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A campaign of harassment leaves a family fearing for their safety…

May 18, 2024 / 42:20

This episode covers the 1984 case of Graham Backhouse, a dairy farmer in Horton, England, who faced threats and violence leading to a shocking murder.

The episode begins with the discovery of a decapitated sheep's head on Backhouse's farm, accompanied by a threatening note. Following this, Backhouse and his family receive multiple threats, including a car bomb that injures his wife, Margaret. The police investigate the harassment and discover Backhouse's troubled past, including affairs and financial issues.

As the investigation unfolds, suspicion falls on Colin Bedale Taylor, a neighbor with whom Backhouse had a boundary dispute. The tension escalates, leading to a confrontation where Backhouse shoots Taylor, claiming self-defense. However, evidence suggests that Backhouse may have staged the attack.

Forensic analysis links Backhouse to the bomb, raising questions about his motives, particularly financial gain through life insurance. The episode details the trial where Backhouse is found guilty of murder and attempted murder, receiving two life sentences.

The episode concludes with the aftermath of the case, including the community's reaction and the tragic fates of both Backhouse and Taylor, highlighting the impact of the events on the village of Horton.

TLDR

Graham Backhouse orchestrates a bomb attack on his wife, leading to murder and his eventual conviction in a shocking case from 1984.

Episode

42:20
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cover a broader range of cases to receive these episodes early and add free you can support case file on your
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preferred platform the village of Horton is nestled on the edge of the rolling hillsides and Grassy
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Meadows that Define the cotswalds in Southwest England in 1984 Horton was home to about 250 residents most of them
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were farming families like the backhouses the owner operators of a dairy farm called whiten
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Hill 43-year-old patriarch Graham backous lived at the property with his wife and two young children he worked on
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the farm fulltime with the assistance of several Farm hands and herdsmen at 300 acres wooden Hill Farm
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was a decent size for a non-industrial operation to walk the entirety of the Farm's perimeter took at least 45
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minutes on Tuesday April 3 1984 one of the farm hands was conducting an inspection of whiten Hill's fence line
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when he came across a disturbing site impaled on a fence post was a freshly decapitated sheep's head pinned beneath
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it was a handwritten note containing two words you next [Music] when whiten Hill's owner Graham backous
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was informed about the gruesome Discovery he immediately knew that the message was directed at him over the
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last few weeks someone had made it clear they had a vendetta against Graham it started in
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mid-march Graham was sorting through the Farm's mail when a handwritten letter CAU his eye it was addressed to Graham
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specifically and read at last I have found you you have ruined my sister's life now you must
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pay the sender didn't elaborate any further nor did they reveal their identity Graham wasn't overly concerned
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about the letter as he had no idea what it could be alluding to he threw it in the
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bin days later The Farmhouse phone rang Graham answered the call on the other line was a man whose
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voice he didn't recognize it sounded like he was using a fake Irish or Scottish accent the caller threatened to blow
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Graham's balls off before hanging up the following week Graham received another mysterious phone
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call as soon as he heard the male voice he could tell it was the same Anonymous caller
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this time the man threatened Graham's family referring to his wife 37-year-old Margaret and their children 8-year-old
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Harry and 6-year-old Sophie by name Graham told Margaret about the letter and phone calls but otherwise
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kept the harassment to himself after the discovery of the slaughtered sheep and the explicit death
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threat left on their fence in April Graham could no longer dismiss the danger he contacted the
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police when officers arrived at whiten Hill neither Graham nor Margaret could offer any explanation as to why they had
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been targeted with no immediate leads police connected a recording device to the Farm's phone line should the mystery
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man call again police would at least have a recording of his threats in the meantime investigators
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sech for anyone who might hold a grudge against Graham back house they discovered he had a blemish
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to his name just over 10 years earlier Graham and his father Bill backous were convicted of stealing three young cows
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belonging to a neighboring farmer the judge described the theft as disgraceful and
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dishonorable the backous men were each fined 600 the equivalent of roughly £10,000 in today's money
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however police quickly dismissed the disgruntled farmer as a potential suspect in the recent
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harassment he passed away in 1977 after Graham's conviction for theft he spent the next decade rebuilding his
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reputation in Horton police inquiries revealed that the backhouses were considered a typical
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happy farming family who were well respected around [Music] town 6 days after after the discovery of
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the sheep's head on the morning of Monday April 9 Graham walked to the Farm's mailbox inside was a handwritten
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envelope addressed only to back house Graham immediately recognized the distinctive
