Case 356: Lesley Howell & Trevor Buchanan

In May 1991, Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan were found dead in a garage in Northern Ireland, apparently the victims of a tragic suicide pact. For almost two decades, that was the accepted truth. Then, in 2009, an unexpected series of events led to the exposure of a murder plot that had remained hidden in plain sight for eighteen years. --- Narration – Anonymous Host https://www.instagram.com/caseys.snaps/ Research & writing – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas http://mikemigas.com/ Audio editing – Anthony Telfer Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/casefile-true-crime/id998568017?ign-itscg=30200S&ign-itsct=casefile_podcastsSpotify Premium https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/9gSwcv7USsbPatreon https://www.patreon.com/casefileFor all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-356-lesley-howell-trevor-buchanan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website.

• 2:20Speaker 00

  Dear Colin, I'm just going to sleep now. For how long, I don't know. Thank you for your help over the past few days and for the good times in our marriage. I don't know what to say to you because I don't know how I feel, but I have seen that life goes on after a few weeks of pain. And, let's face it Colin, I am nothing in comparison to what you lost in the one you loved a while back. If I wake up in the morning, just let this be our secret. Leslie.

• 3:21Speaker 00

  On the morning of Sunday, May 19, 1991, in the Northern Irish town of Colrain, Jim Flanagan received a phone call. On the other line was Colin Howell, a good friend and fellow parishioner at the Colrain Baptist Church where Jim was an elder.

• 3:40Speaker 00

  Colin was worried about his wife, 31-year-old Leslie. According to Colin, Leslie had left abruptly during the night and hadn't been in contact since. He suspected where she was, but couldn't check himself as he was at home with their four children, ranging in age from a few months old to six, and had no one else to look after them.

• 4:04Speaker 00

  Colin believed Leslie might have gone to the home of her recently deceased father in the small coastal village of Castle Rock, about a 15-minute drive from Colrain. The loss had affected Leslie deeply, and she had been struggling emotionally as a result. As a church elder who provided personal support to members of the congregation, Jim Flanagan agreed to visit the Castle Rock residence to look for Leslie. When he arrived, he walked around the outside of the property, but it didn't appear that anyone else was there. He looked through a window into the garage and spotted a Renault Savannah hatchback reverse parked inside.

• 4:45Speaker 00

  The car belonged to the Howell family, but Leslie was nowhere to be seen.

• 4:52Speaker 00

  Jim went to see Colin Howell in person to report his findings. Colin was growing increasingly anxious about the situation. He revealed that Leslie had been drinking the night before, and that he had contacted local police stations and hospitals to see if she might have been involved in an accident. Nothing had been reported. Now the family's Renault was found at Castle Rock, yet Leslie was still missing.

• 5:21Speaker 00

  Colin suspected that she might be with a man named Trevor Buchanan. Jim knew Trevor well. He was a 32-year-old police officer who resided in Colrain with his wife and two young children. Not only was he a long-time member of the Baptist Church, but Colin had also previously confided in Jim that Leslie had been having an affair with Trevor for some time.

• 5:47Speaker 00

  Jim was expected at a church service that morning. Before he left the Howell home, Colin showed him a message written on a crumpled piece of paper. Leslie was a prolific writer who enjoyed penning letters to friends and family. The letter was clearly written by her, but her normally small and neat handwriting was messier than usual. Addressed to Colin, it spoke of Leslie's intention to go to sleep for an undetermined amount of time. She thanked her husband for his help recently and for the good times that they had shared during their marriage. She assured him that, after a few weeks of pain, his life would go on.

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  The letter ended, "If I wake up in the morning, just let this be our secret."

• 6:38Speaker 00

  To Jim Flanagan, the letter came across as a kind of farewell. However, he didn't feel qualified enough to say for certain that it was a suicide note.

• 6:50Speaker 00

  After Jim left for church, Colin Howell called another friend from the parish, Derek McCauley, and asked him to come over. While speaking with Derek, Colin revealed more details about the night before. He admitted that Trevor Buchanan had come to the Howell home and they had gotten into a physical altercation. It appeared to have been brief and not particularly violent, as Derek didn't notice any visible scratches, bruises, or blood on Colin that would suggest a serious fight had taken place. Though, he did have a bump on his head. Colin said that, after the fight, Trevor had left the house with Leslie.

• 7:32Speaker 00

  She had taken the keys to her father's house in Castle Rock, which was why Colin suspected that was where she had gone. Colin also showed Derek the letter Leslie had written to him, although Derek didn't pay much attention to it.

• 7:50Speaker 00

  Despite having already sent Jim Flanagan without result, Colin asked that Derek McCauley to check the Castle Rock house for Leslie. Derek was uncomfortable with the request. He was aware that Trevor Buchanan was a police officer involved in an extramarital affair with Leslie. Tensions were running high, as Trevor had apparently been involved in a physical altercation with Colin hours earlier. Derek was concerned that if he arrived unannounced at the Castle Rock house, Trevor, who could be carrying his service pistol, might shoot him. Despite his concerns, Derek eventually agreed to make the visit.

• 8:32Speaker 00

  When he arrived, he checked the front door and found it closed but unlocked. Derek pushed the door open and called out, making a point to identify himself to ensure Trevor didn't mistake him for Colin Howell. He added, "Trevor, you know the drama is over now." There was no response. Derek entered the house and began checking each room cautiously, fearing that Trevor might be lying in wait somewhere. After finding the house empty and otherwise normal, he went out to check the garage. Through the window, Derek saw the Howells' Renault parked inside.

• 9:16Speaker 00

  It looked unusually dirty. There didn't appear to be anyone in or around the vehicle, but Derek thought he could smell gas. He left to speak with Colin Howell, who was shocked to learn that Derek hadn't found Leslie or Trevor at Castle Rock either, repeatedly exclaiming, "They were there." The only thing Derek could report on was the smell of gas he thought he had noticed around the garage. Colin reached out to church elder Jim Flanagan once again, asking him to return to Castle Rock for a second time to conduct a third search. Jim agreed.

• 9:57Speaker 00

  After church, he left with another parishioner who happened to be an off-duty police detective. The two men knocked on the front door and several windows, but nothing stirred within. They found a back door leading into the kitchen wide open with a ceiling light on inside. They entered and examined each room, but there was still no sign of Leslie or Trevor. Jim then headed out to the garage to check it again. This time, he lifted the roller door open.

• 10:34Speaker 00

  An overwhelming odor of exhaust fumes escaped along with a small amount of smoke. The Renault's engine was no longer running, but Jim noticed a garden hose attached to the exhaust pipe led into the car. Inside the vehicle, he discovered Trevor Buchanan's body slumped low in the driver's seat with one of his legs caught in the door. Jim called out to his companion and continued examining the vehicle. He soon spotted Leslie Howell's body through a window into the back. She was wearing a headset of her handheld cassette player with family photographs laid out beside her. Neither Trevor nor Leslie had a pulse.

• 11:22Speaker 00

  Autopsies confirmed that the pair had died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The findings were consistent with the scene at Castle Rock. It appeared Trevor had driven Lesley to the house and parked the Renault inside the garage. The hose was then attached to the car’s exhaust pipe with the other end fed into the vehicle. The pair then remained inside the running vehicle with the garage door closed, allowing carbon monoxide to accumulate until they lost consciousness and died.

• 11:56Speaker 00

  Lesley and Trevor appeared otherwise, normal and healthy, with no signs of violence or other suspicious injuries. Trevor had no alcohol in his system, while Lesley had a small amount. Further tests carried out on Lesley revealed the presence of three different types of prescription sedatives commonly used to treat depression and anxiety. All three drugs were present at levels considered to be within the therapeutic range.

• 12:26Speaker 00

  Based on these findings, the pathologist concluded that neither the alcohol nor the sedatives had contributed to Lesley’s death. Given there were no signs of foul play, it appeared that both deaths were the result of some sort of suicide pact. Investigators were left to determine what could have driven Lesley and Trevor to such desperate lengths. Lesley and Trevor were a part of the same close-knit social circle within their shared church congregation. Many within had heard rumours of their affair, and there were reports that church leaders had attempted to intervene.

• 13:05Speaker 00

  Within Baptist teaching, adultery is regarded as a serious violation of the sacred covenant of marriage and a major sin against one’s spiritual commitment to Christ and the Church. While counselling, discipline and forgiveness might be offered to those who repent, Lesley and Trevor’s affair seemingly persisted. Some believed that the decision to take their lives together was driven by feelings of humiliation and shame. Perhaps as word of their sins spread, they feared they would be rejected by their faith-based community.

