A former soldier has been convicted of murder for stabbing his neighbours to death in a row over parking. Collin Reeves, 35, was on trial at Bristol Crown Court for the murders of Jennifer Chapple and Stephen Chapple on November 21 last year while their children were asleep upstairs.
Reeves and his family were neighbours to the Chapples in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, outside Taunton in Somerset, and had been in a dispute over parking since the previous May. The defendant denied murder, claiming the offence was one of manslaughter with diminished responsibility due to his diagnosis of depression.
Today (Friday, June 17), a jury convicted him on two counts of murder after five hours and 21 minutes of deliberations. Reeves did not react as the verdicts were read out.
Read more: Doctors clash over ex-soldier's mental health claims
Mr Justice Garnham adjourned Reeves’ sentencing hearing until Tuesday and thanked the jury for their work on the case. The Chapples’ family, who were seated in the public gallery, held hands as the verdict was returned and many of them were in tears.
Reeves’ wife Kayley, who had told her husband she would like a trial separation less than an hour before the murders, wept and was able to hold her husband’s hand in the gaps in the glass of the dock for a few seconds before he was led to the cells. Read the full details of the trial as covered by Somerset Live here.
The court had previously heard how on November 21, 2021, Reeves armed himself with a dagger, climbed over the tall fence separating his garden from that of his neighbours, and entered their home. Once inside he stabbed them multiple times in their living room, while their two young children slept upstairs.
Reeves then climbed back over the garden fence and went back into his house, where he telephoned the police to tell them he had stabbed his neighbours. When police and other emergency services arrived at the scene both of his victims were dead.
Investigations showed there had been an ongoing dispute about the use of the designated parking spaces outside their respective houses. One of the disputes in November 2021 was captured on the Chapples' Ring doorbell.
Reeves pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder on the basis of diminished responsibility. He was convicted of murder by a jury at Bristol Crown Court today.
Joanna Clark of the CPS said: “The Prosecution’s case from the outset was that [Collin] Reeves murdered Jennifer and Stephen Chapple in a brutal and deliberate attack in what should have been the safety of their own home, whilst their young children were asleep upstairs. Reeves sought to avoid responsibility for murder by claiming his actions were the result of PTSD linked to his previous army service.
"Two psychiatrists agreed that although Reeves suffered from mild to moderate depression this was not sufficient to be considered abnormal mental functioning that could lead to diminished responsibility. The jury agreed with the prosecution case and convicted Reeves of two counts of murder.
“Our thoughts are with the family of Jennifer and Stephen Chapple at this difficult time."
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