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handwriting inside was a letter that read came twice last week but the pigs were
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about there was no name or signature at the bottom only the words see you soon later that morning Margaret backous
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needed to drive into town to pick up supplies from the vet Graham reminded Margaret that her Fiat was playing up so
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she should take his Volvo instead Margaret entered the barn next to The Farmhouse where her husband kept
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his vehicle she got into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition a great force of energy
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exploded from underneath the vehicle tearing a hole through the floor and ripping the driver's seat in
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half there was blood everywhere the tissue on Margaret's thighs and bcks had been blown to
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shreds she opened the car door and fell onto the ground managing to crawl her way out of the
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barn Michael cleverly was driving the local school bus past whiten Hill Farm when he noticed Margaret backous lying
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on the driveway desperately waving one hand in the air Michael stopped his bus and dashed to Margaret's Side school
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girl Susan wilky also jumped off the bus Susan lived on a nearby farm and knew the back houses she ran through wooden
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Hill shouting Graham Margaret's had an accident Graham emerged from the milking shed out of earshot of the blast when he
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saw Margaret's injuries he turned pale and began shaking he ran into The Farmhouse and
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called an ambulance before reemerging with a blanket that he lay over Margaret through pain and shock Margaret
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told Graham not to move or touch her Margaret was taken to hospital with severe injuries to her BS thigh and a
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lower back surgeons spent 7 hours removing deeply embedded shrapnel and did their best to salvage the remaining
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tissue meanwhile police sealed off whiten Hill an army bomb disposal unit was called in
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to clear the scene once it was deemed safe police explosive experts processed the wreckage
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of the Volvo little evidence of the explosion was visible from the car's exterior only the roof was slightly
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dented and a window pain cracked however when police opened the doors there was practically nothing left
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of the driver's side floor or seat Specialists determined that a homemade pipe bomb had been placed under
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the car beneath the driver's seat the bomb was made using a 10 cm long piece of Steel scaffolding pipe which had been
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screwed onto a cast iron collar the pipe had been packed with 42,000 lead pellets and gunpowder from
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up to 12 shotgun cartridges Margaret backous wouldn't have noticed anything out of the
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ordinary the bomb had been wired to the ignition and the fuse of a heating element that warmed up the driver's seat
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with the wiring concealed from view as soon as Margaret turned the Volvo's ignition the bomb
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exploded in any other car the explosion would have likely been fatal however the back House's Volvo was
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a particular model that had thinner more flexible floor panels and a solid heavy
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seat that was bolted to the frame the floor panels absorbed the vast majority of the bomb's impact and the
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seat sturdy construction acted like a safety cage these features had saved Margaret's
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Life One detective described the bomb to the Bristol Evening Post as a diabolical
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device placed by someone who has no consideration for human life Margaret backous was a fundraiser and
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local treasurer for the save the children charity it seemed highly unlikely that she'd run a fail of anyone
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in town given that grahan back house was the one who usually drove the Volvo police believed that he had been the
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intended target of the car bomb fearing for their safety Graham and Margaret's children were sent to stay with their
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grandmother Graham returned to whiten hill with a 24-hour police presence established to guard against any further
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attacks while Margaret recovered in hospital Graham attended the police station for an
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interview with the harasser delivering on their threats Graham knew it was time to
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talk contrary to what he'd previously told detectives Graham conceded there could be someone in the village who held
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a grudge against him he admitted he was having a boundary dispute with one of his
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neighbors detectives noted this information but deemed it an unlikely motive it was much more likely that the
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person responsible for the harassment and bomb held a more personal grievance against
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Graham with a little further prodding Graham made another confession during the 12 years he'd been
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married to Margaret he'd had multiple Affairs in the months leading up to the car bomb he'd had a drunken sexual
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encounter with a woman named Caroline hodkinson Caroline was the wife of Graham's good friend David who had been
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the best man at Graham and Margaret's wedding Graham admitted he'd also been having occasional sex with the 2
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24-year-old shepherdess named Jillian lipat Jillian lived on her family's Farm on the edge of Horton which overlooked