• 13:42Speaker 00

  Whatever the reason, the act was nevertheless shocking, especially for Trevor Buchanan’s friends and family. Because he hadn’t left a note or any other form of farewell, they were left to wonder whether there had been warning signs that they had failed to recognise. But no matter how hard they tried to make sense of it, the circumstances didn’t add up. There had been nothing obvious in Trevor’s demeanour, words or behaviour in the weeks before his death to suggest that he was suicidal, and he had generally been regarded as mentally stable. By all accounts, he loved his wife, children, parents, siblings and job, making it difficult for those who knew him

• 14:25Speaker 00

  to reconcile that he would willingly leave them all behind. As a deeply religious man who was heavily involved in his church, it was also hard to imagine that Trevor would choose to take his life, particularly within a faith that viewed suicide as an act contrary to God’s commandments. At the same time, Baptist teaching held that suicide wasn’t an unpardonable sin and didn’t automatically condemn a believer to hell. Maybe, Trevor’s loved ones thought, this understanding offered him some measure of reassurance as he came to terms with his decision. But their confusion was amplified by the scene itself.

• 15:09Speaker 00

  It appeared that Trevor might have had second thoughts about dying. His right knee was found caught in the joint of the driver’s side door, suggesting that he had attempted to escape the vehicle but was overcome by the toxic fumes before he could do so. Stranger still, the driver’s side window was left wide open, which seemed unusual given that it would have prevented the fumes from effectively filling the vehicle.

• 15:37Speaker 00

  In contrast, Lesley Howell appeared to have been accepting of her fate. In addition to the shrine of personal mementos arranged around her and the gospel music she had been listening to, there were reports that she appeared to have a faint smile on her face after death. This led some to wonder whether Lesley had coerced Trevor into dying with her, only for him to struggle to fully commit in the final moments. Alternatively, she might have persuaded him to help her end her life, only for him to become trapped while attempting to get away.

• 16:14Speaker 00

  The notion that Lesley had lost the will to live was not entirely unsurprising among her friends and family. Many had noticed that the normally energetic and outgoing woman had become increasingly withdrawn and was struggling to cope in recent years. The devastating loss of her parents had only deepened her grief and sadness. There were also circumstances that had, in the words of one friend, made carrying on with everyday life a tremendous effort for Lesley.

• 16:49Speaker 00

  Lesley first met Colin Howell at a church gathering. Both had been raised as staunch Baptists, a denomination within the Protestant Christian tradition. Baptists regard the Bible as the ultimate and infallible guide for life, while salvation is understood as a free gift from God received through personal faith rather than earned through good works or religious rituals. Baptist churches are generally autonomous, governing themselves through a congregational structure instead of a centralised hierarchy or system of bishops. At the time, Lesley was training to become a nurse. Described as attractive, warm-hearted and friendly,

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  she was rarely short of something thoughtful to say and was the kind of person everyone naturally liked. She also attracted plenty of male attention. So when she accepted Colin’s invitation to a formal at the university where he was studying dentistry, he was thrilled. It marked the pair’s first official date. They soon travelled overseas together, a holiday that strengthened their feelings for one another. They married in July 1983.

• 18:08Speaker 00

  Afterwards, Colin’s career in dentistry flourished. A clinic he worked for in Colraine eventually became one of the largest in Northern Ireland with around 35,000 patients on its books. Meanwhile, he impressed the elders at the Colraine Baptist Church, where his confidence, energy and commitment earned him an appointment as a leader of the youth fellowship. The church and its community became a significant part of both Colin and Lesley’s lives. While the Howell marriage began happily, things took a turn for Lesley once she became a mother. Colin and Lesley’s first child was born in October 1984, prompting Lesley to put her career on hold

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  so she could remain at home to care for their baby.

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  Compared with the demanding but rewarding work she had known as a nurse, she found domestic life boring, lonely and unsatisfying.

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  Colin offered her little understanding. He was described as a single-minded misogynist who held very traditional views, believing that a wife’s place was in the home while it was his duty as a man to go out and provide for his family.

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  Unlike the compliant, orderly and dutiful women within their church, Lesley didn’t conform to Colin’s expectations of a wife. He took issue with her failure to keep the house tidy, her poor management of the household finances and the occasions when she left him to care for their baby so she could have time to herself. Still, they were not the type to argue or fight, at least not in front of others.

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  In a letter to a friend, Lesley admitted: “I don’t honestly think that I am a born housewife.”

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  Colin also grew irritated by Lesley’s sarcasm, believing that she took pleasure in belittling him. These feelings were exacerbated by others remarking that Lesley was too good for him. For her part, Lesley resented what she saw as Colin’s arrogant and manipulative nature.

• 20:24Speaker 00

  During Lesley’s second pregnancy, her mother suffered a series of serious illnesses. She died ten weeks before Lesley gave birth in November 1986. In the aftermath, Lesley displayed symptoms consistent with postpartum depression, though she was never formally diagnosed by a professional. Her third pregnancy occurred within an equally difficult and stressful period. Colin had thrown himself into establishing his own dental clinic, a decision that reflected his tendency to act impulsively and without careful consideration of the risks. Colin self-admitted that he was never good at handling money, and he faced significant

• 21:07Speaker 00

  financial difficulties as he tried to get his clinic established. Despite this, he decided it was also the right time to purchase a larger and more expensive family home. Before long, the Howells had run out of money, and there was a very real fear that Colin would become bankrupt. Their new home was a fixer-upper, but money was so tight that they couldn’t even afford to carpet the concrete floors. Their third child was born in May 1989. As the primary caregiver to three young children in an unfinished, poorly-equipped and unpleasant home, Lesley struggled to cope.

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  The following month, Lesley discovered she was pregnant again, something she found difficult to accept. While there was no doubt that she loved all of her children, the prospect of raising another newborn at a time when she was struggling mentally and financially was difficult to look forward to. She was at a point where she couldn’t even withdraw money from the bank to cover the family’s daily expenses. Things were so dire that, behind her back, Colin had put their new home on the market and was looking for someone to take over his fledgling business. Lesley’s distress was compounded when she discovered that, shortly after the birth

• 22:32Speaker 00

  of their third child, Colin had embarked on a month-long affair with an old university friend. At least one person close to the couple was left with the impression that Lesley was contemplating ending her marriage then and there. Colin was reluctant to consider divorce, given his religious convictions and standing within the church. He feared how their friends and fellow congregants might react. Within their church community, divorce was not viewed favourably, with forgiveness and reconciliation strongly encouraged instead. While the Howells vowed to move past the betrayal, things were never quite the same between them.

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  Lesley was left heartbroken, while Colin appeared unburdened by any sense of shame or guilt. Not long afterwards, he embarked on another affair. Hazel Buchanan worked as an assistant at the nursery school attended by one of Colin and Lesley Howell’s children. She was also a fellow member of the Colraine Baptist Church and a patient at Colin’s dental practice. Hazel lived with her husband, Trevor, and their two young children. In many ways, Hazel was seen as the opposite of Lesley. She was described as sheltered, shy, impressionable, and lacking in confidence.

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  She was also considered a dutiful wife and mother. In 1990, while Lesley was heavily pregnant with their third child, Colin and Hazel began an affair. Hazel would later claim that she became romantically involved with Colin Howell because of the isolation she felt while living away from her family support network. She had never felt settled in Colraine and struggled to connect with the local community, partly because of her quiet nature and difficulty socialising. She also said that her husband, Trevor, accompanied her on almost every outing, implying that he was controlling and possessive of her.

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  But those who knew the couple described Trevor differently. They asserted that Hazel took the dominant role in their marriage, and Trevor was firmly under her control. This was evident when Trevor went to a friend’s house to offer comfort following the deaths of two colleagues. He had only just arrived when Hazel called and demanded that he return home. Despite his friends’ protests, Trevor did as his wife told him. To others, Trevor adored Hazel. From the day they married, he was a devoted husband, in awe of his wife and immensely proud of her.

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  He doted on her and sought to give her everything she could want, including a beautiful home, expensive furnishings, and holidays. Yet, some felt that nothing Trevor did was ever enough for Hazel. Her expensive tastes placed considerable strain on their finances. When money was tight, Trevor was forced to deny her things, which left her dissatisfied. To those around them, Hazel’s priorities centred on her own wants rather than the needs of her family. Hazel said it wasn’t until she began working at the nursery school that she gained a greater sense of independence.

