Thaindian News

London, Nov 19 (IANS) A British dentist has admitted murdering his wife and the husband of his former lover 20 years ago, after elders at his church urged him to give himself up.

Two decades after he cheated justice, 51-year-old Colin Howell confessed to the Belfast Crown Court Thursday that he had gassed his wife Lesley, 31, and Trevor Buchanan, a 32-year-old policeman, and left them to die in a fume-filled car, the Daily Mail reported.

Howell had called police to say that his wife was missing since May 19, 1991. He managed to convince police that Lesley and Buchanan had taken their own lives in a suicide pact.

Her body was found in the boot of the family’s car on the Londonderry coast in Northern Ireland. Buchanan was found slumped in the front seat.

Howell told the court he had set up the death scene to suggest suicide.

He admitted to having an affair with Buchanan’s wife, Hazel, and said their partners had taken news of the betrayal badly.

He said they had counselling at their local church in Coleraine, Londonderry, and told an inquest that he regretted the pain his actions had caused them.

Howell was arrested last year and detectives reopened the investigation in January.

Hazel Stewart, 47, who remarried and had two children, is due to stand trial next week. She has so far denied the murder charges against her.

In the years after the murders, Howell became a successful dentist who charged up to 10,000 pounds for treatment. He remarried, had four more children and moved to a large seven-bedroom home with its own lake.

He was very religious and organised lunchtime Bible studies at his clinic. Ravaged by guilt, Howell confessed the murders to his new wife, Kyle, and finally admitted his crimes in the court Thursday.