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whiten Hill according to Graham the two had been casually sleeping together for the
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last 9 years Graham denied having romantic feelings towards Jillian but said he was
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flattered by the attention from someone half his age Graham back House's infidelity
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confession didn't come as a complete surprise to police Horton was a small place rumors had already been
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circulating around town with one local telling the Sunday Times we all know each other very well some of
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us too well a Lover's Revenge quickly Rose to the top of the list for potential motives detectives considered whether
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Jillian lipc could be behind the bomb and harassment or maybe someone in the libat family was upset about Graham's
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sexual interest in Jillian her father was one of the best and most accomplished serial growers in
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the business and a popular personality in Horton he and his family had been close
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friends with the backhouses for more than a decade when questioned by police the
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members of the lipad family all denied responsibility for the car bomb as for the suggestion that she was
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having a sexual relationship with graham backous Jillian said it was a complete figment of Graham's
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imagination she called it extremely distasteful and denied any such contact saying her interactions with graham over
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the years had been very limited he occasionally helped her shear sheep or euthanize her injured animals
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but nothing sexual had ever occurred between them unsure what to make of this police
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turned their attention to the other woman Graham had admitted to being intimate with Caroline
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hodkinson they discovered that Caroline's husband David was an electrical engineer who had previously
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worked with explosives he'd also conducted repairs on Graham's Volvo in the past police arrived at the hodkinson
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house to question the couple only to find that David was in Spain and had been there since before the
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explosion however David's absence from the area on the day of the bomb didn't necessarily rule him out as a suspect as
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soon as he returned home he was promptly placed under arrest David hodkinson was held for
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questioning for 2 days but police couldn't find any evidence to connect him to the bomb and they had no choice
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but to release him 9 days after the explosion Graham backous insisted he no longer wanted the
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24-hour police presence at The Farmhouse he wanted the bomber to quote have another go while Margaret was still
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in hospital and the kids were safely staying elsewhere it seemed to be the only way
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to identify the person responsible and Graham believed the bomber was unlikely to strike while the police were
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there investigators reluctantly agreed but as a precaution they installed a panic button onto The Farmhouse phone
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providing a direct connection to the police weeks passed without incident having reached a dead end with
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the Lover's Revenge Theory police looked into the land dispute grahan back house
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claimed to be having with his neighbor Colin Bedale Taylor the 63-year-old former Army
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officer lived in a converted Cottage known as the gate house the cottage's driveway ran alongside the back fields
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of whiten Hill Farm according to Graham Colin had been denying him his legal right to use the
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driveway so that he could access the fields on Monday April 30 3 weeks after the bomb
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detectives visited the home of colum Bale Taylor and his wife also named Margaret the couple had lived in the
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gate house for over 20 years where they raised their four children when questioned about the
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boundary dispute Colin denied having any conflict with graham or anyone else involved with whiten Hill he claimed he
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and Margaret barely knew the backhouses Colin was later excused so that the detectives could speak candidly
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with his wife they then asked her about Colin's criminal convictions Margaret was blindsided she
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had no idea what the detectives were talking about they explained that Colin had been
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convicted twice for shoplifting after recovering from her shock Margaret explained that the last
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few years had been very difficult especially for Colin in 1981 Colin lost his job and
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fell into depression the following year Colin and Margaret's youngest son 19-year-old
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Digby was killed in a car accident the driver of the car was digby's friend Denzel
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Ward Denzel survived the crash and was charged with reckless driving but later cleared of any criminal
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liability he was eventually employed by Gram backous to do odd jobs at whiten Hill
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Colin's mental health suffered further each time he crossed paths with danzel despite these hardships Margaret
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assured the detectives that Colin had just started seeing a psychiatrist and was getting the help he
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needed during this discussion Colin busied himself in his Workshop as a way to pass time he had taken to restoring