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  She began forming friendships with other young mothers, including Lesley Howell. The experience helped to build her confidence and gave her a stronger sense of identity outside the home. As she became more independent, she said arguments with Trevor increased. She believed he resented the fact that she no longer depended on him as much. Their relationship became marked by poor communication and a lack of emotional closeness. To Hazel, Colin Howell’s charming, passionate, and intellectual personality was the opposite of Trevor’s. It was this contrast that drew her to him.

• 26:47Speaker 00

  Colin and Hazel met privately on many occasions, at the Buchanan home, during church events, at Colin’s dental clinic, in surrounding towns, and even in the woods. The pair were careful around others, taking precautions not to give the impression that anything suspicious was going on between them. Almost everyone was convinced by their deception at first, except Trevor. He suspected something was amiss from the moment Colin began visiting his house under the guise of teaching Hazel to play the guitar. While Trevor never witnessed anything untoward, others noticed that he appeared unusually anxious and agitated during this period.

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  One day, a church elder spotted Colin and Hazel meeting alone at the entrance of a forest park outside town. Although he didn’t see anything problematic, he was a close friend of Trevor Buchanan’s and later confronted Colin about the meeting. Colin denied that he was having an affair, but suspicions were starting to grow. Even Lesley, who had just given birth to their fourth child, sensed that her husband was becoming distant and was straying from their marriage again. She noticed coins in his jogging trousers and deduced that he had been using a payphone to call someone while claiming to be out running.

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  On another occasion, she overheard him speaking quietly on the telephone, arranging to meet a woman. Colin planned a weekend away with a male friend, claiming that the strain in his marriage had prompted him to get out of the house. Although his friend corroborated his account, Lesley couldn’t shake the feeling that the trip never took place. She was right. Colin had spent the night with Hazel Buchanan. Lesley confided about her fears that her husband was being unfaithful to her pastor, John Hansford. Pastor John confronted Colin, but he continued to deny everything.

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  John then approached Hazel, who initially refused to admit the truth as well. Eventually, she tearfully confessed to the affair, though she gave the impression that it had only recently begun, when it had been going on for some time. Pastor John confronted Colin again, this time with Lesley present. Realising that the truth was out, Colin was apologetic. He admitted that while his friendship with Hazel had been inappropriate, he maintained that they had never been sexually intimate. Pastor John then went to the Buchanan home and broke news of the affair to Trevor.

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  He was visibly affected by his wife’s betrayal, appearing tense and overwhelmed by embarrassment, humiliation, and shame. As a result of their affair, Colin Howell was forced to resign from all of his church responsibilities, while Hazel Buchanan was no longer permitted to teach Sunday School. Both were barred from taking communion and, for a time, weren’t allowed to attend the same services. The Howell and Buchanan families were also instructed to have no contact with one another. As both couples wished to keep the matter private and were willing to undergo counselling,

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  it was decided that the wider congregation wouldn’t be informed of the affair. Still, both Lesley and Colin ended up confiding in close friends about it, and it quickly became a hot topic of gossip. During church counselling, Hazel was an open book. She came across as naive and out of her depth when it came to Colin, who answered questions reluctantly and evasively. He was unwilling to take any personal responsibility for the affair, instead claiming that he simply couldn’t control himself. To the church elders, Colin’s efforts to save his marriage were unconvincing.

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  Lesley saw things differently. She believed Colin’s remorse was genuine and trusted him when he assured her that the affair was over. Trevor was also willing to put the ordeal behind him and start anew with Hazel.

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  In public, Lesley put on a brave face in the aftermath of her husband's infidelity. But behind closed doors, she relied on antidepressants and alcohol to cope. Things deteriorated further when Colin finally admitted that his relationship with Hazel had indeed been sexual. Lesley lunged at him, screaming, swearing, and scratching at his face. It was the first time there had been any violence between them. After the attack, Lesley retreated to the bathroom, where she overdosed on her medication. She spent three days in hospital recovering. In the aftermath of her suicide attempt, Lesley focused on improving herself in the

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  hope of winning back her husband. She even altered her appearance to resemble Hazel Buchanan. But those close to her could see that she couldn't shake the overwhelming sadness she carried, particularly as she came to realise that Colin was merely going through the motions expected of him by the church, and had no genuine interest in saving their marriage. Lesley began meeting privately with Trevor Buchanan, hoping they could support one another through their shared ordeal. More often than not, dwelling on their mutual heartache only made things worse for her. Unlike the Howls, counselling appeared to have a more positive impact on the Buchanan's.

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  Their relationship seemed to improve, particularly as Trevor accepted some responsibility for the breakdown of their marriage and his wife's affair. In time, his demeanour began to return to its usual affable and carefree nature. He even agreed to meet with Colin Howell during a church-appointed counselling session, and shook his hand as a gesture of reconciliation. But things took a turn after just four months of church counselling. When Colin heard that Hazel was doing well and had seemingly moved on with her life, he needed to know whether it was true. If so, he believed it would be the catalyst he needed to finally get over her and recommit

• 38:03Speaker 00

  to his marriage. Against the church's explicit rules, Colin called Hazel in March 1991 and admitted that things were terrible for him. He said Lesley's depression had reached its lowest point. She was prone to long bouts of crying, struggled to eat, argued with Colin frequently, and sometimes followed him or questioned his friends about his whereabouts. Despite everything suggesting otherwise, Hazel claimed that life with Trevor was equally unhappy. She confessed that she hadn't moved on from Colin, and the pair resumed their affair.

• 38:43Speaker 00

  Two months later, on Tuesday, May 7, 1991, Lesley's father was found dead on the kitchen floor, appearing to have died of natural causes. Like the death of her mother, it was a devastating loss. Lesley told a friend that she had lost the only man she ever loved. She was inconsolable. Her vibrant, warm personality was now completely taken over by profound sadness, grief, and anger, and she was still struggling to cope with the demands of being a wife and mother. She barely slept, and was often groggy, forgetful, and incoherent from her medication and alcohol use.

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  She was once found barely conscious in a pool of vomit and red wine. While Lesley hadn't explicitly expressed suicidal thoughts before her death, she had told a friend of Colin and Hazel, "Maybe they'd be better off without me. Why not just let them have each other?" Less than two weeks after her father's death, Lesley Howell was found dead at his Castle Rock home. To police, it appeared to be the tragic culmination of the emotional turmoil she had endured in the years preceding her death. Colin Howell spoke openly to investigators about the circumstances he believed had contributed

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  to Lesley's mental decline, including his extramarital affairs. His account was supported by his church pastor, elders, and community, Hazel Buchanan, Lesley's friends, and the letter she had left behind. Colin also described how, on the night of her death, Lesley had returned home with a three-litre box of red wine, which she began drinking immediately. He said he left the house for around 10 minutes, and when he returned at 10pm, Lesley had just finished speaking to someone on the telephone. Colin had his suspicions about who she had been talking to. He was aware that Lesley had recently been meeting privately with Trevor Buchanan, with

• 40:54Speaker 00

  the two confiding in one another about their troubled marriages. As their meetings became more frequent, Colin began telling church elders that he suspected Lesley and Trevor, united by their mutual feelings of rejection and loneliness, had begun an affair of their own. The rumours gradually spread through the congregation. Colin recalled several instances where Lesley had suggested that they separate, proposing that doing so would allow her and Trevor to begin a new life. She assured Colin that he would be happier as a result, as it would finally allow him and Hazel to be together.

• 41:36Speaker 00

  When Colin accused Lesley of speaking to Trevor on the telephone, she denied it and lashed out at him. She lamented that he would never understand the pain he had caused them. Colin then went to bed. Shortly thereafter, he heard Trevor in the house. When he went to investigate, Trevor confronted him, angrily berating him over Hazel. He stepped towards Colin as if to grab him, but Colin managed to get hold of him first and restrain him. Trevor offered no resistance, apologised, and left. Colin tried to reconcile with Lesley, but she wasn't interested.

• 42:19Speaker 00

  He returned to bed alone. When he woke again shortly before 8.30am, Lesley was gone. So was their reno. In the kitchen, Colin found the handwritten letter she had left for him. He read it several times before the realisation dawned that it might be a suicide note.

• 42:42Speaker 00

  Hazel Buchanan told police about her final moments with Trevor. She explained that they had cut their day out short because things between them had become increasingly unpleasant ever since Trevor had found out that Hazel and Colin had resumed their affair.

