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04/05/2011
Howell Inquest To 'Set Record Straight'
The first phase of a new inquest into the deaths of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan is now underway in the North.
It aims to set the record straight after their respective partners were jailed for their murders, with a coroner's court hearing in Belfast told today that a second hearing will take place before the end of next month.
However, that's still two decades after their bodies were found in an apparent suicide pact when the pair were found gassed in a car on the north coast in May 1991 and the original inquest ruled they had taken their own lives.
Dentist Colin Howell (pictured) and Sunday school teacher Hazel Stewart have recently been convicted of their murders.
Gordon Buchanan, brother of one of the victims, told the Belfast inquest preliminary: "What the Buchanan family wish is that the record is set straight and that any record is accurate and reflects the truth of what happened."
The court heard that Howell, 52, and Stewart, 48, concocted a story at the inquest which covered up the truth that they murdered their spouses.
The trials showed that dentist Howell used a hosepipe attached to a car exhaust to gas the pair separately while they slept at their respective homes in Coleraine, Co Londonderry.
He then drove them to a garage in Castlerock where they were later found. Stewart did nothing to stop him as he arrived to kill her husband.
The hearing was instigated after Gordon Buchanan wrote to the coroner in April and following correspondence from the Attorney General stating that "there should be formal recognition that two persons were murdered and did not take their own lives".
The initial 'suicides' investigation was reopened when Colin Howell confessed to the murders in January 2009 which led to the former dentist serving 21 years after he pleaded guilty to the killings.
His ex-lover, Hazel Stewart was convicted of the double murder of her policeman husband and her former lover's wife in March.
See: NI 'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
(BMcC)
It aims to set the record straight after their respective partners were jailed for their murders, with a coroner's court hearing in Belfast told today that a second hearing will take place before the end of next month.
However, that's still two decades after their bodies were found in an apparent suicide pact when the pair were found gassed in a car on the north coast in May 1991 and the original inquest ruled they had taken their own lives.
Dentist Colin Howell (pictured) and Sunday school teacher Hazel Stewart have recently been convicted of their murders.
Gordon Buchanan, brother of one of the victims, told the Belfast inquest preliminary: "What the Buchanan family wish is that the record is set straight and that any record is accurate and reflects the truth of what happened."
The court heard that Howell, 52, and Stewart, 48, concocted a story at the inquest which covered up the truth that they murdered their spouses.
The trials showed that dentist Howell used a hosepipe attached to a car exhaust to gas the pair separately while they slept at their respective homes in Coleraine, Co Londonderry.
He then drove them to a garage in Castlerock where they were later found. Stewart did nothing to stop him as he arrived to kill her husband.
The hearing was instigated after Gordon Buchanan wrote to the coroner in April and following correspondence from the Attorney General stating that "there should be formal recognition that two persons were murdered and did not take their own lives".
The initial 'suicides' investigation was reopened when Colin Howell confessed to the murders in January 2009 which led to the former dentist serving 21 years after he pleaded guilty to the killings.
His ex-lover, Hazel Stewart was convicted of the double murder of her policeman husband and her former lover's wife in March.
See: NI 'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
(BMcC)
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07 June 2011
Inquest Verdict 'Carbon Monoxide Poisoning'
A second inquest has today found that two people in the North murdered by disgraced dentist, Colin Howell and his lover Hazel Stewart were the victims of "homicidal carbon monoxide poisoning". Trevor Buchanan, a 32-year-old policeman and Mrs Howell, 31, were found in a car in a fume-filled garage in the seaside town of Castlerock, Co Londonderry.
Inquest Verdict 'Carbon Monoxide Poisoning'
A second inquest has today found that two people in the North murdered by disgraced dentist, Colin Howell and his lover Hazel Stewart were the victims of "homicidal carbon monoxide poisoning". Trevor Buchanan, a 32-year-old policeman and Mrs Howell, 31, were found in a car in a fume-filled garage in the seaside town of Castlerock, Co Londonderry.
15 February 2011
Bizarre Double Murder Trial Continues
Defence counsel for a Co Londonderry woman accused of freely taking part in the plot to kill her own husband and her then lover's wife, have claimed that dentist Colin Howell was forcing the accused, Hazel Stewart against her will to be complicit in the deadly plot.
Bizarre Double Murder Trial Continues
Defence counsel for a Co Londonderry woman accused of freely taking part in the plot to kill her own husband and her then lover's wife, have claimed that dentist Colin Howell was forcing the accused, Hazel Stewart against her will to be complicit in the deadly plot.
06 December 2011
RUC Double Suicide Murder Probe 'Failed'
Major failures in a high profile murder case 20 years ago have been criticised today. Despite evidence that one of the killers had made no less than three attempts to direct attention to the Co Londonderry garage where apparent 'suicide victims' were eventually found, police detectives in the North failed to ask why he had such prior knowledge.
RUC Double Suicide Murder Probe 'Failed'
Major failures in a high profile murder case 20 years ago have been criticised today. Despite evidence that one of the killers had made no less than three attempts to direct attention to the Co Londonderry garage where apparent 'suicide victims' were eventually found, police detectives in the North failed to ask why he had such prior knowledge.
23 February 2011
Killer Dentist 'Used Gas To Sedate Lovers'
A high profile murder trial in the North has heard that the accused, Hazel Stewart, feared her former lover - a dentist - gave her too much laughing gas before a sex session on his dentist's chair. Mrs Stewart, 47, is denying murdering her husband, Trevor Buchanan, 32, and her former lover Colin Howell's wife, Leslie, 31, in May 1991.
Killer Dentist 'Used Gas To Sedate Lovers'
A high profile murder trial in the North has heard that the accused, Hazel Stewart, feared her former lover - a dentist - gave her too much laughing gas before a sex session on his dentist's chair. Mrs Stewart, 47, is denying murdering her husband, Trevor Buchanan, 32, and her former lover Colin Howell's wife, Leslie, 31, in May 1991.
16 March 2011
'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
Co Londonderry killer, Hazel Stewart has been sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in jail for the murders of her first husband and former lover's wife. Mrs Stewart, 49, was convicted earlier this month of the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan.
'Suicide' Killer Gets 18 Years
Co Londonderry killer, Hazel Stewart has been sentenced to a minimum of 18 years in jail for the murders of her first husband and former lover's wife. Mrs Stewart, 49, was convicted earlier this month of the murders of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan.
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Ireland WeatherToday:Dry, bright start this morning with best of sunshine in the west. Thickening cloud over Down and Antrim this morning with a few showers, extending westwards this afternoon. Lighter winds. Maximum temperature 16 °C.Tonight:Rather cloudy and mainly dry at first, then showery outbreaks of rain extending westwards to most places during the night, turning heavier towards morning. Light winds. Minimum temperature 8 °C.