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old furniture for people in the village eventually Colin put his tools down and popped his head inside the
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house Margaret was still speaking with the detectives Colin interrupted briefly to
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tell his wife that he was going to the backhouses but offered no explanation as to why neither She nor the detectives
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questioned it it was around Sunset as Colin Bedale tailor walked the short distance to
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whiten Hill Farm outside the place was quiet the workers had left for the day and there were no longer any police
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guarding the property lights were on inside The Farmhouse as Colin knocked on the front
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door 10 minutes later the sound of sirens pierced the air eight police cars and an ambulance
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sped up Horton Hill someone had raised the Panic alarm at whiten Hill officers entered the farmhouse to a
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confronting sight Graham backous was standing in the hallway dripping with blood the left side of his face had been
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slashed from ear to lip a long deep wound ran from his left shoulder across to his right
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hip beside him was a 12 gauge shotgun Colin Bedale Taylor lay dead on the hallway
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floor he had taken two shotgun blasts to the chest in his right hand was a Stanley
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knife Graham was swiftly taken to hospital where he underwent surgery to close his wounds the injury to his face
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alone required 50 stitches police kept a guard over both his room and Margaret's while the back
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House's children fled Horton with their grandparents to ensure their safety when Graham was able to speak
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police interviewed him at his bedside he told them that colum Bedale Taylor had knocked on The Farmhouse door
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Graham invited him inside and the two sat down at the kitchen table at first Colin inquired about
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Margaret's recovery then asked whether Graham had any old furniture that needed repair but the mood suddenly
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shifted Colin told grahe that God had sent him caught off guard by his comment Graham laughed which angered
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Colin he told Graham it was Blasphemous to laugh at God and that Graham would pay for
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it Colin's mood then quickly shifted again he became quiet and calm asking why did you kill my
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son Graham told colum that he didn't reminding him that Digby had died in a car accident it was then that Colin produced
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a Stanley knife and lunged at Graham shouting that he was doing God's work Colin slashed Graham across the
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face and chest in shock and bleeding heavily Graham managed to flee into the hallway he grabbed the 12gauge shotgun
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that had been leaning on the stairs and spun around to face his attacker Graham shouted for Colin to
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stop warning that he would shoot but Colin kept moving forward the Stanley knife
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raised Graham had no choice he fired two shots and Colin fell to the Floor 2 days after the shooting Graham
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back house was discharged from hospital he spent a few days with his mother before being permitted to return to
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whiten Hill later that week his wife Margaret was also discharged she had recovered from the
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bomb blast but still required crutches to move around Margaret traveled directly to her
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parents home in the West Midlands to be reunited with her children with Colin Bedale Taylor Dad
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after being identified as the back House's harasser it seemed to be an open and shut
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case but investigators weren't so sure [Music] when Graham backous had been recovering
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from his injuries police conducted a grid search of col Bale Taylor's property as one officer was scanning the
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front garden a flash of metal in the grass caught his eye upon closer inspection the officer
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realized it was a piece of scaffolding pipe it looked remarkably similar to the one used in the back House's Car
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Bomb the two pipes were examined under micros Scope when compared markings caused by a hacka on the end of each
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matched up this provided a direct link between colum Bale Taylor and the bomb but there was something about the
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pipe's location that didn't seem right the grass underneath it hadn't withered and it was barely flattened by
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the weight of the pipe it appeared that the pipe had only been in the grass for a day or
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two this raised the question why would Colin relocate the pipe 3 weeks after the bomb and why leave it in a place
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where it could be so easily found police began to consider the possibility that Colin Bedale Taylor
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hadn't touched the pipe at all he'd been framed following the explosion that nearly killed Margaret backous one of
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the whiten Hill Farm hands had told police he recalled hearing noises coming from an out building a few days before
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the bomb went off at the time the farmhand thought he was the only person on the
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premises he went to investigate the noise only to find Gran back house cutting a length of pipe with a
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hacksaw school girl Susan wilky had been one of the first on the scene after the
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car bomb went off Susan told detectives that when she ran to tell Graham that Margaret had been