• 42:59Speaker 00

  That night, they watched television together. Aside from a few snide and hurtful remarks, they barely spoke. Hazel went to bed a little after 10pm while Trevor stayed up. Hazel said she was woken by voices at around 3 or 4am. Recognizing them as Trevor and Leslie Howell, Hazel chose to remain in bed, not wanting a confrontation with Leslie.

• 43:26Speaker 00

  She woke again at 5am and noticed that Trevor wasn't beside her.

• 43:32Speaker 00

  Several hours later, she was informed that his body had been found with Leslie's in Castle Rock.

• 43:39Speaker 00

  Hazel wept at the news. Acknowledging her role in the pain endured by Leslie and Trevor, she apologized to Trevor's family and blamed herself for what had happened.

• 43:51Speaker 00

  But, there was one person who appeared remarkably unaffected by the tragedy. Colin Howell remained composed and showed little emotion when his pastor broke the news that his wife and her lover had been found dead. To those around him, Colin's reaction was so cold that they could only assume he was keeping his true feelings bottled up for the sake of his children.

• 44:16Speaker 00

  Unable to comprehend the finality of death, they asked him when their mother would be coming home.

• 44:23Speaker 00

  Colin's reply was blunt: Never.

• 44:30Speaker 00

  An inquest into the deaths of Leslie Howell and Trevor Buchanan was held a few days before the first anniversary of the incident. Colin Howell was present in court. He sat alone and still appeared remarkably composed, given the circumstance.

• 44:48Speaker 00

  Colin told the inquest about the strain that had developed and intensified in his marriage following the births of their four children. He spoke about Leslie's deteriorating mental health, exacerbated by the loss of her beloved parents, her overdose in 1990, and the way she had become increasingly volatile and dependent on pills and alcohol. He detailed his affair with Hazel Buchanan and how, as a result, Leslie and Trevor had commenced an affair of their own.

• 45:20Speaker 00

  Hazel testified at the inquest, as did the church members who had worked to resolve the complex web of infidelity that had plagued the Howell and Buchanan families, along with the police officers who had investigated the two deaths. After examining all the evidence, the coroner presented their findings. They concluded that the deceased had been emotionally upset by difficulties that had arisen in their marriage. The deaths of Leslie's parents and her previous suicide attempts were also noted in her report.

• 45:55Speaker 00

  The inquest concluded that these difficulties had been the motivating factors behind both Leslie and Trevor taking their own lives. Officially, the incident was dismissed as a terrible tragedy. For the most part, everyone accepted the findings. The Colraine Baptist Church was just keen to move past the scandal. Yet, there were some who harbored serious misgivings. Trevor's family and friends continued to struggle with the idea that he had wanted to take his own life, while others were beginning to question the official version of events altogether.

• 46:33Speaker 00

  David Green was the off-duty police detective who accompanied church older Jim Flanagan to the Castle Rock house when Leslie and Trevor's bodies were discovered. While Jim was the one who found them in the garage, David checked both for signs of life and immediately got the impression that they had been dead for some time.

• 46:53Speaker 00

  David later heard Colin Howell's account of what had happened in the house hours before the tragedy, including the timings of when Leslie and Trevor were last seen alive, and wasn't entirely convinced. This led him to begin taking notes of the inconsistencies he had noticed.

• 47:12Speaker 00

  Among his suspicions was the possibility that the suicide note Leslie had left for Colin hadn't been written that night at all. David wondered whether she might have authored it on an earlier occasion, perhaps around the time of her overdose in 1990, and that it had merely happened to fit the circumstances surrounding her death. The paper had been scrunched up, suggesting that Leslie had tried to discard it and never intended for anyone else to see it. David Green wondered if Colin had come across it and kept it to use later as part of a deadly scheme. Furthermore, Leslie had told a friend that Colin was in charge of her medication and would give it to her to help her sleep.

• 47:57Speaker 00

  David Green considered whether Colin might have been excessively drugging his wife in the lead-up to her death, creating the impression that her health was deteriorating and she was losing the will to live. This was despite the fact that, after her overdose in 1990, Leslie promised a friend that she would never attempt to take her own life again, saying: “I can't leave the kids.”

• 48:23Speaker 00

  David Green's suspicions extended even further. Leslie's father, Harry, had been found dead 11 days before Leslie died. Harry was living with the Howells at the time and had been taking several prescription medications, including sedatives.

• 48:42Speaker 00

  Given his age and the absence of any obvious signs of foul play, it was easy for others to assume that he had simply died of natural causes. As such, no post-mortem examination had been carried out. David, however, wondered whether Colin had gone so far as to kill Harry by overdosing him with medication. Having succeeded without arousing suspicion, he had then used the same method on his wife.

• 49:11Speaker 00

  There was a motive. Following her father's death, Leslie received an inheritance of a little over £200,000. She had told friends that the money was enough to make her financially independent, and she had expressed her intention to not let Colin get any of it. But, after her own death, the inheritance passed into Colin's hands. He also received a 50/50 share of the money in Harry's personal bank account and half the proceeds of the sale from his house.

• 49:44Speaker 00

  As for Trevor Buchanan, David Green was aware that he had recently booked a family holiday. He wondered why someone preparing to take their own life would still be making plans for the future. Trevor had also invited a colleague to join him at church on the day he was found dead, indicating that he intended to be there.

• 50:06Speaker 00

  To David, there was no evidence to suggest that Trevor had been suicidal at any point, particularly given that he had responded well to marriage counselling and appeared noticeably happier in the weeks before his death. After Hazel's infidelity had been exposed, Trevor had even reassured his brother that there was no need to fear he would take his own life over it. David Green's suspicions that there was more to the tragedy were strong, yet he didn't get the impression that anyone else was seriously questioning the circumstances surrounding Leslie and Trevor's deaths. He said he spoke about his concerns to Colraine Baptist Church pastor John Hansford, who had been guiding the Howell and Buchanan families through their marital difficulties.

• 50:52Speaker 00

  David also claimed that he raised his concerns with the case investigators on several occasions, something the investigators themselves denied. They maintained that they had kept an open mind throughout their investigation and had found no reason to suspect that a crime had taken place.

• 51:12Speaker 00

  Meanwhile, David held on to an article he had read in a police magazine titled “Making Murder Look Like Suicide”. The case investigators maintained that if David had raised such concerns with them, they would have absolutely investigated the matter further.

• 51:30Speaker 00

  After a while, David decided he needed to take a step back. He wasn't a part of the investigation team and was stationed in a different division. He feared his questioning might be perceived as insensitive and he didn't want to stand on anyone's toes or risk making a nuisance of himself. He trusted that the investigation had been rigorous and exhaustive and pushed his concerns to the back of his mind.

• 52:00Speaker 00

  In the years after his wife’s death, Colin Howell would tell their children that it had looked like a suicide, but no one was really ever sure. They witnessed him cry over Lesley only a handful of times. He soon stopped visiting her grave and discouraged them from mentioning her at all. He appeared to move on remarkably quickly, adjusting to life as a single father with relative ease. He regained his financial footing through the life insurance payouts from both Lesley and her father. To his children, it felt as though their mother never existed.

• 52:41Speaker 00

  In contrast, Hazel Buchanan made a conscious effort to keep Trevor’s memory alive for their two children. She kept photographs of him on display, told them stories about him, and remained in close contact with his extended family. She did her best to help her children come to terms with what had happened, going so far as to admit that she had been involved in an extramarital affair with Colin Howell. While she avoided using the word “suicide”, her children came to understand that Trevor had taken his own life as a result of her infidelity. Still, they didn’t hold it against her. Hazel explained that although they had their problems, she had still loved Trevor.

• 53:27Speaker 00

  His children had also loved him deeply. Although their memories of him were limited, they were defined by warmth and pride. Hazel never sought to tarnish her children’s view of their father. She told them that he was watching over them in heaven and took them to place fresh flowers on his grave every Sunday.

• 53:51Speaker 00

  Hazel considered moving away from Colrain, especially since members of the community had ostracised her. But for the time being, she chose to attend a different church. Although she rarely spoke about what had happened or sought sympathy over it, it was clear to those around her that Hazel was determined to rebuild her life. Many were willing to give her the space to do so, except Colin Howell.

• 54:20Speaker 00

  He remained a consistent presence in Hazel’s life over the next few years, despite his pastor urging him to break contact with her altogether. Instead, Colin asked Hazel to marry him. Eventually, Hazel had enough. She admitted that she didn’t want to be his wife, telling Colin that their relationship was a disaster and insisting that they would never work. She also didn’t want the added responsibility of raising his four children or to give up the police pension she received following Trevor’s death.

