75 - Pathological: The murders of Lesley Clarke & Trevor Buchanan

Mens Rea: A true crime podcast

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True Crime, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2020

⏱️ 68 minutes

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Summary

In May of 1991, the bodies of Lesley Clarke and Trevor Buchanan were discovered in a fume filled car, parked in Lesley's deceased father's garage. The deaths were ruled a tragic double suicide - probably the result of the affair that Lesley and Trevor's spouses were carrying on together. But 18 years later, a startling confession would launch a renewed investigation into the deaths, this time as a case of murder. The prime suspects were the victim's spouses - Colin Howell and Hazel Buchanan. ******** With thanks to our sponsors for this episode: Sign up for professional online counselling at betterhelp.com/mensrea and get 10% off your first month! Get $20 off your fertility hormone test kit at modernfertility.com/mensrea Get $5 off an evening of crime solving in your own home with unsolvedcasefiles.com using the code MENS ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ******** Theme Music: Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Additional Music: Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ ******** Sources: Deric Henderson Let This Be Our Secret (Dublin: Gill & McMillan, 2011) Purchase here “Colin Howell' estranged wife 'will not face charges'” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-24978359 (17 November 2013) “Man suspects Colin Howell over father's death” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-12643326 (4 March 2011) Deborah McAleese, “Killer dentist Colin Howell got payout of £400,000 after death of wife” in The Belfast Telegraph https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/killer-dentist-colin-howell-got-payout-of-400000-after-death-of-wife-28589652.html (17 February 2011) “Killer dentist Colin Howell: Failed hunt for Japan's war gold triggered my confession” in The Belfast Telegraph https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/killer-dentist-colin-howell-failed-hunt-for-japans-war-gold-triggered-my-confession-28590107.html (18 February 2011) “Howell conned out of life savings” in The Belfast Telegraph https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/howell-conned-out-of-life-savings-28574522.html (3 December 2010) “The secret life of Colin Howell” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-12606874 (2 March 2011) “Dentist Colin Howell admits double murder” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-11784184 (18 November 2010) “Inside the mind of Colin Howell” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-12733348 (15 March 2011) “Who is Hazel Stewart?” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-12383602 (2 March 2011) “Hazel Stewart found guilty of murder” from RTE News https://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0302/298225-stewarth/ (2 March 2011) “Murderer Stewart could have saved husband” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-12756395 (16 March 2011) Nicola Weir, “Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan: police 'overlooked murder clues'” from BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-16038375 (6 December 2011) “Dentist Colin Howell pleads guilty to indecent assaults” in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/news/dentist-colin-howell-pleads-guilty-to-indecent-assaults-1.574319 (18 May 2011) Maurice Fizmaurice and Chris Kilpatrick, “Killer dentist Colin Howell's £587k pension axed after convictions for groping patients” from Belfast Live https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/killer-dentist-colin-howells-587k-11249818 (6 May 2016) Bimpe Archer, “Colin Howell: 'A Devious plan pre-meditated in a manner that might be described as professional” from Irish Central https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/01/29/news/colin-howell-a-devious-plan-pre-meditated-in-a-manner-that-might-be-described-as-professional--1538496/ (29 January 2019) Henry McDonald, “Hazel Stewart, policeman's wife who hid terrible secret for nearly 20 years” in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/mar/02/hazel-stewart-murder-colin-howell (2 March 2011) Natalie Corner and Chris Kilpatrick “The Secret: Colin Howell's nine children divided as its revealed only one of them visited him in prison” in The Mirror https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/secret-colin-howells-nine-children-8014417 (20 May 2016) “Hazel Stewart verdict 'no cause or celebration'” in The Belfast Telegraph https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/hazel-stewart-verdict-no-cause-for-celebration-28594100.html (2 March 2011)

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to be here.
0:13.0	You know?
0:15.0	You know?
0:16.0	You know?
0:17.0	You know?
0:18.0	Oh, You know?
0:20.0	You know? Oh, Colin Howell was born in March of 1959 and grew up in the Wood Vale District of Belfast, a predominantly Protestant area.
0:52.0	He had two brothers and two sisters and was the second youngest of the lot.
0:55.9	The Howells were a close family with his mother Sarah staying at home and his father
1:00.8	working for the government training center.
1:04.0	It was an ideal childhood in the less than ideal setting of 1970s Belfast.
1:10.4	Howell attended Shankill Baptist Church and went there three times on a Sunday.
1:15.0	He went to Cave Hill Primary School and then on to the boys model school in Belfast.
1:20.0	He did reasonably well in his studies but didn't really fit in with the athletic and macho culture of the school in general.
1:27.5	In the mid-70s his family moved to Porta Down and Colin was more comfortable in Portadown College.
1:34.6	At the end of his schooling he missed out on medicine as his grades weren't good enough and
1:39.7	he settled instead on dentistry at Queens. There he kept to himself. He was very
1:45.4	religious which didn't lend itself to the general activities at university. His lack of
1:51.1	participation in university's social life wasn't isolated to college clubs and nights out though.
1:56.5	Colin Howell didn't really date girls either.
1:59.5	He did become fond of porn magazines though.
2:02.8	But in 1980 he met Leslie Clark, who was a student nurse at Queens.
	...

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