In August 2000, Lee Ford, an unemployed builder and roofer, murdered his wife and four stepchildren at their home in Carnkie, a village near Redruth, Cornwall, before trying to conceal the bodies. Ford committed the murders on or around 30 August, after arguing with his wife, Lesley, who had threatened to stop him seeing the two children he had fathered with her. After striking her in the face with a baseball bat, Ford went to the garage, where he found a rope. He then used it to strangled Lesley, and over the following 24 hours, killed the four children, Sarah-Jane Tranter, aged 17, Anne Marie Tranter, aged 16, Steven Tranter, aged 14, and Craig Tranter, aged 13, in the same manner. He spared the lives of his own two children. Ford placed the bodies in a woodshed located in the property's back garden, wrapping them in sheets and covering them with lime, and subsequently attempted to conceal the murders by telling neighbours and the local school his wife had left him and taken the children, while sending his own children to stay with relatives.
Ford was visited by police officers several weeks later, and after Lesley's brother contacted them to report the family missing. Ford was panicked by the visit, and moved the remains of his two stepdaughters, reburying them at the edge of a nearby field. He was arrested on 4 October after going on the run, and when the bodies were found. Ford confessed to the murders, telling police he was not sure why he had carried out the killings, and had "flipped". Police suspected that Ford had been having a relationship with his eldest stepdaughter, Sarah-Jane, and that this had been the source of his argument with Lesley. In May 2001, Ford pleaded guilty to five counts of murder at Bristol Crown Court and was given five sentences of life imprisonment.[1][2]
Ford will become eligible to be considered for parole in October 2027. In October 2021, the family and friends of his victims started an online petition to prevent his release.[3]
A memorial to the children was later unveiled at the school they attended in Helston.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Family killer gets life". BBC News. BBC. 24 May 2001. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ Kelso, Paul (25 May 2001). "Man who garrotted his family gets life". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
- ^ Becquart, Charlotte (12 October 2021). "Murderer who killed family could be released in coming years". Cornwall Live. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ Dalton, Nia; Eve, Carl (14 April 2024). "Dad campaigning to ensure his family's killer is not released". Cornwall Live. Retrieved 18 August 2024.