• 54:56Speaker 00

  Colin refused to accept that their relationship was coming to an end, even after Hazel tried to break it off several times. Colin always managed to convince her to stay with him, often by buying her things. Hazel later described Colin as “someone who is very controlling, very. He gets his own way in one shape or form. Whether he fools you, conds you, whatever, he will get you. If he wants something, he will get it.”

• 55:31Speaker 00

  Eventually, Colin discovered that Hazel was seeing someone else. A prolonged period of intense jealousy followed, wherein Colin stalked Hazel as she met with her new partner. She later cheated on him with a man she met at a gym. The same stories about Hazel Buchanan that had circulated during her first marriage continued to follow her, that she was incredibly materialistic, demanding, and controlling. Yet Colin Howell still wanted to be with her. In time, his increasingly obsessive behaviour began to frighten Hazel. She believed he was completely unwilling to let her go,

• 56:14Speaker 00

  but Colin perceived the situation differently. He felt Hazel was the one holding on. In his words, “She wanted it to end, but she couldn’t let it end.”

• 56:30Speaker 00

  Five years after Lesley and Trevor’s deaths, Colin Howell finally accepted that his relationship with Hazel Buchanan was well and truly over, and that it was time to move on. In December 1996, he met 30-year-old Kyle Jorgensen at a Christian singles night. A whirlwind romance followed, and the pair married less than six months later. Just two weeks after their wedding, Kyle discovered that she was pregnant.

• 57:01Speaker 00

  Kyle and Colin would go on to have five children together. With Kyle’s two children from a previous marriage and the four Colin had with Lesley, they eventually had 11 children between them. Kyle soon found herself in a situation not unlike Lesley’s. She put her own ambitions aside to devote herself full-time to motherhood, navigating the difficulties and stresses that came with it, while Colin spent much of his time at work. When they met, Colin had told Kyle about what happened to his first wife, Lesley. He described her mental health struggles and said that she had taken her own life, taking full responsibility for her death by admitting that his infidelity had played a part in it.

• 57:47Speaker 00

  He also told Kyle that Trevor Buchanan, the husband of the woman with whom he had had an affair, had also taken his own life. He didn’t say much else.

• 58:00Speaker 00

  Around 18 months into their marriage, Colin was sitting on the couch with Kyle when she noticed that he appeared unusually anxious. Suddenly, he blurted out, “It’s my fault, it’s all my responsibility. I did it, I killed Lesley.”

• 58:19Speaker 00

  He also confessed to killing Trevor. Although he didn’t go into detail, he mentioned a garden hose.

• 58:28Speaker 00

  Kyle sat in shock before saying that she wanted to call the police. Colin pleaded with her not to. He urged her to think about their children and their future. He implied that he intended to come forward with the truth eventually, but needed time to make sure everything was in place. He told her, “It’s been seven years, surely you can wait one more day.”

• 58:57Speaker 00

  Kyle was emotionally overwhelmed and uncertain, finding the entire situation confusing and disorientating. She barely recognised the man she had married and felt trapped by Colin, fearing for her own safety and that of their children.

• 59:14Speaker 00

  Colin spent the night calming her nerves while promising that once he had secured their children’s future, he would surrender himself to the authorities.

• 59:24Speaker 00

  Not long afterwards, he arranged for his parents to visit, intending to tell them what he had done before turning himself over to police. But Colin’s father was forced to cancel the meeting last minute. That weekend, Colin attended church. A woman there happened to say to him, “All your sins are forgiven and forgotten by God.” Colin took the remark as a sign and decided to completely abandon his intentions of ever coming clean. Kyle didn’t press the matter. As time wore on, she gradually settled back into her role as Colin Howell’s wife. She convinced herself that his confession

• 1:00:09Speaker 00

  had been a broader expression of personal guilt over his infidelity and the suffering it had caused, rather than an admission that he had actually murdered anyone. The fact that everyone who knew Colin insisted that he was a good, God-fearing man and a devoted father only reinforced her belief that he was incapable of killing anyone.

• 1:00:33Speaker 00

  Colin Howell’s fortunes changed dramatically once he decided not to confess what he knew about Lesley and Trevor’s deaths. His career thrived, bringing him considerable wealth, exotic holidays, property investments, lavish overseas trips to dental conferences, and a growing network of high-profile connections. Then, in April 2007, almost 16 years after the deaths of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan, his fortunes changed once again.

• 1:01:08Speaker 00

  Matthew Howell was Colin and Lesley’s firstborn child. Throughout Matthew’s childhood, his father placed considerable pressure on him to follow in his footsteps and pursue a career in dentistry. Matthew, who was meek and agreeable, struggled to go against his father’s wishes, even though his real interests lay in travel and languages. By the age of 22, Matthew had already travelled throughout North, Central and South America.

• 1:01:39Speaker 00

  In April 2007, he was living in Russia as part of an overseas semester of his university course, with plans to visit China next.

• 1:01:49Speaker 00

  But on Monday, April 30, Matthew accidentally slipped down a stairwell from the fourth floor of the building where he lived. He struck a handrail at the bottom and died.

• 1:02:01Speaker 00

  To others, Colin appeared to cope remarkably well after Matthew’s sudden death, relying on his faith to accept the tragedy as God’s will, and telling those around him that his son was in a better place. Privately, Colin interpreted Matthew’s death as God’s way of punishing him.

• 1:02:21Speaker 00

  The following year, Colin heard from a friend about a potentially lucrative venture in the Philippines. According to the friend, they knew an American missionary involved in recovering long-lost gold that had allegedly been buried in underground bunkers by the Japanese during World War II. Colin was led to believe that if he invested in the recovery efforts, he stood to receive £20 million worth of gold. Convinced that the scheme was legitimate, he sold his business shares, invested all his savings, and attempted to persuade several friends to invest as well. Eventually, Colin was sent a couple of brass ammunition boxes containing silver coins

• 1:03:06Speaker 00

  worth around £30. In total, he had invested £350,000 of his own money in the fraudulent Get Rich Quick scam. He also owed upwards of a further £250,000 in taxes.

• 1:03:24Speaker 00

  With that, Colin had fallen back into debt.

• 1:03:29Speaker 00

  Like his son’s untimely death, Colin interpreted his sudden financial downfall as another form of divine punishment.

• 1:03:38Speaker 00

  Although Colin didn’t openly discuss his problems, those around him could see that he was deeply tormented. No longer the driven and dynamic man he had once been, he became withdrawn, unfocused and depressed. He lost weight and appeared increasingly disorientated, struggling to think rationally and losing touch with reality. Eventually, he was no longer capable of treating patients. Those closest to him grew concerned, wondering whether he might follow in his first wife’s footsteps and take his own life. Even his current wife, Kyle, recognised that something was seriously wrong.

• 1:04:20Speaker 00

  Fearing what Colin might do, she stayed out of the house with their children whenever she could.

• 1:04:28Speaker 00

  Colin saw himself as being on the brink of spiritual collapse. He had finally come to the realisation that he had been a hypocrite throughout his life, claiming to strictly follow God’s teachings while repeatedly flouting them.

• 1:04:44Speaker 00

  On the morning of Thursday, January 29, 2009, he sat with his wife and admitted that he felt eternally damned. Although he was reluctant to accept that it was finally time to come forward with the truth of his indiscretions, Kyle encouraged him to do so. She told him that the difficulties he had faced recently were God’s way of giving him another chance to repent. Colin hugged his children before meeting with the elders of his church. They were already aware that he had been experiencing some kind of crisis, having recently discussed matters of salvation, forgiveness and repentance with them.

• 1:05:26Speaker 00

  But what he told them that day left them stunned.

• 1:05:38Speaker 00

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• 1:08:41Speaker 00

  Colin started by admitting that he had never stopped pursuing women outside his marriage, and also had a pornography addiction. This was not entirely new information to the elders, as he had previously confided in some of them about it. But this was the first time he had told them that his first wife, Lesley, had undergone three abortions in the months before their wedding. Baptist views on abortion vary between churches and denominations, though many oppose the procedure. But Colin wasn’t finished. He revealed that he had once taken Hazel Buchanan out of town to have an abortion because they were uncertain who the baby’s father might be.

