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Killer in the family podcast
A true crime podcast exploring men who kill their families.
Killer in the family podcast
Episode 31 - The Newman Family
In February 2016 Geraldine Newman and her two children Shannon and Shane were murdered by their estranged husband and father Paul Newman in Leeds. With a history of domestic abuse and having served a prison sentence for an assault on Geraldine, Paul Newman was released and monitored by police for two years but was left free to kill his whole family. We step behind the headlines to share the profoundly tragic story of the Newman family, whose lives were cut short by a familiar yet menacing shadow of domestic abuse.
This is the story of the Newman Family.
Information and support
- Samaritans UK Contact Us | Samaritans
- National Domestic Violence Helpline UK 0808 2000 247
- Women’s Aid www.womensaid.org.uk
- Mental health support USA I'm looking for mental health help for myself | Mental Health America (mhanational.org)
- Domestic abuse helpline USA 1.800.799.SAFE Domestic Violence Support | National Domestic Violence Hotline (thehotline.org)
References
Allerton Bywater murders: Silence for Castleford mother and two children (wakefieldexpress.co.uk)
Allerton Bywater man killed wife and children - BBC News
Credits
Hosted and created by Clare Laxton @ladylaxton
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Hi there and welcome to Killer in the Family podcast. I'm your host, clare Laxton, so before we start this episode, I want to let you know that you can now send me a text message through my podcast. At the top of each episode note there's a link to send me a text, so you can just click on that and it will send me a text and it will come through to me on my podcast platform, buzzsprout. So please do use that to suggest an episode. Leave me a comment or a review, and I've just had such a great five-star review come in this week from Jack so I just really wanted to share it with you as well. So Jack says Claire hits a perfect balance with these podcasts of telling harrowing and devastating stories in a non-sensationalised way. From the victim perspective. As a parent of two young girls, they're very difficult to listen to at times, but they're gripping and important. I look forward to the releases each week. Keep up the great work. Thank you so much, jack, and thank you for being an amazing listener and for all your support. Do keep the reviews coming in and keep story suggestions coming in too. So you can get in touch with me on insta at killer in the family pod or by sending me a text from the episode notes and I'll add all your suggestions to my list, which, I'm, very sadly, is quite a long one and growing. So let's get into this episode.
Speaker 1:In February, geraldine Newman and her two children, shannon and Shane, were murdered by their estranged husband and father, paul Newman, in Leeds. With a history of domestic abuse and having served a prison sentence for assault on Geraldine, paul Newman was released and monitored by police for two years, but then was left free to kill his whole family. This is the story of the Newman family. This episode is going to be a really tough listen, not just because it involves the horrific and brutal murder of family, but also because I think it's the first time that we've talked about a man who's killed his whole family, who had previously actually been to prison for assault on his wife, so a clear sign of abuse and violence. I've relied on news articles for this episode and I think this is the first podcast episode on the case because I couldn't find one and I really hope I can do justice to Geraldine, shannon and Shane and their families and friends, and you know how I actually believe that their deaths could have been prevented. So Geraldine, or Gerry to her friends Newman was 51 years old when she was killed by her estranged husband, paul Newman. Just to flag that, there was one news article that said she was 52, but all the others said 51, so I'm going to stick with that. Living with her two young children, shannon aged 11, and Shane aged 6, in a village just south of Leeds in West Yorkshire, she had finally left her abusive husband and was looking forward to a life spent with her children spent with her children Born to parents, mary and Thomas. Geraldine also completed many, many fundraising runs for charities such as Cancer Research UK, and she was actually a volunteer at Age UK as well. She clearly had a huge heart and her life revolved around children and helping others.
Speaker 1:At the time of her death, geraldine was a successful branch manager at Wilco's in Castleford. She'd worked there for 23 years and had worked her way up from floor supervisor to branch manager and had really built up a strong network of friends and colleagues there. So for my non-UK listeners, wilco's is a store where you can sort of get everything you need, maybe like a Costco in North America, though definitely not as big. And after the murders a spokesperson for Wilco's said quote this is tragic news and has devastated everyone who worked with Geraldine, as well as impacting team members across the company. Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences are with family, friends and colleagues.
