s Evening Extra programme that hearing his voice had brought back feelings of ‘shock, horror and trauma’, adding: ‘It has been very, very difficult to come to terms with.
‘I think that if I had of been given an opportunity to prepare and hear them in advance at least it would have given me a slight bit of distance from it being broadcast.’
The BBC said the production team were in touch ‘with immediate family members about the making of this series and invited them to contribute to it’.
A spokesperson added: ‘We understand the sensitivities involved and the continuing effects of what happened.
‘Our programmes explore issues of public interest and they have been made with care for those most directly impacted and in line with relevant BBC editorial guidelines.’
A separate ITV documentary called ‘Killers in the House: The Murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan’ will air on ITV1 next Tuesday at 9pm. This will see Howell’s three children talk about believing their mother had killed herself.
The case was turned into an ITV mini-drama in 2016 called The Secret, which starred James Nesbitt as Howell and Genevieve O’Reilly as Stewart.
Confessions of a Killer airs on BBC Two this Sunday at 9pm and is on iPlayer