• 1:09:23Speaker 00

  They feared that if it was Colin’s, the child might bear his features and expose their infidelity. But it was what Colin confessed to next that left the elders extremely disturbed. He admitted that he had sexually assaulted female patients while they were under sedation at his dental clinic. Following this revelation, Colin’s composure began to crack. Bible verses were quoted at him to encourage him to continue opening up, including one that read: “One shall have to undergo suffering to reach truth; that is why it is said that truth is eternally victorious.”

• 1:10:05Speaker 00

  With his eyes fixed on the table in front of him, Colin finally took the elders back to May 1991.

• 1:10:14Speaker 00

  Over the next hour, he divulged what he referred to as his eureka moment, which occurred on Monday, May 13, 1991. Lesley had spent the day crying following her father’s funeral. Colin claimed that at around 3am that night, she suddenly sat upright in bed and told him that she would never get over what he and Hazel had done, and that Trevor wouldn’t either. “Maybe you and Hazel are meant to be together,” Colin claimed she had told him. He said that she wished she were dead and in heaven.

• 1:10:51Speaker 00

  The remarks didn’t particularly trouble Colin, as he had already convinced himself that Lesley would die soon anyway, likely as a result of her alcohol dependence. He didn’t want to separate from her beforehand, partly because of his views on divorce. He also believed Lesley would gain custody of their children, a result he wanted to avoid as he considered her an unfit mother. When Lesley fell back asleep, Colin held her and thought to himself: “I can help you.”

• 1:11:25Speaker 00

  To Colin, Lesley’s emotional outburst felt like permission to carry out what he had decided was the best option for everybody. He would kill Lesley and Trevor. He convinced himself that it was a merciful thing to do, not unlike euthanasia. After putting the pair through so much turmoil, Colin felt that he owed it to them to finally do something good for them. In his mind, everyone, including Lesley and Trevor, as well as their children, would be better off if they were no longer alive. Then, he was certain, no one would be hurting anymore. His financial woes would be over, Lesley would no longer be struggling at home, and

• 1:12:10Speaker 00

  he and Hazel could finally be together. In Colin’s mind, his decision to kill was an act of love.

• 1:12:19Speaker 00

  He then spent the next few days devising a plan. He wanted the deaths to be painless, so he decided to make Lesley and Trevor inhale fatal amounts of carbon monoxide. Colin knew that both would resist, so he stole Lesley's sedatives, intending to have his victims take them unknowingly beforehand.

• 1:12:41Speaker 00

  The more Colin confessed to the church elders about his murderous scheme, the more shocking his revelations became, especially when he described what happened after he had devised the joint suicide plan to get away with these crimes. According to Colin, he went to visit Hazel Buchanan and told her, “I have a plan for Trevor and Lesley that can look as if they committed suicide, but I need your help.”

• 1:13:09Speaker 00

  Colin claimed that Hazel initially thought it was a crazy idea that would never work. She was also fearful of the consequences if the truth ever came out.

• 1:13:20Speaker 00

  Colin reassured her by laying out his plan in straightforward terms, including what Hazel would need to prepare in order for it to succeed, such as drugging Trevor’s food with sedatives. He was careful to sanitize his language, avoiding words such as “killing” that might have forced them to confront the true horror of what he intended to do. Colin was confident in his plan, but he was nervous on Saturday, May 18, when he decided to go through with it. He had spent much of the day trying to contact Hazel, but she hadn’t answered his calls. He knew that if she didn’t go through with her part of the plan, the entire scheme would fall apart.

• 1:14:02Speaker 00

  When Hazel finally called him back, Colin whispered, “Tonight’s on, we’re going to do it.”

• 1:14:13Speaker 00

  By 11:00 PM, Lesley had fallen asleep on the living room couch while watching television. Earlier that evening, she had drunk a little red wine after making it clear that she wanted to be left alone. Colin obliged. He kept their children up longer than usual, ensuring they were sufficiently tired before finally putting them to bed. He then jammed their bedroom door shut with a hockey stick.

• 1:14:41Speaker 00

  From the garage, he collected the items he had secretly prepared earlier that day, including a long length of garden hose. He donned a pair of surgical gloves, attached the hose to his Renault’s exhaust pipe, and pulled it through the kitchen and into the living room. He placed the end of the hose beside Lesley’s face and lay a blanket over her, letting the fumes accumulate underneath. At one point, Lesley became restless and called out for their son, Matthew. Colin panicked, not anticipating that she would wake up. He straddled her, trapping her beneath the blanket. Although he couldn’t see her face, Colin was certain that Lesley knew then that he was killing her.

• 1:15:26Speaker 00

  He later claimed that he remained haunted by the dreadful betrayal she must have felt in her final moments.

• 1:15:34Speaker 00

  Despite this, he described the murder itself as like a surgical procedure. He waited until she stopped breathing before opening all the windows, retracting the hose back into the garage, and placing Lesley’s body in the back of the car. He then covered her with a blanket and a bicycle. He collected Lesley’s handheld cassette player and several family photographs to help stage the scene later. Before leaving the house, Colin called Hazel Buchanan and told her, “I’m finished with Lesley.”

• 1:16:10Speaker 00

  Hazel confirmed that Trevor was asleep, and Colin told her he was on his way. He drove Lesley’s body to the Buchanan home, where Hazel opened the garage door so he could park inside. After looking into the rear of Colin’s car, she asked, “Is that Lesley?” Colin confirmed that it was.

• 1:16:33Speaker 00

  Hazel went to confirm Trevor was still asleep in the bedroom. Colin went about killing him in the same manner as he had Lesley. Hazel remained close behind him throughout most of the setup, with Colin describing her as being like a shadow.

• 1:16:51Speaker 00

  To Colin’s dismay, Trevor also stirred during the attack, but Colin was unprepared for what happened next. Trevor grabbed him, and the two wrestled onto the floor where their eyes locked. The struggle lasted only about 20 seconds before Colin, who had bumped his head, overpowered the heavily sedated Trevor. He shoved the hose into his mouth, pulled the blanket completely over him, wrapped himself around Trevor, and waited until his breathing stopped. He put Trevor’s body next to Lesley’s and covered them both.

• 1:17:28Speaker 00

  As Colin drove to Castle Rock, Hazel remained at home, meticulously cleaning up any evidence. Colin referred to her as “the perfect accomplice.” He parked his Renault in his late father-in-law’s garage and pulled Trevor’s body into the driver’s seat. When he tried to close the door, he found that Trevor’s leg was jammed in the opening.

• 1:17:52Speaker 00

  Colin decided to leave it.

• 1:17:55Speaker 00

  To get out of the car, he had to open the driver’s side window and climb through it. He then placed Lesley’s body in the back of the vehicle and staged the scene before fleeing the property.

• 1:18:08Speaker 00

  Colin was physically fit, so he had little difficulty running all the way back to where he had left his bicycle earlier. He then cycled the rest of the way home, arriving shortly after 5:00 AM. He called Hazel, and together they agreed on the story they would tell everyone. Colin then waited several hours before making the call to church elder Jim Flanagan to report Lesley missing.

• 1:18:36Speaker 00

  Colin happened to find something that would help convince others that Lesley had taken her own life, an old, crumpled note she had written to him some time earlier. He had incidentally come across it while rummaging through some papers. To Colin, it read like the perfect suicide note.

• 1:18:57Speaker 00

  One of the church elders later recalled what it was like to hear Colin Howell deliver his long, emotionally wracking confession to the murders of Lesley and Trevor. Quote, “We were absolutely gobsmacked and shocked beyond belief, because I never in my wildest dreams ever thought I was going to hear that sort of confession. I was coming across expecting to hear about another adulterous affair that had gone too far or something, but did not anticipate hearing anything like that.”

• 1:19:32Speaker 00

  After several minutes of stunned silence, one of the elders went to call the police. As they waited for officers to arrive, the group sat together and prayed. Following his arrest, Colin provided another matter-of-fact account of his crimes. “As a Christian, I was a fake,” he admitted to police.

• 1:19:56Speaker 00

  When he was formally charged with the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan, all he could manage to say was “I’m sorry.”

• 1:20:05Speaker 00

  Colin Howell ultimately decided to plead guilty. He wasn’t offered any deals to do so. As he awaited sentencing, Colin underwent multiple psychological assessments to determine his degree of culpability. During this time, he experienced what appeared to be a mental breakdown. He spoke of vivid dreams of hell and demons, claiming that his actions had been the result of a purpose and calling that had prevented billions of people from being destroyed. Yet, as a consequence of carrying out this calling, Colin said that God had chosen to destroy him, and that there was nothing he could do to stop it.