Speaker 1:So Geraldine married Paul Newman in 2002 after he proposed on a clifftop in Anglesey. Couldn't find loads about how they actually met and got together, just that they got married in 2002. And they welcomed two children into their lives Shannon, who was 11 when she was killed, and Shane, who was six years old when he was killed. They lived together in Allerton-by-water, a small village with a population of around 4,000. It's just sort of south of Leeds, north of Castleford and in West Yorkshire in northern England.
Speaker 1:11-year-old Shannon was in year seven at st wilfred's catholic high school when she was killed. Helen gilroy, the acting head teacher at the school, said quote shannon was a bright, intelligent, enthusiastic, hard-working and caring student. Shannon was popular among her peers and will be greatly missed by all members of our community. Shane was at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School. His headteacher, sarah Spencer, said that he was quote a caring, lovable young boy who was full of fun, enjoyed school and have lots of friends. She said he will be missed by all here at St Joseph's School and the whole of this close community. So there's obviously, you know, a lot of love for the family and the kids. You know they're popular, they're fun and they're caring kids as well. So you know, it's really nice to see how much people valued the family.
Speaker 1:Now again, I couldn't find loads of information about Paul Newman, but in articles about this case he's referred to as an unemployed driver, so I'm not really sure what that means potentially a lorry driver or delivery driver. He was 42 years old when he killed his whole family and then took his own life and apparently, when Newman and Geraldine had their children, he agreed to stay at home and look after them while she continued her career at Wilco's. So here we have the Newman family seemingly happy in their West Yorkshire village Paul looking after the kids and Geraldine enjoying a successful career in retail. But, like so many cases we've explored on the podcast, all was not as happy as it seemed.
Speaker 1:In October 2013, newman was jailed for 17 weeks for a brutal assault on Geraldine. Apparently, he thought she was having an affair and subjected her to a two-day assault, which I think actually should have been classed as attempted murder. We'll talk a bit more about it later on, he was actually released from prison by Christmas 2013,. So served you know not that long of his sentence and in lots of news articles about this case, you sort of see people saying, well, this was the only incidence of violence that we knew about. He was never violent or angry at other points and he was only violent at this point because he thought she was having an affair, which is horrific justification, by the way. But I just think, and as lots of people who listen, who work with survivors of domestic abuse or in that sector, it's so unlikely that a two-day vicious assault that nearly ended in the death of Geraldine was the first ever time Newman was violent. As we'll also hear, he was very controlling. So I believe that this was a violent and abusive marriage where there was probably more than one incidence of physical violence.
Speaker 1:Now, after Newman was released from prison, he was monitored by police and, I assume, probation. He was assessed as low risk and discharged from monitoring. A couple of years later Now, about nine months after he got out of prison in September 2014, geraldine took Newman back for the sake of the children and tried to create a happy family life. This is another strong indication that there was control here. I have no doubt that Newman manipulated his way back into her and the children's lives and by the next year, geraldine was telling friends and family that Newman was being violent again and controlling where she went and who she saw. She didn't want to go back to the police, but actually told family and friends that she was terrified of him. In late 2015, she actually kicked him out after another instance of violence where he was also violent towards Shannon as well, and Geraldine had obviously had enough and wanted him out of the house. Just two months later, newman killed Geraldine, shannon and Shane and then took his own life. Natalie Hampton Dodd, a friend of Geraldine, told the Yorkshire Post that police gave Newman a licence to kill by ending their monitoring of him. She said, quote when he attacked her in 2013, he virtually left her for dead. He was jumping on her head, but when he was released from prison he was categorised as low risk. How is that possible? He should have been told to stay away and leave her alone.
