LONDON (AP) — British police said Wednesday they have found a man suspected of brutally killing the wife and two daughters of a well-known BBC radio commentator with a crossbow near London.
Hertfordshire Police said in a statement that 26-year-old Kyle Clifford was found near his home in the Enfield area of north London and was being treated for injuries. Police did not say how he sustained the injuries but stressed no shots were fired.
The BBC has confirmed that the women killed were members of John Hunt’s family – his wife Carol Hunt, 61, and their two daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
The public was urged to avoid approaching Clifford while a search was underway in Enfield, about 32 miles (52 kilometers) east of the murder scene. The BBC reported that Clifford was due to leave the British Army after a short tour of duty in 2022.
“Following extensive enquiries a suspect has been located and no one else is being sought in connection with this investigation at this time,” Detective Inspector Justin Jenkins, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Serious Crime Unit, said.
“This continues to be an incredibly difficult time for the victim’s family and we ask that their privacy be respected as they come to terms with what has happened,” she added.
Mr Jenkins said the investigation was “fast track” and the victim had yet to be formally identified, adding that the “premature” release of her name had “caused significant upset”.
Police were searching a north London park near Clifford’s home after receiving a report of the murder at a house in Bushey, a residential area in northwest London, on Tuesday. Police and emergency services attempted to rescue him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
John Hunt is the main horseracing commentator for BBC 5 Live, the BBC’s flagship news and sports radio channel. His voice is known to millions through his world-famous commentary on the Grand National and the Derby.
Mr Hunt’s colleague, BBC 5 Live’s main presenter Mark Chapman, struggled to hold back tears as he conveyed the public’s shock and pain.
“Tonight we have the football match tonight, we’ll be starting the preparations for the match shortly but today has been a heartbreaking day,” he said at the start of 5 Live’s coverage of Wednesday’s Europa League semi-final between England and the Netherlands.
“John Hunt is a colleague and friend, not just to the current 5 Live Sports team, but to all who have worked with him here over the past 20 years and all who have enjoyed his fantastic commentary,” Chapman said. “So, on behalf of everyone associated with 5 Live Sports, our love, thoughts and support are with John and his family.”
According to reports from the Daily Mail and other sources, Hunt discovered the body early on Tuesday evening after returning home from a reporting session at Lingfield Park racecourse in south London.
Police have not said what or whether Clifford, from London, had any relationship with the women, but British media have reported he was a former boyfriend of one of the girls.
Detective Superintendent John Simpson suggested the attack was not random and the suspect knew the family.
Recounting his experience the previous night, local councillor Laurence Brass, who lives nearby, described the area as “quintessential leafy English suburbia”.
“Last night around eight o’clock I was watching football on TV and all of a sudden a helicopter landed on the lawn outside my apartment at the top of this road. Then my phone started ringing and I was told there was a major incident in Bushey and everyone should stay away as someone seemed to be on the run,” he told the BBC.
Britain’s new Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, said she had been “fully informed” of the “truly shocking” case.
In the UK, you do not need a licence to own a crossbow, but it is illegal to carry one in public without a valid reason.
A Home Office spokesman said Cooper would “promptly consider” the findings of a recently launched inquiry into whether further restrictions on crossbows should be introduced.