• 1:20:48Speaker 00

  It was believed that these claims indicated a desire to take his own life, but Colin maintained that he would not do so because the torment he was now forced to endure was itself part of God’s plan.

• 1:21:02Speaker 00

  To psychiatrists, it was clear that Colin viewed himself as oppressed rather than depressed. It appeared as though he was suffering from religious, grandiose, and persecutory delusions, supporting a diagnosis of paranoia. However, after meeting with Colin on multiple occasions, the psychiatrists came to believe that his apparent mental illness was an act intended to help him avoid severe legal punishment.

• 1:21:31Speaker 00

  Their suspicions were confirmed when Colin abruptly dropped the act one day, declaring that he was finished with manipulating and deceiving others. He said that he didn’t really fear God’s wrath, believing instead that he and Christ were faithful and just, and that all his sins would be forgiven, cleansing him of unrighteousness. The only thing that appeared to genuinely upset him was the loss of his freedom since being incarcerated.

• 1:22:02Speaker 00

  In the view of the psychiatrists who examined Colin, he wasn’t insane. They believed he exhibited narcissistic personality disorder and referred to him as a, “charming, controlled psychopath.”

• 1:22:18Speaker 00

  In 2010, almost twenty years after the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan, Colin Howell learnt his fate. The court was told how Colin had deliberately killed two defenceless people, heinously, cold-bloodedly and ruthlessly, because he viewed them as standing in the way of his desire to be with another woman. Even when they stirred in their sleep, the court was told, Howell did not draw back and spare their lives, but physically subdued their faint signs of approaching consciousness, thereby ensuring their deaths. By falsely suggesting that Lesley and Trevor had been engaged in a prolonged extramarital

• 1:23:01Speaker 00

  affair and staging their deaths as suicides, Colin irreparably damaged the reputations of his innocent victims in the eyes of their children, families, church congregation and wider community. The court heard Howell had then gone on to deceive those around him by presenting himself as a decent, upstanding, hard-working, religious and valuable member of society. The only mitigating factor in Colin’s offending was that he had willingly confessed without external pressure and accepted full responsibility for the crimes. Had he not come forward, the murders might never have come to light.

• 1:23:42Speaker 00

  However, the court noted that he was only driven to confess after he experienced his own period of discord and tragedy. If things had continued going well for him, there was a real chance he would have remained silent. Colin Howell was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years. Hazel Buchanan, who had since remarried, also faced charges for the murders of Lesley and Trevor. She pleaded not guilty. When questioned by police after her arrest, she reluctantly opened up about her affair

• 1:24:22Speaker 00

  with Colin, the abortion and the impact her behaviour had on her husband Trevor. But she asserted that she had never wanted anything to do with the plan to murder him or Lesley. While she admitted to being aware of what Colin was going to do and ultimately assisted him, she insisted that she had only acted under duress and at Colin’s coercive control. Yet, as the interview progressed, Hazel’s account began to change. She gradually minimised her involvement until she was flatly claiming that she had tried to stop Colin from entering the bedroom to get to Trevor. When police pointed out that parts of her story weren’t adding up, Hazel suddenly

• 1:25:05Speaker 00

  became concerned about what would happen to her. She was then willing to acknowledge her active involvement again, but claimed that she hadn’t known what Colin intended to do until he arrived at her home with Lesley’s body in the back of his car. Still claiming that she had been forced to go along with the crime, Hazel was reminded by investigators that she could have made a concerted effort to save Trevor’s life at any point, including by calling for help. Faced with this, Hazel finally admitted: “I let it happen. Yes, I let it happen.” She agreed that Colin couldn’t have carried out the scheme alone and confessed to getting

• 1:25:48Speaker 00

  rid of evidence, including washing her bed sheets and opening the windows of her home to clear out the gas fumes. But Hazel viewed these acts differently, saying: “I just felt I had to get the room tidied up.” When asked whether she had ever believed the truth would come out one day, Hazel replied: “I would never have said, ‘I would have taken it to my grave because of my children and my family. I thought it would be better for me to suffer this every day, which I did, than to open a can of worms and affect so many people after so long.” At trial, the case against Hazel portrayed her as a fully willing participant who had

• 1:26:33Speaker 00

  jointly agreed to, planned, assisted in and ultimately helped cover up the killings. The prosecution’s star witness to prove this point was Colin Howell. He hadn’t been offered any kind of deal in exchange for his testimony, but the prosecution approached his participation cautiously. His integrity was questionable in light of his known history of fraudulent and narcissistic behaviour, as well as his tendency towards self-preservation. They also wondered whether he could withstand the defence’s scrutiny, particularly as they sought to expose his proven devious, controlling and manipulative nature.

• 1:27:17Speaker 00

  The prosecution had little choice but to rely on him. Other than Hazel herself, Colin was the only person who knew what had happened to Lesley and Trevor in the hours before their bodies were discovered. Colin maintained that he had no ulterior motive for testifying against Hazel and stood to gain no personal benefit from doing so. He claimed that he simply wanted to “bear his own disgrace”. Colin swore on the Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. His motivations for coming forward in 2009 were immediately questioned, prompting Colin to assert:

• 1:28:01Speaker 00

  “I just knew that the time had come when the truth had to be told. I was overwhelmed by my conscience with hiding this crime for such a long time. I believed that there were still scars that needed to be put right and I wanted to tell the truth. That’s the only motive.” He detailed his relationships with both Lesley and Hazel before moving on to the murders. He frequently referred to the crimes as a joint venture or joint enterprise, making it clear that they had been a mutually agreed undertaking with Hazel. In his account, he wanted it, but she facilitated it.

• 1:28:43Speaker 00

  He denied having a god complex when it came to women and described Hazel as a very simplistic, which he claimed could make him appear controlling towards her. But he maintained that it was Hazel who had seduced him into the affair and rejected the portrayal of her as a shy, naive and submissive woman. He said that they were mutually dependent and that both brought a degree of control to the relationship. He likened their dynamic to a waltz, in which each took the lead at various points but always worked in cooperation and harmony. “Nobody was dragging anybody in the wrong direction,” he said.

• 1:29:24Speaker 00

  He also raised Hazel’s abortion as evidence of what he described as their shared willingness to end a human life. To observers, Colin appeared to relish the spotlight as he described in lurid detail everything from how he had carried out the murders to his and Hazel’s sex life. To them, it seemed unlikely that his testimony was motivated by a desire for revenge against Hazel, given how willingly and openly he exposed the most sordid details of his own life without any attempt to censor himself. As this became increasingly apparent, the defence suggested what Colin really wanted:

• 1:30:06Speaker 00

  “Your ego demands a platform in an effort to rehabilitate yourself and reinvent yourself. That’s what you are doing. That’s what the exercise has been, hasn’t it?” Colin responded firmly: “What I have demonstrated is that no matter what the cost of what I lose, there’s something much more important to me. If I was calculating for the best, I wouldn’t have stepped forward. If it was just for self-interest and self-preservation, I would still be free placing dental implants. So, the opposite is true. My actions speak that. That’s why I’m here.”

• 1:30:48Speaker 00

  While Hazel was less arrogant than Colin, she didn’t come across as entirely trustworthy either. She also had a proven history of deceiving others to serve her own interests. From her willingness to lie about her affair with Colin while it was underway, to committing perjury at the inquest into Lesley and Trevor’s deaths by perpetuating the suicide theory. Those who knew her even testified her behaviour had always been self-serving. Still, the defence argued that none of this proved that Hazel was guilty of murder. Hazel Buchanan chose not to testify in her own defence. Instead, her recorded police interviews following her arrest were played to the court

• 1:31:33Speaker 00

  in full. In them, Hazel spoke of having spent her life living a lie, describing her guilt and shame as horrendous. She insisted that she hated Colin Howell. “The relationship went on for years, but only because of him,” she said. “He did not want it to end.” Hazel said she was afraid of Colin, knowing what he was capable of, and had struggled to break off their relationship as a result. Speaking of the two innocent victims, she said: “Lesley was a lovely girl. Trevor was very good too.”

• 1:32:14Speaker 00

  For the jury, the question wasn't whether Hazel committed the murders, but if she was willingly part of the plan to carry them out with Colin Howell. Of most significance was the critical question as to why Hazel hadn't intervened to stop the crimes if she truly wasn't an active participant in them. The judge asked the jury to consider: Did she do everything, or as much as she could have done, to prevent the murders, or at least the murder of her husband? Why did she not tell someone beforehand what he was planning? Why did she not wake her husband, keep the door closed, scream the house down, run to a neighbour to raise the alarm and get help?

