Wife of ex-commando who stabbed neighbors to death over parking dispute narrates how her husband was battling mental health problems since leaving Afghanistan,
Kylie Reeves told detectives that her 14-year-old partner, Colin Reeves, had been suffering since returning from the war-torn country where she worked as a driver with the Royal Engineers in 2009.
He told officers ‘his head is not in the right place’ during an interview with officers investigating the double murder of Stephen and Jennifer Chappell.
Mr Reeves, 35, stabbed them both to death at his home in Taunton, Somerset on 21 November last year – using a ceremonial dagger he had been given when he left the army in 2017.
He denied murder at Bristol Crown Court, but admitted to killing the couple on grounds of lesser responsibility.
Colin Reeves, pictured here with his ex-wife Kylie Reeves, has admitted to killing his neighbors in a parking row
The jury played a recording of the interview Mrs Reeves gave to Avon and Somerset police after the murder.
She told officers that Reeves struggled at Remembrance Sunday because of his time in the military.
He said: ‘He’s not the same since he came back from Afghan. About two or three weeks ago we had heart to heart til and his head was not in the right place. He has thoughts about how I would be better off if he wasn’t here. He needs help.
When pressured by the authorities about his mental anguish he said: ‘He just bottles it up, never talks about his feelings.’
Reeves appeared clearly upset during his wife’s video testimony and wiped tears from his eyes before sliding forward with his head in her hands.
Kylie Reeves, pictured arriving at Bristol Crown Court here today, said her husband was not the same man after returning from Afghanistan.
Mrs Reeves told officers that on the evening of the murders she had asked her husband to separate for two weeks because their relationship was strained.
Recalling what happened next, he said: ‘He was downstairs for a while and I was watching TV upstairs.
It must be quarter past nine. I heard the screaming so I went downstairs, went to the front room, I couldn’t see Colin.
‘But I saw that the picture of his army was on the floor of the front room. He took out his dagger.
Reeves had placed ceremonial daggers in glass picture frames with images of him during his military service.
His wife told officers she called her mother-in-law, Lynn Reeves, and told her ‘I think Colin did something stupid’
She continued: ‘As soon as I called Lynn, I saw Colin and he told me to call the police.
‘He went to the front room with our house phone and closed the door and called the police.
‘So I called Lynn again and asked her to come. I said “I think he went next door and stabbed them” so I was on the phone with him and then she (and husband Brian) came over and they went to the front room with Colin.
The former soldier has admitted that Stephen and Jennifer Chappelle (pictured) were stabbed to death with a ceremonial dagger, but denies murder on the grounds of lesser responsibility
‘I think I went up because my kids woke up and then Lynn called the police again. It took ages for the police to arrive. And when they came they took Colin.
‘I had armed police investigating this in my house. And then my kids went to their aunts because I called them to come pick up the girls. So we went downstairs and dropped the kids and then I went back home and was asked to pack a bag.’
Mrs Reeves said that initially she and her husband were friends with Stephen and Jennifer Chappelle. However, their relationship soured due to constant skirmishes over parking.
Mrs. Chappell, 33, had learned to drive and got a new car last year.
Her husband parked his car at its designated spot, so he had to leave it on the road, which partially blocked Reeves’ vehicle.
Mrs Reeves told officers that her husband had a fight with Mrs Chappelle. She said: ‘It had been bothering him for months, he just let it go. But it got to the point where he was finding it difficult to get in and out of his allotted parked space.
‘ So he just said to them one day “Look, you can’t park there, you’re making it difficult for me.” Her husband had already hit the Collins car.
Mrs Reeve said she too had problems with Mrs Chappelle because of the parking lines.
She said her neighbor was ‘sneaking at me’ from behind her window, adding: ‘If I were in my kitchen she would walk past and she would always laugh at me, stick her fingers at the camera. I could never go and run the school without him making me dirty.’
Mrs Reeves later testified in person via a video link from an office in the court building, preferring to avoid being in the courtroom itself.
Defending which was cross-examined by Martin QC, Mrs Reeves said that prior to the murders, her husband, who worked as a lorry driver, had dark thoughts while alone in his cab all day.
Court sketch of Calling Reeves in the dock at Bristol Crown Court. His ex-wife said Mr Reeves was working as a lorry driver at the time of the murders, which he was struggling with.
He said: ‘He told me he was struggling because he was alone in the lorry and was contemplating leaving us and we would be better off without him, which is not the case.’
She said she plans to take him to the doctors if these feelings continue for two more weeks but said ‘it’s too late.’
Mrs Reeves said she didn’t want to go to the doctor: ‘He didn’t want to take any medicine because he thought he wouldn’t be able to drive and our bills would not be paid.’
Reeves stabs Mr. and Mrs. Chappelle after climbing over their fence and entering the back door of their house.
The couple were in the living room. After Reeves shouted ‘Die f*****s, die’ the two were stabbed six times each and left lying in a pool of blood on the floor.
hearing continues