Speaker 1:On the 2nd of February 2016, neighbours of Geraldine Newman were concerned because they hadn't seen her or the children that morning, which was very unusual, so they called the police and the police went around for a welfare check. What they found would stay with them for the rest of their lives. Indeed, a paramedic who attended the scene was so distressed that they had to be treated for post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD afterwards. And we often talk about how, you know, attending these scenes must impact on first responders and I just you know I really can't imagine the impact that it will have on their lives. But this is what police found and what happened on that night on the 1st of February 2016.
Speaker 1:Entering the house, police first found Geraldine. She was on the sofa with a duvet or a blanket covering her, but it was clear that she had suffered greatly. Newman had beat her around the head at least three times with a hammer that he had then left next to her. She was dead. The police then found Shannon and Shane, who were both dead in their bedroom. They died from multiple stab wounds. Shannon was stabbed 12 times in the neck and chest and Shane, just six years old, had been stabbed 10 times in the neck and chest. I would assume that they had been killed whilst they were sleeping, but sadly, shane also had defensive wounds on his hands, so he might have woken up and tried to fend his father off. The children were found covered with a duvet, two palm crosses and a statue of Jesus laid on top of them. Newman also wrote a three-page letter that he left of the house Apparently. It just talked about how much he loved his children, which seems horrifically ironic considering what he had just done to them.
Speaker 1:Now, after he'd killed his whole family, newman then called the children's school to let them know they wouldn't be attending that day. He took Cash, geraldine's mobile phone and left in his car. From Leeds station he took a train to Anglesey where he later took his own life on the cliffs there. His clothes and belongings were found by walkers on the top of the cliff later on that evening and the alarm was raised. Remember that he had proposed to Geraldine 17 years earlier on those cliffs. Now in so many of the news stories that I read there was great detail about his journey, what he did after the murders, how you know what he was wearing and those sorts of things, and actually I don't really want to go into that because actually I want to focus on what he did before he left that house, which was kill his, his whole family.
Speaker 1:Now, at the inquest, coroner Kevin McLaughlin concluded that Geraldine, shannon and Shane were unlawfully killed and Newman took his own life. And when talking about the letter that Newman left, the coroner also said quote the nature of the document is saying how much he treasured his children. No one foresaw what was about to happen and he continued quote we can see a relatively isolated gentleman with some propensity to compulsive behaviour being overwhelmed by a situation that was likely to deprive him of his children, who were so fundamentally important to him. I was genuinely blindsided by this conclusion and felt that it was pure justification of Newman's horrific actions. You'd think that I'd be used to this by now, but the coroner was basically saying, because he loved his children and he was scared of losing them, that he had to kill everyone. That's such an easy conclusion and justification to make it's much harder to believe that his violence and control meant that, as soon as Geraldine took control and threw him out, he was a ticking time bomb. And've seen it before, particularly in the story of Hannah Clark and her children.
Speaker 1:In February 2016, geraldine Newman and her two beloved children, shannon and Shane, were violently killed by their estranged husband and father, paul Newman, who apparently just loved his children so much that he had to kill them. So in the days and weeks after Newman killed his whole family so brutally, we once again have media reporting which follows the pattern we have seen so often in other cases. So, as we know, newman in the past suspected Geraldine was having an affair, and he did this time as well. And just to like flag here, they were separated so there was affair even if she was seeing someone else, which she wasn't. So you know, that really frustrates me because she had actually separated from him so they were not intimate partners anymore and most headlines talked about the fact that he thought she was having an affair, like it was an excuse for what he did. And there was so much justification that because he thought she was having an affair, then he had to murder his whole family. Again, just justification for the perpetrator rather than empathy for the victims. It frustrates me so much, just like media coverage of the letter that Newman left highlights that he said he was sorry but he didn't actually confess to the murders. So like, oh, it's okay, he says he's really sorry that he brutally killed his family. No thanks, mate.
Speaker 1:And alongside this, as you've heard, you've had the coroner and the police both saying that no one could have predicted what he would do. Now I know that Newman had served his time, but if there had been a risk assessment which included coercive control, taken at a time when he was still being monitored after his release from jail, then I genuinely believe someone might have realised how dangerous he might become, especially if the relationship he was controlling was ended. As we know and we talk about so much, separation is such a dangerous time for women and children, as it means a perpetrator can no longer exert their control or abuse over their family. There was so much discussion in the media reports of how much Newman loved his children so much that he violently killed them, and the prospect of potentially losing contact with his children was just more than he could bear. So more excuses for a family annihilator.