• 1:32:58Speaker 00

  In the words of the judge, Hazel could have contacted the police the moment she knew Lesley Howell had been murdered. Instead, she let Colin into her house, then waited and did nothing, knowing he was in the bedroom killing Trevor.

• 1:33:14Speaker 00

  The jury took just two and a half hours to reach its decision. They found Hazel Buchanan guilty of the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan.

• 1:33:26Speaker 00

  During sentencing, the judge accepted that while Colin Howell was undoubtedly charismatic, manipulative and hypocritical, with a considerable sexual appetite, Hazel had allowed herself to be persuaded by him to play a part in the murders. She then continued her relationship with him afterwards and concealed her involvement for years, with no intention of ever coming forward with the truth.

• 1:33:52Speaker 00

  Even when Colin eventually exposed the truth, forcing Hazel to confront her own involvement, the judge noted that her concerns remained focused squarely on herself, her children and her family, rather than on either of the victims or their loved ones. Hazel Buchanan was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of eighteen years.

• 1:34:19Speaker 00

  An ombudsman's report produced after the convictions concluded that the two senior police officers who investigated Lesley and Trevor's deaths in 1991 had overlooked vital clues pointing towards murder. Describing the deeply flawed investigation as having failed the families of both victims, the report found that bias had been present from the outset, with the two officers becoming rigidly committed to the theory that the deaths were the result of a suicide pact. As a consequence, crucial forensic evidence was not gathered or examined. No fingerprints were taken at the scene, while items recovered from the garage, including

• 1:34:59Speaker 00

  the hose attached to the exhaust, Lesley's handheld cassette player and the photographs left beside her body, were not forensically examined. No scene log, sketches or measurements were made either. The report also found that peculiarities at the scene that should have been a lightbulb moment for investigators were not properly investigated, including the awkward positioning of both bodies and Trevor's leg being inexplicably caught in the driver's door, which also had its window fully open. So too should they have questioned the suspicious bump on Colin Howell's head, which had resulted from his altercation with Trevor during the murder.

• 1:35:43Speaker 00

  Important information provided by a witness had also been overlooked, including claims that Colin was administering medication to his wife, was experiencing financial difficulties and had allegedly once dropped a live electrical cable into Hazel's bath. The concerns raised by Detective David Green were similarly disregarded. David, who was present when the bodies were discovered, had expressed his belief to investigators that the deaths were suspicious and why. They reportedly did nothing with this information. The report also found that inconsistencies and lies told by Colin and Hazel were not adequately challenged.

• 1:36:27Speaker 00

  For example, no one found it suspicious that Colin made three attempts to direct people to the Castle Rock house to find the bodies.

• 1:36:37Speaker 00

  Overall, there had also been a lack of open-mindedness and a clear absence of leadership throughout the investigation. The Police Service of Northern Ireland accepted the report's findings, apologised to the Howell and Buchanan families and expressed its intention to review its existing procedures to ensure that sudden deaths are subjected to thorough investigations. Lesley and Trevor's causes of death have since been formally amended to homicidal carbon monoxide poisoning.

• 1:37:11Speaker 00

  Police have since investigated Colin Howell's claims that he had sexually abused sedated women at his dental clinic. They spoke with patients who described some of his behaviour as sleazy and smarmy, but the sedative Colin used for surgical procedures caused a short-term amnesia and took at least forty-five minutes to wear off. As a result, few women could remember what had happened while they were in the dental chair under his care.

• 1:37:40Speaker 00

  Some recalled being treated afterwards, but none had any clear memories of their time in surgery. Six women provided recollections of Colin's behaviour after their procedures that were sufficient to proceed to court. Two recalled being semi-conscious when Colin made them rub his groin. When one of the women confronted him about the incident afterwards, he told her that she had imagined it. Another woman recalled Colin groping her beneath her surgical garments. "I didn't say anything to him because you're mortified. I was embarrassed," she said of the experience.

• 1:38:19Speaker 00

  Colin ultimately admitted to the assault. However, because the quantities of drugs he had administered to the women were within the therapeutic range, it couldn't be established that he had deliberately drugged them for the purpose of sexually abusing them.

• 1:38:35Speaker 00

  He was nevertheless sentenced to an additional five and a half years in prison and placed on the sex offenders' register.

• 1:38:43Speaker 00

  Police have also since re-examined the death of Lesley's father, Harry, to determine whether Colin had any involvement in his sudden passing.

• 1:38:53Speaker 00

  Colin denied the allegations and nothing concrete was ever uncovered to suggest otherwise. Speculation about the circumstances continued to run rife. Lesley's brother holds the belief that Colin was responsible for their father's death, though he remains unsure how he did it.

• 1:39:15Speaker 00

  In 2025, sixty-two-year-old Hazel Buchanan sought to have her sentence reduced, again claiming that she had been under Colin's coercive control during the murders. She also wanted to introduce new medical evidence that she had been suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder at the time. The prosecution questioned the strength of this diagnosis, as it had been obtained more than thirty years after the killings.

• 1:39:44Speaker 00

  Six psychiatric reports from before Hazel's trial raised no concerns about her mental health in May 1991. The Court of Appeal concluded that her eighteen-year minimum term was neither wrong nor manifestly excessive, and her application was denied.

• 1:40:03Speaker 00

  In 2026, the BBC released an episode of Confessions of a Killer detailing the case, in which Colin Howell's recorded confession to police was made public for the first time. In it, he spoke about Hazel Buchanan. While admitting there was cooperation between them, he added that it was clear that Hazel had a fear and that she didn't know how to escape from it. He said: "In terms of the driving force as to why these things happened, she's been a very unfortunate victim of Colin Howell, and I regret that."

• 1:40:41Speaker 00

  Lesley Howell's children, who now refer to her by her maiden name, Lesley Clark, have described losing her as their own life sentence. They recalled how, following their mother's death, Hazel remained a presence in their lives for almost five years. One of them said: "It's very sad in a lot of ways. I saw her as a mummy. I had lost my mum, and I wanted nothing more than to have a mum."

• 1:41:11Speaker 00

  While they accepted that nothing could bring Lesley back, they were nevertheless relieved that the legal process had finally come to an end. They rejected the suggestion that coercive control adequately described the relationship between their father and Hazel. Lesley's daughter said: "I certainly do not think Hazel is a victim. There's many victims in this case. I find it quite distasteful that Hazel is being labelled a victim here. What about my mum?"

• 1:41:44Speaker 00

  They remained determined that their mother's memory wouldn't be defined by the circumstances of her death. "Our beautiful mum's memory will not be shadowed by this, and we will continue to love and honour the person she was."

• 1:42:00Speaker 00

  Trevor's loved ones remained struck by the revelation that Hazel was involved in his death and by her lack of remorse for taking him from them. They were also left to contend with the painful task of repeatedly correcting rumours that Trevor had been an adulterer and had taken his own life alongside his lover. The theory, now disproven, that Trevor might have intended to escape the car but had been unable to do so, haunted them in the years that followed. Trevor's sister said of Hazel: "She has robbed me of my brother, wrecked mum and dad's lives, and left the children without a dad who would have loved and supported them."

• 1:42:47Speaker 00

  Lesley Howell hadn't even been buried yet when Colin penned a lengthy letter to Hazel Buchanan that he had passed on to her through a mutual friend. It read, in part:

• 1:43:00Speaker 00

  Hazel, the pastor has given me the message from you that although with your heart you want you and me, you now realise with your mind that it is best that we never get together again. Is that true? I must know, because if it is, you must ring me and only to say, "It is true." Don't allow me to think there is hope if there is none. You will kill me. I can accept it now if you say it, but I can't allow myself to progress to find out later. And you must decide now about our future and not wait and see. I will not ever try and change your mind, no matter how lonely I get.

• 1:43:45Speaker 00

  If, in your heart Hazel, you really think it is over for us, then you must say it. If you can say without doubt that we can overcome these problems given by the pastor, then say yes to me and don't look back. We will meet with the pastor and tell him our plans. We will ask him to counsel us if he agrees. We will be honest and open and not secretive. We will lose many friends who won't accept us, but we can walk down the street together, proud of each other, because from now on, we are forgiven and will be disciplined and will honour God. I have taken a mother from my children, but God will provide for them, and I only hope and pray it can be you.

• 1:44:31Speaker 00

  But only if you accept in your mind as well as your heart. Love, Colin.

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