Former partners of 'suicide pact' couple charged with their murders 18 years on

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/feb/02/suicide-pact-couple-murder-charges

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For nearly 20 years the deaths of the wife of a dentist and an officer of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, had been believed to be a suicide pact.

The body of Lesley Howell, 30, wearing Walkman earphones and clutching photos of her four children in her hand, was found lying on the back seat of a car. Trevor Buchanan, 31, was lying dead on the front seat of the car, which was filled with exhaust fumes inside the garage of a house in the seaside town Castlerock in County Derry in May 1991.

An inquest was told that no crime was suspected, and returned verdicts of suicide.

Last Thursday Colin Howell, 50, who runs a business offering dental implants, and who over the intervening years has become a born-again Christian, contacted what is now the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Officers went to his firm's premises the next day.

Today Howell appeared at Coleraine magistrates court charged with the ­murder of his wife and Buchanan. Standing in the court charged with the double killing was Buchanan's former spouse, Hazel Stewart, 45.

Neither spoke other than to say they understood the charges against them.

Howell, from Ballymoney in County Antrim, was remanded in custody until Monday. Stewart was granted bail totaling £15,000, though the crown objected.

Stewart sat in court with her head bowed as the officer heading the murder investigation stated that he believed she would kill herself if released from custody. Detective Inspector Ian Magee said his objection to bail was on the grounds of her welfare and safety.

He told district judge Richard Wilson: "There is a clear intimation to me and my team that, should she be released, she may well take her own life. It would be my main concern."

Her solicitor, Steven Hastings, said he believed the threat would be no less viable if his client was remanded in custody to Hydebank prison in south Belfast.

Magee said: "She has the support of her husband, but it is very difficult to keep an eye on someone 24 hours a day."

The officer also accepted that Stewart also had the support of two of her children, aged 25 and 26, who cared for and loved her. And he agreed that staying with the three of them was a safe environment where she could be looked after.

Stewart's husband David, a retired senior police officer, was called into the witness box. He told the court he had no doubt she would not cause him or her children any difficulties, and he would undertake to do everything to keep her safe.

His wife had an extremely close relationship with her children and they considered her to be their best friend.

Judge Wilson said he was prepared to grant bail. He hoped the defendant would be well looked after on her release.

Howell has also remarried. His appearance in court lasted two minutes. He looked pale and drawn as he was led handcuffed into the dock, replying "yes" when asked if he understood the charges. He will reappear in court next Monday.

His business, Causeway Dental Implant Clinic in Ballymoney, issued a statement over the weekend explaining why it had shut. This followed the presence of police forensic officers outside the practice on Friday last.

• This article was amended on Thursday 5 February 2009 to correct an uploading error. It was further amended on Tuesday 24 February 2009 to correct information in the first and fifth paragraphs, which wrongly referred to Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan as lovers.