In a gripping new BBC documentary, the chilling confessions of double-murderer Colin Howell have been broadcast to the public for the first time. This has understandably left the daughter of one of his victims, Lauren Bradford-Clarke, deeply distressed.
Howell, a former dentist from Coleraine, Northern Ireland, confessed to the 1991 murders of his wife Lesley Howell and his lover’s husband, police officer Trevor Buchanan. For years, the deaths were believed to be a tragic suicide pact after the spouses discovered the affair. However, Howell walked into a police station 18 years later and admitted to the killings.
In the documentary “Confessions of a Killer,” Howell’s recorded interviews with police are featured, including his disturbing account of how he involved his co-accused and former lover, Hazel Stewart, in the murders. Howell described Stewart, a former Sunday School teacher, as “another one of his unfortunate victims.”
Bradford-Clarke, who is now an assistant professor of criminology, says she had requested to hear the confession tapes in advance of the broadcast, but was disappointed when the BBC denied this request. She expressed the immense difficulty of having to hear Howell’s voice, which brought back “feelings of shock, horror and trauma.”
“It has been very, very difficult to come to terms with,” Bradford-Clarke told BBC News NI’s Evening Extra programme. “I think that if I had been given an opportunity to prepare and hear them in advance at least it would have given me a slight bit of distance from it being broadcast.”
The murders sent shockwaves across Northern Ireland, and the case has been extensively covered in the media, including an ITV drama. Howell was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in prison, while Stewart received a minimum of 18 years for her role in the killings.
In 2025, Stewart failed in a legal bid to secure a reduction in her sentence, claiming she had been under Howell’s coercive control at the time and that new medical evidence should be considered.
Bradford-Clarke says she is not opposed to coverage of the crimes, and is contributing to a separate documentary. However, she feels that the focus has been too heavily on the perpetrators, with an “omission” of her mother and Trevor Buchanan’s stories.
“My mum was just an incredible person; she was vivacious and feisty and accomplished so much. She is the reason I strive to live how I live,” Bradford-Clarke said.
The two-part BBC documentary includes interviews with people who knew the Howells and Buchanans, as well as journalists who reported on the killings.
