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Kill Total: |
1 |
Kill place: |
Chipping Sodbury |
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Kill date: |
9th April 1984 |
Victim(s): |
Colyn Bedale-Taylor |
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Date of Birth: |
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Marital Status: |
Married |
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AKA: |
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Occupation: |
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Backhouse attempted to
kill his wife with a bomb that was planted in the car. The
bomb consisted of two sections of metal pipe, threaded
with a detonator. The powder of 12 shotgun shells had been
used as the explosive and it had been packed with roughly
4,000 lead pellets. It had been aimed upward through the
driving seat.
Margaret Backhouse
climbed into the driver's seat of her Volvo on the 9th
April 1984. When Margaret, who lived at Widdenhall Farm,
near Chipping Sodbury, with her 44-year-old farmer
husband, turned the ignition key, the car exploded. She
was left with severe injuries to her buttocks and legs.
The police suspected that the intended victim was husband
Graham. He told officers that he was the victim of a hate
campaign and that a sheep's head had been stuck on a fence
at the farm along with a note that read 'You next.'
Backhouse was given 24-hour police protection. On 18th
April Backhouse requested that the 24-hour guard be
removed following the fitting of a 'panic button'. This
alarm system was connected to the local police station
and, on 30th April, it was activated.
When the police attended, it was to find the body of Colyn
Bedale-Taylor, the 63-year old neighbour of
Backhouse, who had died from a shotgun blast to the chest.
Clutched in his hand was a Stanley knife. A weeping
Backhouse was found lying in the lounge drenched in blood
from knife wounds to the face and chest. His story was
that Bedale-Taylor had arrived and told him that he had
come to repair some furniture. When being told that there
was no furniture to repair he had accused Backhouse of
being responsible for the death of his son in a car crash
in 1982. He then told Backhouse that he, Bedale-Taylor,
was responsible for planting the car bomb and attacked
Backhouse with the Stanley knife. Backhouse had run back
into the house and grabbed a gun. When Bedale-Taylor had
refused to back off, he had shot him.
Backhouse appeared at Bristol Crown Court in February 1985
charged with murder and attempted murder.
The forensic
investigation had shown that Backhouse's wounds had been
self-inflicted and that Bedale-Taylor could not have been
holding the knife when he died. His right palm was covered
with his own blood, which could only have happened after
he was shot and when he was not holding the knife. The
prosecution showed that Backhouse had debts of £70,000.
Until March 1984 his wife had life insurance cover of
£50,000 but this was increased by a similar amount. It was
alleged that Backhouse had tried to kill his wife for the
insurance money and, when that failed, had faked the
attack by Bedale-Taylor to shift police investigations
away from himself. The jury preferred the prosecution
version and, on Monday 19th February 1985, after nearly
six hours deliberation, found Backhouse guilty of
both charges. He was given two life sentences.