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injured she never mentioned anything about a bomb or an explosion Graham couldn't have heard the
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explosion from the milking shed and he didn't enter The Barn at the time yet when he phoned for the
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ambulance he specifically told the operator that his wife had been injured in an
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explosion the person who installed the car bomb had to be familiar with the particular model of Volvo
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they would have also needed extended access to the vehicle in order to fit the device grah and backous ticked both of
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these boxes throughout their investigations detectives had remained open to the possibility that gram was involved in
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the attack but there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime and by all accounts Graham and Margaret had a
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happy and loving relationship it seemed much more likely that someone else was responsible and as
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such they directed their inquiries elsewhere after Colin Bedale Taylor's death several more questions were
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raised Graham told officers that Colin had slashed him with the Stanley knife while the two were in the
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kitchen but when forensic investigators analyzed the crime scene they found no cast off blood spatter on the walls
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floor or Furniture as would be expected instead round drops of blood were grouped together in several
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locations on the kitchen floor some of the blood drops were found underneath the upturned kitchen chairs
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while smears of blood were also found on the back rest of each chair after being injured Graham claimed
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to have fled the kitchen and stumbled into the hallway to grab his shotgun however there was no trail of
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blood leading between these two locations and not a drop of blood on the shotgun droplets of blood matching
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Graham's blood type were also found on Colin's body with the blood evidence raising
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more questions than answers investigators turned to the threatening letters that Graham backous had received
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a handwriting expert compared the notes to a sample of colum Bale Taylor's handwriting the lettering was completely
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different the notes were then compared to the handwriting of Graham back house this
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time the similarities were significant on the death thread accompanying the sheep's head the words
00:27:42
you next had been scrolled on a piece of lined notebook paper some of the Sheep's blood had
00:27:49
seeped into the paper but analysts were still able to make out an imprint on the
00:27:53
back of the page it was a complex spiral shaped doodle when police were collecting evidence
00:28:01
from the whiten Hill Farmhouse after column was shot They seized the small lined notebook from Graham's study the
00:28:09
paper was of a similar size to the UN next note investigators flicked through the
00:28:15
pages until something caught their eye drawn in pen was the exact same spiral shaped to
00:28:25
Doodle with this evidence emerging investigators grew confident that Gran backous had planted the bomb with the
00:28:32
intention of killing his wife failing to do so he framed colum Bedale Taylor for
00:28:39
the crime the question was [Music] why Graham's Financial records revealed that he had inherited whiten Hill Farm
00:28:54
from his father bill in 1979 at the time the farm was a profitable business renowned for producing Champion
00:29:03
dairy cows in an attempt to increase the Farm's Revenue Graham tried his hand at
00:29:09
growing cereal crops on some of the excess land but the crops were quickly ravaged
00:29:15
by the plant disease known as take all and the Venture failed unlike his father Graham was not
00:29:23
an astute businessman over the next four years he mismanaged the dairy farm and it began
00:29:30
to lose money by the end of 1983 the farm was 70,000 in debt Graham had run it into
00:29:39
the ground a search of the backous personal records revealed that Graham and Margaret had recently applied to double
00:29:48
the payout on their life insurance policies in the event of Margaret's death Graham stood to receive 00,000
00:29:58
only days after the application was made the so-called campaign of threats against Graham
00:30:05
began on Thursday April 5 1984 the new life insurance policies were approved 4 days later Margaret
00:30:15
unwittingly detonated the car bomb having failed in his plot to kill his wife investigators believed that
00:30:23
Graham backous was faced with two problems the first first was that he still needed to pay off his crippling
00:30:31
debt inquiries with his insurance company revealed that in the week after the explosion Graham submitted a claim
00:30:38
on Margaret's behalf given that she'd survived they weren't entitled to the full 00,000
00:30:45
but Margaret's serious injuries would have warranted at least some amount of compensation Graham's second larger
00:30:55
problem was that he needed to deflect suspicion away from himself in addition to coming clean
00:31:01
about his legitimate infidelities he fabricated an affair with the Jillian lipat he also concocted a boundary
00:31:10
dispute with Colin badale Taylor these admissions opened up several lines of Investigation all
00:31:18
painting Graham as a target for someone's grievance police believed that Graham's
00:31:24
plan was to frame someone else and then kill that person himself citing self-defense in preparation he dismissed
00:31:33
the 24-hour police guard for the next stage of his plan Graham needed to lure one of the
00:31:41
possible targets to The Farmhouse by Monday April 30 Graham had settled on Colin Bedale
00:31:51
Taylor that afternoon Graham invited Colin over to whiten Hill likely under the pretex of doing some furniture
00:31:59
restoration work police were called to the farm within 10 minutes of Colin leaving his
00:32:06
home investigators therefore concluded that Graham had opened fire on Colin almost immediately after he set foot
00:32:14
inside Colin was shot twice in the chest forensics revealed that the second shot had been fired as Colin was falling
00:32:23
backwards or lying flat on the floor disputing Graham's claim of self-defense Graham then set about
00:32:32
staging the crime scene and making it look like he'd been attacked the wounds to Graham's face and
00:32:39
