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A former soldier who stabbed his neighbours to death following a row over parking has been found guilty of murder.
Jennifer Chapple, 33, and her 36-year-old teacher husband Stephen were knifed to death at their home in Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset, while their children slept upstairs.
Afghanistan veteran Collin Reeves, 35, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming he was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning, but denied murder.
A trial at Bristol Crown Court heard that Reeves and his family lived next door to the Chapples in a new-build development in Dragon Rise, and had fallen out over designated parking spaces.
There had been a number of angry exchanges between them, including an incident in which Reeves called Ms Chapple a “f***ing c***” and a “fat b****”.
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Reeves, who served with the Royal Engineers and completed the gruelling commando training, used the ceremonial dagger he had been given when he left the army to carry out the stabbings, the trial heard.
The jury was told he had been experiencing problems in his marriage, and that about 40 minutes before the attack on 21 November last year, his wife, Kayley, had asked for a trial separation.
He was caught on a security camera climbing the fence separating his garden from the victims’ garden, and entering through their back door.
A few seconds later Ms Chapple can be heard screaming in terror, with Reeves shouting: “Die, you f***ers, die”.
Ms Chapple was killed while she was sitting on the sofa, while Mr Chapple’s body was found close to the back door.
Tributes laid for Stephen and Jennifer Chapple in Norton Fitzwarren (Andrew Matthews/PA)
(PA Archive)
Reeves dialled 999 minutes after the killings. In a recording of the call, he can be heard in the background telling someone, believed to be his mother Lynn, “I couldn’t let [her/them] torment Kayley any more.”
When officers arrived at the scene, they found the Chapples’ two children still sleeping upstairs at their home.
Reeves said he had little memory of the killing, but recalled sitting on the stairs in tears after the conversation with his wife. He claimed he did not remember taking his dagger out of the picture frame in which it was usually displayed.
The defendant, who had previously recounted his fear of CCTV cameras and being under surveillance, said the next thing he recalled was a bright light coming on, and trying to get down on his front.
At the police station he appeared confused, and when asked his name responded “Lance Corporal Reeves, Sir”, stating his service number.
Ten days before the killings, Reeves was caught on camera approaching Ms Chapple outside her house following an earlier exchange between her and his wife.
He accused Ms Chapple of “f***ing gobbing off, you cheeky little b****”.
A conversation ensued that included further obscenities.
Two forensic psychiatrists concluded that Reeves was not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or psychosis, but diagnosed him with moderate and mild depression respectively.
Both said he could be suffering from “dissociative amnesia”, a condition common in perpetrators of domestic murder who are unable to process what they have done.
Dr John Sandford, for the prosecution, said: “This is nothing to do with depression – it’s a reaction to a traumatic act, something that is usually a reaction to something you’ve done rather than something done to you.”
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