It was shortly after one a.m. on Monday, February 19th, 1990. Thirty-year-old Kevin Childerley was asleep in bed next to his thirty-two-year-old wife Denise in their terraced house on Sherwood Street, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottingham, England. The couple had two small children in the house, five-year-old Emma and five-month-old Ben, who were also fast asleep, as well as a sixteen-year-old babysitter who had stayed over with the children after having spent the evening watching them when the Childerleys were out with friends.
At some point during the night, at least two men broke into the house, armed with an axe, a chisel, and a knife, and proceeded to attack the sleeping couple.
Kevin was struck seven times in the head and face with the axe, causing severe injuries to his skull. His wife was also hit several times with one of the weapons; she would ultimately survive the attack but would require one-hundred-sixty stitches and lose her right eye as a result.
The three others in the house were unharmed; the sixteen-year-old babysitter later told police that she had awakened during the ordeal and heard screaming and moaning, but in her half-asleep state, hadn’t thought much about it and drifted back off.
Neighbors who heard the commotion, though, called the authorities, but by the time they arrived, Kevin had succumbed to his injuries. A post-mortem later found that not only had he been bludgeoned with an axe, but he also had a wound on his chin that appeared to have been made with a chisel. There was also a bloody footprint stamped onto his back.
Witnesses reported seeing a man running from the direction of the Childerley home at about two in the morning; this individual was described as being a slim man in his late twenties, a little over six feet tall, clad in paint-splattered overalls, a brown leather jacket, and a dark-colored hat with a pom-pom on top.
During the inquiry, investigators discovered that Denise Childerley had received threatening letters about her husband for a short time about three years earlier and that she had also started getting mysterious phone calls about a week before the murder. Whoever was on the other end of the line always hung up the phone when she answered, she told police.
Eventually, two unnamed men were arrested in connection with the crime; one was thirty-two, and the other was twenty-seven. It turned out that ten months after the murder, Denise had been watching Crimestoppers on TV and suddenly had memories of the attack come flooding back to her; previously, she had been unable to recall what the assailants had looked like. Now, though, she confidently identified the thirty-two-year-old suspect.
The man and his associate were placed on trial about a year after Kevin Childerley’s slaying. Denise’s recollection of the crime was the centerpiece of the prosecution’s case, but there was also the testimony of a witness who had known the two men in prison. He claimed that the older suspect told him that two other men had come to his house and threatened him to tell them where Kevin Childerley lived.
It was also reported that the older suspect had a grudge against Kevin concerning a house he had bought from the victim some time before, in which some agreed-upon repairs were never made. The same suspect was also found to have lied about losing an axe he got from his father, which was found to still be in his possession, and that he also lied about a diary entry he had made, in which he had written the word “bastards” next to Kevin Childerley’s telephone number.
The evidence was admittedly thin, and once a neurologist took the stand and asserted that there was no way Denise Childerley could have a clear memory of the man who attacked her after the extent of her injuries and the time that had passed, the tide began to turn. It was also discovered that Denise herself had a criminal record including several convictions for fraud and theft. Although she insisted her recollection of the crime was real, her testimony was largely disregarded, and the two men were ultimately acquitted in March of 1991.
Strangely, Kevin’s brother Vernon had likewise been murdered years before, in 1977. His killer was convicted, though he had been released by the time Kevin was slain. Authorities did not believe there was any connection between the two crimes, however.
The terrifying murder of Kevin Childerley remains unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 