Graham Backhouse

Case overview

Graham Backhouse was convicted of the murder of Bedale-Taylor and the attempted murder of his wife. He was sentenced to two life sentences and received life in prison on February 18, 1985.

The offence

Backhouse tried to kill his wife with a car bomb in order to claim her life insurance.

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 about 4,000 lead pellets. The bomb had been aimed upward through the driving seat.

After his wife had been injured from the car bomb, Backhouse suggested it was a friend of his. The police questioned this man but let him go. Backhouse later said it was Bedale-Taylor, who was also questioned and let go.

On the night of Bedale-Taylor’s death, Backhouse claimed that the man had entered the house and that they had had an argument. Backhouse said Bedale-Taylor had attacked him with a Stanley knife and that, in the struggle, Backhouse had grabbed his shotgun and shot his assailant.

What took place was described differently: Backhouse needed to continue his implication of Bedale-Taylor into the attempted murder of Mrs Backhouse, so he shot Bedale-Taylor in the chest at point-blank range. Backhouse then inflicted deep cuts to his face from ear to chin, which later needed 80 stitches, and he splattered blood around the house to make it look like there had been a struggle.

Investigation

Backhouse had staged threats to himself and his family in the form of letters, and a decapitated head of a sheep with the sign "YOU NEXT" attached. The police had been informed and investigated the alleged threats.

Forensic evidence was used to prove Backhouse’s guilt, including evidence from examining pathologist Dr William Kennard, who stated:

"if Backhouse's chest wound had been inflicted by someone else, he would have had to stand still, without resisting or protecting himself."

Other forensic points were used to challenge Backhouse’s account:

• The knife had been left in Bedale-Taylor’s hand, yet Backhouse’s own blood was all over his hand and not the knife, which would not have been the case if he had inflicted the wound before being shot.
• The blood splatters all over the floor were of the wrong shape. If there had been a struggle, the blood would have fallen in a distinctive exclamation mark shape; however they were round splashes, suggesting that Backhouse had been standing still when the blood had dripped.
• Some furniture had been knocked onto the floor, apparently during the struggle, but some of it had landed on top of the blood splatters. Also there was blood smeared on the top of one of these fallen chairs, apparently from Backhouse’s hand, but there was no blood on the gun.

Trial

Backhouse was found guilty of the murder of Bedale-Taylor and the attempted murder of his wife. He received two life sentences.

Sentencing

Backhouse was sentenced to life in prison on February 18, 1985.

Outcome

Backhouse’s convictions stood as a murder conviction and an attempted murder conviction, with two life sentences.

Other details

Bedale-Taylor was shot at point-blank range with a shotgun in Backhouse’s farmhouse in Horton, near Chipping Sodbury.