Speaker 1:So there was an official review into the murders, which we've talked about before. They're called domestic homicide reviews and, as you know, I'm researching them in my master's dissertation about coercive control and intimate partner homicide, and I've actually just finished my reading and analysis of 160 domestic homicide reviews that occurred since 2016. Homicide reviews that occurred since 2016. But this review concluded that quote none of the family, friends or work colleagues of Mrs Newman or of Mr Newman, had any inkling that such a terrible chain of events was likely to unfold. The same was the case for the agencies with whom Mrs Newman, mr Newman and the children came into contact.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you know, I'm not suggesting that family and friends and work colleagues should know absolutely what might happen here. But Geraldine did say that she was terrified of her husband and there would be, I assume, some sort of custody or contact hearing for the children which does put her in contact with family courts and other agencies like social services. And again, if the police here or probation did a risk assessment involve looking at coercive control, there might have been a different assessment of risk that might have included a bit more protection here. And I would argue that because agencies don't always have an in-depth understanding of coercive control and its dangers, they sort of don't see that danger when someone might come back out of prison and get back into a relationship. So, as I've said, you know he went to prison for assault but to me it was attempted murder. He was jumping on her head and it was continued for two days and he continued his abuse when he got back into relationship with Geraldine, who's controlling and physically violent.
Speaker 1:And the review actually said that Geraldine hadn't accessed the services that were offered to her. So, ok, so it's her fault because she didn't access that help services. Or was it the professional's fault for not assessing and understanding the risk that Newman posed? And I'm not just thinking about police and probation here, even though they do clearly have a role to play, thinking about GPs, schools, employers. We should all be thinking about how we can keep women and children safe in all aspects of their lives, not just waiting until they call the police, just waiting until they called the police.
Speaker 1:And the review, as I mentioned earlier in the episode, also talked about agencies only being aware of that one incidence of violence that Newman went to prison for. Did they not consider that there had been other incidents around, that it's so rare for abusing and controlling men to only commit violence once and then be caught straight away? So the review actually made 39 recommendations for improvements, and one of them was that Leeds Children's Social Work Service reviewed its training in relation to domestic abuse, with particular emphasis on risks associated with separation, and this is hugely welcome as, as we've talked about, I believe, the risks associated with separation just aren't truly understood yet Separation is too often seen as the solution to abusive relationships. Professionals need to know the risks associated with it as well, particularly where there has been coercive control. I truly do feel like Geraldine, shannon and Shane were failed here by a whole range of agencies and professionals, and it really frustrates me that excuses and justifications just get in the way of true change and improvement for victims.
Speaker 1:Now, a few days after the murders, the village of Allerton Bywater held a vigil for Geraldine, shannon and Shane and they held a three-minute silence for them one minute for each victim. Parish councillor Lynn Tomlinson said quote this village is hurting. We're a small mining community and even though the pit is gone, there's still that sense of community here. It's difficult to comprehend. Their friends and neighbours lay flowers and teddy bears outside Geraldine's house in memory of them and place three lit candles in their windows to remember them. This episode is dedicated to Geraldine, shannon and Shane, their family, friends and community and the difference they made to them all.
Speaker 1:This has been Killer in the Family podcast, written and produced by me, claire Laxton, with music from the brilliant Tom made to them all. This has been Killer in the Family podcast, written and produced by me, claire Laxton with music from the brilliant Tom Box and Pixabay. I'll be back next week with another episode, so please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Don't forget to send me any comments or questions on a voice note or DM to my Instagram profile at Killer in the Family pod or through a text in the episode notes. Do let me know any stories you'd like me to cover as well. Until then, I've been claire laxton. This is killer in the family podcast. Until next time, take care, thank you, thank you.
