Neighbours tell of house of horrors

From the Wiltshire Times, first published Friday 27th Jan 2006.

CLARKE MURDER TRIAL: DUSTMAN Kenneth Nurdin told a court of his terror after finding the bloodied bodies of his next-door neighbours in their home.

Mr Nurdin told Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday how he ran to the house shared by Milroy and Joan Clarke in the early hours of December 7 after being woken up by their son Michael.

Martial arts expert Clarke, 21, is accused of murdering Milroy, 70, and Joan, 56, at their home in Berryfield Park, Melksham, on December 6, 2004.

They suffered 31 stab wounds between them. Clarke denies the charges.

Describing the moment he found the bodies, Mr Nurdin said: "I thought Roy had had a heart attack so I was shouting for him. As I went up the stairs I still couldn't understand why Joan didn't answer.

"Halfway up I could see him (Mr Clarke) lying part in the bedroom and part in the landing facing towards me.

"His eyes were open, staring. There was dark blood on his face. I went on up. I felt Roy's neck, he was cold. He was dead, there was no doubt about it."

He said Mr Clarke was wearing a smart shirt and trousers and a pair of shiny brown shoes, which was odd because he "had a real thing" about people wearing shoes inside the house.

After finding Mr Clarke, Mr Nurdin started looking for Mrs Clarke and as he passed the bathroom said he noticed a mark, which looked like a bloodstain, on the sink.

He then went to the spare bedroom at the front of the house.

He said: "I put my head round the door but I didn't go in. I got part way in and got very scared. What if there was still someone there?"

In a statement made to police he said: "I've never been so scared in all my life so I legged it."

He ran outside and alerted another neighbour Stephanie Cooke.

Together they went back to the house where they went into the spare bedroom and discovered Mrs Clarke curled up on the floor beside a chest of drawers.

Mrs Cooke broke down in tears as she told the court how she had first seen Mr Clarke's body as she climbed the stairs.

She described the body as "bloody" and said she noticed a line across his throat.

In evidence read to the court Wiltshire Ambulance technician Martin Holdstock described what he saw when he entered the house.

He said Mr Clarke had what appeared to be multiple lacerations to the head and neck with some wounds up to four inches in length.

He said: "There was a great deal of blood but it appeared to have stopped. It was dry. I didn't notice blood on the floor around his head."

He then saw Mrs Clarke in the spare bedroom. He said her wounds were similar to those on her husband and there was heavy bloodstains on her clothes.

The trial continues

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