body were continuous slices indicating that he was standing very still when the injuries
00:32:45
occurred no defensive Cuts were found on his hands or arms a forensic expert concluded that
00:32:52
Graham's injuries were self-inflicted after flashing his own face and torso police believed that
00:33:01
Graham Lent over Colin's body and placed the Stanley knife in his right hand this
00:33:06
explained why drops of Graham's blood were found on Colin's body it also explained why Colin was still holding
00:33:14
the knife had he really been wielding the knife at Graham investigators believed Colin would have dropped it
00:33:20
after being shot the round drops of Blood on the kitchen floor and the contact blood on
00:33:28
the back rest of the chairs indicated that Graham then walked around the room upturning the chairs to make it look
00:33:34
like a struggle had taken place only when Graham was satisfied with the scene did he hit the panic
00:33:41
button and wait for the police 12 days after the shooting and almost 5 weeks after the car bomb Graham
00:33:54
backous joined his family in the Midlands for the day when he returned home to whiten Hill
00:34:00
that evening detectives paid him a visit Graham backous was arrested and charged
00:34:06
with the murder of colum Bedale Taylor and the attempted murder of Margaret backous he was held in remand awaiting
00:34:15
trial shortly after prison guards confiscated a letter addressed to local newspaper the Bristol Evening Post as it
00:34:23
was being smuggled out of the prison penned by an anonymous writer the letter read in
00:34:31
part them three letters in the back house bomb case I wrote him Colin Bale Taylor made me he said it was God's work
00:34:40
because back house was a wicked man Colin never said anything about any bomb until afterwards I would not have
00:34:48
done it if he had said I told Colin that God would punish him and now he is dead God has forgiven
00:34:57
me I don't trust pigs that is why I write to you please help police knew immediately who wrote
00:35:08
The Letter A few days earlier Graham backous had written to his wife Margaret claiming that the police had framed him
00:35:17
he was desperate to quote get out of this hell hole grahe revealed his plan to write an
00:35:24
anonymous letter to a newspaper to make people believe that someone else was responsible for the
00:35:30
bomb Graham boasted that he could write the letter well enough to throw the police case into
00:35:36
confusion he just needed Margaret to send him more writing materials Graham concluded I know it is wrong of me to
00:35:45
ask you to do this but I am innocent I have no one else to turn to you are my only hope I love
00:35:55
you Margaret didn't follow through Drew on Graham's request instead she handed the letter to the
00:36:02
police the handwriting on the Bristol Evening Post letter was analyzed by an expert leaving no doubt that it had been
00:36:10
written by Graham [Music] backous Graham's trial commenced in January 1985 he pleaded not guilty to both
00:36:21
charges and testified to his innocence on the stand the prosecutor told the court that
00:36:28
grahan backous intended to kill his wife Margaret in order to pay his debts with
00:36:32
her life insurance money he said that Graham's crimes were carefully planned quite deliberate and
00:36:39
carried out in Cold Blood Margaret backous sobbed quietly in the public Gallery each day as the
00:36:47
evidence against her husband was laid out Graham denied this version of events he maintained his story about being
00:36:57
ambushed by colum Bale Taylor saying he'd feared for his life during the attack in his closing statement the
00:37:06
prosecutor told the jury that they simply needed to decide who was the villain in the case was it Colin Bedale
00:37:13
Taylor or Graham backous when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision the judge
00:37:21
permitted a majority verdict 90 minutes later with a majority of 10 to2 the jury found Graham backous guilty on
00:37:31
both counts Graham began shaking in the dock as he was given two life sentences the judge
00:37:41
concluded you are a devious and Wicked Man the enormity of the crime that you have committed is very grave not content
00:37:50
with trying to kill a wife who according to your own evidence loved you and had done you no wrong you then set about
00:37:58
cold-bloodedly to plot and kill your neighbor who had never done you any harm and whom you barely
00:38:05
[Music] knew outside Court Horton locals spoke of their relief at the verdict one woman told
00:38:16
reporters there has been a cloud hanging over us since the car bomb but now we hope the village can get back to
00:38:25
normal Jillian lipat the Graham claimed to be having an ongoing affair with said back house goes down as another
00:38:34
liar he has not said one word of truth in court Margaret backous requested privacy
00:38:42
for herself and her family despite the trauma that The Farmhouse represented Margaret and her
00:38:48
children continued to live at whiten Hill until it was sold 6 months later the property eventually became a
00:38:56
horse boarding stable and writing estate supported by the community Margaret remained close to
00:39:03
Horton the following year her divorce from Graham was finalized with the court readily agreeing with the grounds of
00:39:11
unreasonable behavior in 1994 less than 10 years into his sentence Graham backous was playing
00:39:20
Cricket in the prison exercise yard when he suffered a heart attack he died 3 days later
00:39:29
the following year 48-year-old Margaret backous passed away from cancer she was survived by her two
00:39:37
teenage children Colin Bedale Taylor had been a man of the people in addition to his
00:39:45
furniture restoration work he had served as a chairman on the Village Hall committee and had helped draw plans to
00:39:51
rebuild the Community Hall just the day before he was killed Colin had a to become a sidesman at The
00:39:58
Village Church a role that would entail handing out hym books and showing people
00:40:03
to their seats that same day he had erected a handmade wooden sign outside the local
00:40:10
school which was facing budget cuts so that its name could be proudly displayed the church Rector described
00:40:19
Colin as a quiet man who was full of fun in the wake of Graham's conviction he expressed relief that Colin name had
00:40:27
been completely cleared another villager told the Western Daily Press Colin was a good friend to a lot
00:40:36
of people and had done many kindnesses he will be tremendously missed by the whole
00:40:44
village 6 weeks after Colin's murder nearly every resident of Horton crammed into the small Village Church to attend
00:40:52
his funeral referring to the large number of attendees one locals said the people of Horton will say with
00:41:00
their feet what they cannot say with their mouths about the death of Colin Colin was laid to rest next to his
00:41:09
beloved Son Digby in the weeks that followed plans were made to erect a plark in Colin's
00:41:16
honor a community spokesperson told the Bristol Evening Post we don't want to remember him as a
00:41:24
murdered man but as someone who has done a lot of work in the village for [Music]
00:41:44
[Music] years for

