John Hunt sent heartbreaking text to daughter as Kyle Clifford tied her up and raped her

Warning: distressing content. Crossbow killer Kyle Clifford pretended to be his ex-girlfriend, Louise, and messaged her father, John Hunt, during the harrowing hours he raped and murdered her

Triple killer Kyle Clifford posed as his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt to deceit her father as he tied her up.

The depraved, 26, spent 13 days plotting how to kill Louise, her sister Hannah, 28, and their mother Carol, 61, in cold blood at their family home in Bushey, Hertfordshire. Louise, 25, had bravely ended their 18-month relationship two weeks before the massacre, and while Clifford appeared to be amicable, he secretly concocted a twisted plan.

To get himself in the property, he told Carol, the wife of BBC racing commentator John Hunt, that he wanted to return Louise's possessions. But once inside, he brutally stabbed her to death and waited for Louise to return home from work, before tying her up, raping her and shooting her with a crossbow, the court heard. He then shot her sister Hannah.

Ex-soldier Clifford, who admitted to brutally killing Louise, Hannah and Carol, will today learn his fate after being found guilty of rape last week. In a final insult to the Hunt family, the killer has refused to attend the hearing in person.

Mr Justice Joel Bennathan said: "If the defendant lacks the courage to face today, so be it." Prosecutors are now expected to demand that Clifford be handed a whole-life term.

In the lead-up to the heinous murders, Clifford bought a rope, duct tape, £357 crossbow from an archery company and 10in steel butcher's knife through Amazon, the court heard. CCTV showed him arriving at the Hunt family's home at 2.30pm on July 9 last year and tricking Carol into letting him inside.

After stabbing Carol five times in the chest, he returned to his car to fetch the crossbow and carried it to the house under a white blanket. Louise, who ran a dog grooming business from a pod in their garden, went into the house at 4.12pm, and violent Clifford then restrained her with duct tape around her wrists and ankles and raped her.

During the two-and-a-half-hour ordeal, Clifford sent a text posing as Louise to ask her father, who was working at a race meeting: 'What time are you home?' John later responded: 'Late, I'm afraid. Everything okay, sweetness?' Clifford then replied: 'Just want to check - the races on Saturday start a little later than usual. I think it's 4.30pm-7.30pm. Then there's a famous DJ after racing. Is that sounding okay?'

Louise's beautician sister, Hannah, arrived moments later and went upstairs without realising what had happened. Audio picked up Hannah saying, "Kyle, I swear to God". Hannah then desperately messaged her partner, Alex, for help, telling him to "call police...immediately. To mine. Now. Kyle here. Police now. He's tying us up." The loud noise of the crossbow bolt firing, which killed Hannah, was also captured on audio.

Clifford then fled the scene and chillingly strode past a female neighbour who was stroking a cat on her drive at 6.50pm. He got into his car and placed the weapons in the backseat, 20 minutes before emergency services arrived to the aid of Hannah, who was still alive but sadly could not be saved and later died.

As a huge manhunt ensued, schools in North London were put on lockdown and Clifford's abandoned car was found in the area. After 36 hours, he was found at Lavender Hill cemetery, a five-minute walk from Clifford's address, hiding among headstones.

As police closed in on him, he shot himself in the chest with a crossbow. The cowardly killer was taken by ambulance to Royal London Hospital, where he was treated for "serious injuries" and left paralysed.

John, the father and husband of the three victims, described the killer as "callous, cowardly and vindictive" and was visibly emotional as he read his victim statement to the court today. He said: "When I was first invited to provide a victim impact statement, I initially misunderstood its purpose, do I really need to detail the impact of having three quarters of my family murdered?

"But then I realised that his was my final opportunity to say what I wanted to say, specifically to you, Kyle, words that will also be directed to your family, who will carry guilt forwards with them for the rest of their lives. They knew about the weapons, they knew."

John continued: "I also want to confirm to the world the truth, especially how Louise conducted herself within a textbook mature break-up on her part, understanding the conflict of saying goodbye to someone she once loved, but not allowing those memories to cloud her certain knowledge that you, Kyle, simply failed to be the person she needed. You failed."

"I am so proud of all my girls. Unlike you, Kyle, at every step of their lives, they made the correct choices to improve themselves as people. Louise, she enjoyed more success and fulfilment in one morning than you achieved in your entire miserable life." John went on to say "the screams of hell" would be waiting for Clifford, adding: "They're going to roll the red carpet out for you."