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04/05/2011
'Killer Dentist' Victims' Inquest Renewed
The first phase of a new inquest into the deaths of Northern Ireland couple Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan is now underway after two murder convictions turned the original suicide verdict on its head.
It aims to set the record straight after the victims' respective partners were jailed for their murders, with a coroner's court hearing in Belfast told today that a second hearing will take place before the end of next month.
However, that's still two decades after their bodies were found in an apparent suicide pact when the pair were found gassed in a car on the north coast in May 1991 and the original inquest ruled they had taken their own lives.
Dentist Colin Howell (pictured) and Sunday school teacher Hazel Stewart have recently been convicted of their murders.
Gordon Buchanan, brother of one of the victims, told the Belfast inquest preliminary: "What the Buchanan family wish is that the record is set straight and that any record is accurate and reflects the truth of what happened."
The court heard that Howell, 52, and Stewart, 48, concocted a story at the inquest which covered up the truth that they murdered their spouses.
The trials showed that dentist Howell used a hosepipe attached to a car exhaust to gas the pair separately while they slept at their respective homes in Coleraine, Co Londonderry.
He then drove them to a garage in Castlerock where they were later found. Stewart did nothing to stop him as he arrived to kill her husband.
The hearing was instigated after Gordon Buchanan wrote to the coroner in April and following correspondence from the Attorney General stating that "there should be formal recognition that two persons were murdered and did not take their own lives".
The initial 'suicides' investigation was reopened when Colin Howell confessed to the murders in January 2009 which led to the former dentist serving 21 years after he pleaded guilty to the killings.
His ex-lover, Hazel Stewart was convicted of the double murder of her policeman husband and her former lover's wife in March.
See: NI 'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
(BMcC/GK)
It aims to set the record straight after the victims' respective partners were jailed for their murders, with a coroner's court hearing in Belfast told today that a second hearing will take place before the end of next month.
However, that's still two decades after their bodies were found in an apparent suicide pact when the pair were found gassed in a car on the north coast in May 1991 and the original inquest ruled they had taken their own lives.
Dentist Colin Howell (pictured) and Sunday school teacher Hazel Stewart have recently been convicted of their murders.
Gordon Buchanan, brother of one of the victims, told the Belfast inquest preliminary: "What the Buchanan family wish is that the record is set straight and that any record is accurate and reflects the truth of what happened."
The court heard that Howell, 52, and Stewart, 48, concocted a story at the inquest which covered up the truth that they murdered their spouses.
The trials showed that dentist Howell used a hosepipe attached to a car exhaust to gas the pair separately while they slept at their respective homes in Coleraine, Co Londonderry.
He then drove them to a garage in Castlerock where they were later found. Stewart did nothing to stop him as he arrived to kill her husband.
The hearing was instigated after Gordon Buchanan wrote to the coroner in April and following correspondence from the Attorney General stating that "there should be formal recognition that two persons were murdered and did not take their own lives".
The initial 'suicides' investigation was reopened when Colin Howell confessed to the murders in January 2009 which led to the former dentist serving 21 years after he pleaded guilty to the killings.
His ex-lover, Hazel Stewart was convicted of the double murder of her policeman husband and her former lover's wife in March.
See: NI 'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
(BMcC/GK)
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A murderer, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of a British couple on their honeymoon in Antigua in July 2008, has escaped from Her Majesty's Prison on Thursday . Ben and Catherine Mullany from Pontardawe in Wales, were married two weeks before being shot by Avie Howell and his accomplice Kaniel Martin.
16 March 2011
NI 'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
Co Londonderry killer, Hazel Stewart has been sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in jail for the murders of her first husband and former lover's wife. Mrs Stewart, 49, was convicted earlier this month of the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan.
NI 'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
Co Londonderry killer, Hazel Stewart has been sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in jail for the murders of her first husband and former lover's wife. Mrs Stewart, 49, was convicted earlier this month of the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan.
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A showery start with outbreaks most frequent north of Lough Neagh and through the morning, before dwindling during the afternoon as the northwest breezes ease and brighter spells of weak sunshine prosper. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A dry night, save for a few light showers around the coasts, with prolonged clear spells and light winds bringing a frosty dawn for many in central and southern parts. Minimum temperature -3 °C.