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most shocking
  • 90
    Most unpredictable
  • 85
    Most dramatic
  • 85
    Most surprising

Episode Highlights

  • The Disturbing Discovery
    A farmhand finds a decapitated sheep's head with a threatening note.
    “You next”
    @ 02m 09s
    May 18, 2024
  • The Car Bomb Explosion
    Margaret Backous survives a horrific car bomb explosion intended for her husband.
    “There was blood everywhere.”
    @ 07m 08s
    May 18, 2024
  • A Deadly Confrontation
    Graham Backous shoots Colin Bedale Taylor after a violent encounter.
    “Colin lunged at Graham shouting that he was doing God's work.”
    @ 21m 32s
    May 18, 2024
  • Graham Backous Found Guilty
    Graham Backous was found guilty of murder and attempted murder, receiving two life sentences.
    “You are a devious and wicked man.”
    @ 37m 41s
    May 18, 2024
  • Community Mourning for Colin
    Colin Bedale Taylor's funeral saw nearly every resident of Horton in attendance, showcasing the community's love.
    “Colin was a good friend to a lot of people.”
    @ 40m 36s
    May 18, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • You have ruined my sister's life now you must pay.
    A campaign of harassment leaves a family fearing for their safety…
  • I wanted the bomber to have another go while Margaret was still in hospital.
    A campaign of harassment leaves a family fearing for their safety…
  • It was blasphemous to laugh at God and that Graham would pay for it.
    A campaign of harassment leaves a family fearing for their safety…
  • You are a devious and wicked man.
    A campaign of harassment leaves a family fearing for their safety…
  • There has been a cloud hanging over us since the car bomb.
    A campaign of harassment leaves a family fearing for their safety…
  • Colin was a good friend to a lot of people.
    A campaign of harassment leaves a family fearing for their safety…

Key Moments

  • Threatening Letters03:08
  • Car Bomb Incident07:08
  • Violent Confrontation21:32
  • Graham's Arrest34:04
  • Trial Begins36:17
  • Verdict Delivered37:28
  • Community Grieves40:47

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown