Episode 52 - The Fox Family

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What happens when a seemingly idyllic life in a small Irish village turns into a horrifying tragedy? Join us as we uncover the grim tale of the Fox family from Castle Daly, Ireland, forever etched in the annals of true crime history. In this heart-wrenching episode, we honor the memories of Debbie Fox and her two young sons, Trevor and Killian, whose lives were brutally taken by Debbie's husband, Gregory Fox, in 2001. With insights from Nicola Tallant's compelling book, "Flesh and Blood," we explore the chilling realities of coercive control that shattered this family's world, while challenging the pervasive narratives that often blame victims rather than holding abusers accountable.

This is the story of the Fox Family.   

Information and support  

• Samaritans UK Contact Us | Samaritans  
• National Domestic Violence Helpline UK 0808 2000 247  
• Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA) Home - AAFDA 
• Women’s Aid Home - Women's Aid 
• National Domestic Abuse Helpline UK 0808 2000 247 
• Mental health support USA Mental Health America | Homepage | Mental Health America 
• Domestic abuse helpline USA 1.800.799.SAFE Domestic Violence Support | National Domestic Violence Hotline  

References  

Flesh and Blood: Murder-Suicides that Haunt Ireland eBook : Tallant, Nicola: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store 

'I loved her but she didn't love me and I went mad' | Irish Independent 

Sentencing closes horrific chapter for local people – The Irish Times 

Man gets three life sentences for murders 

BLOODY HORROR OF A SPURNED HUSBAND: HE KILLED THEM ALL. - Free Online Library 

Credits  

Hosted and created by Clare Laxton @ladylaxton  

Produced by: Clare Laxton   

Killer in the family podcast (buzzsprout.com) 

Music from Pixabay. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Tragic Fox Family Case
• 11:41 Lethal Domestic Violence

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi there and welcome to 2025. I hope that you all had great festive breaks, and welcome to episode 52 of Kill it In the Family. Great festive breaks and welcome to episode 52 of Killer in the Family. If you love true crime and are passionate about raising awareness of issues like coercive control, then you are in the right place. Over the break, I actually met a few podcast fans and wanted to give a big shout out to my new friend, sarah, who I met and who I know is an avid listener. We had lots of chats about true crime, so here's a big shout out, sarah, and thank you so much for your support. I also wanted to let you know that, as part of my consultancy business, I can support you, your charity or business, with launching a successful podcast and everything that you might need. For the first few episodes, I'll put a link to my website and email address in the episode notes, but get in touch if you'd like to chat about it. Now let's get into this episode. I'm not sure if you caught my 2024 wrapped for the podcast at the end of last year, but I'm so proud that the pod is being listened to in over 60 countries and over a thousand cities. The most popular city was Dublin. So the first episode of this year is a case from Ireland and it's for all my Irish listeners.

Speaker 1: 1:59

In 2001, in Castle Daly, westmeath in Ireland, the bodies of 30-year-old Debbie Fox and her two sons, nine-year-old Trevor and seven-year-old Killian, were found dead in their home. They had been killed by husband and father Gregory after Debbie told him that she was leaving. He is now serving three life sentences for their murders. This is the story of the Fox family. This is going to be a really tough listen team and as usual, I've listed places where you can get information and support if you need it in the episode notes. For this episode I've mostly used news articles, particularly from the Irish Independent and the Irish Times, and also a book called Flesh and Blood Familiar Sides and Murder Suicides that Haunt Ireland by Sunday World Investigations editor, nicola Talent. All sources for the episode are listed in the episode notes as well. And, just to note, I tried really hard to make sure my pronunciations of places and names are right and I really hope they are, but please let me know if not and I will do better next time. So let's get on and learn about the Fox family Now.

Speaker 1: 3:42

Sadly, I really couldn't find too much about Debbie and her childhood. I think she was from Dublin and born around 1970-1971, as she was 30 years old when she was killed. Her family have been so traumatised by what happened to her and her sons and they haven't spoken to the media at all about what has happened. So while I don't know a lot about Debbie, she has been described as a really friendly woman and a great mother to her two sons. What I do know is that Debbie and Gregory or Greg Fox, who is also from Dublin, were married in 1990. Now most news reports say that Fox was 36 when he killed his wife and children, but a couple of 32 years old. So I'm gonna go with 36, as that's what most news reports say. But I just wanted to flag that discrepancy. So the couple stayed in Dublin and Trevor was born in 1991, with their youngest boy, killian, following in 1994. And just to point out as well, there was one news article which spelt Killian with a C, but most of them spelt it with a K. So that's what I've gone for as well, but just to point out that discrepancy too.

Speaker 1: 5:01

Now the family apparently moved to a place called Port Tarlington, which is a town about 43 miles west of Dublin before buying a grocery and petrol station in Castle Daly. Now Debbie and Fox and Trevor and Killian moved to Castle Daly in the year 2000. It was 18 months before Debbie and her sons were killed by Fox and they bought this petrol station and grocery shop and it had like a house attached and they bought it from a local guy called Sean Kelly. So Castle Daly is about 38 miles west of Port Harlington and 72 miles west of Dublin. It's a village in County Westmeath has a church, community centre, pub, a GAA pitch, which is Gaelic Athletic Association, and a children's playground. So a pretty, you know, normal village town that you would find across the country. Now, apparently the business was really successful and because of you know that they ran a grocery shop and a petrol station. They met people really quickly after they moved in. Locals obviously would pop in to the shop, get petrol, get milk, get their paper and, according to Nicola Talent's book, debbie worked in the shop most days and was really popular with the locals. She was friendly and seemed to be book. Debbie worked in the shop most days and was really popular with the locals. She was friendly and seemed to be enjoying their new life in the village. Now apparently Debbie told her new neighbours that they had moved to the village for their sons to attend St Kieran's school, which was nearby.

Speaker 1: 6:40

Now, although some news articles have quoted the Fox's neighbours as saying the couple got on really well and seemed really nice and happy together, as we know there is often a different story underneath. In actual fact, fox was described as a domineering, bully and very controlling in the relationship. One of Debbie's friends talked to the Irish Mirror about their relationship and described a litany of controlling behaviours from Fox throughout their relationship. Nicola's book says, quote he decided what make-up she wore and the lengths of her dresses. I remember one night a woman friend wanted Debbie to go with her to see Bridget Jones's diary but Greg would not allow her. He said going to the cinema would lead to go out to the pubs, which would lead to her go clubbing, so he stopped her. Now that sounds pretty controlling to me, and another example of Fox's control and domination in the relationship is what he did to Debbie and his two sons. But more on that later.

Speaker 1: 7:42

Now I'm hearing about Fox's behaviour. I'm actually wondering if they moved out of Dublin so he could keep Debbie away from her friends and family and things like pubs and clubs. It wouldn't be the first time we've talked about a controlling husband who has uprooted his family away from their community and neighbours and family and friends to assert his own control and keep their partner away from dissenting voices. Now, by the time they had moved to Castle Daly, it seemed that Debbie had become sick of Fox's abusive and controlling behaviour and had decided that she wanted to leave him. In some news articles it talks about her being in love with someone else, but I couldn't find out loads about that. What does seem to have happened is that she had decided to leave Fox and his abusive ways and had told him. It also turned out that Fox had actually moved out of the family home about a month before he decided to kill his wife and children.

Speaker 1: 9:18

So on saturday, the 28th of july 2001, neighbors of the Foxes were turning up to their grocery store and petrol station around 9am to, you know, get their morning paper, get their milk, fill their car up, and they found it all closed up. This was very unusual and although the Foxes hadn't been in Castle Daly that long, neighbours knew that something wasn't right and this was confirmed. When they investigated, they saw that the family car was still was in the driveway with all the doors open. This definitely didn't seem right at all. Upon further investigation by their neighbours, one of them actually looked through the kitchen window of the house that was attached to the shop and petrol station and, to their absolute horror, saw the bloodied body of Debbie lying on the floor, Immediately calling the Garda.

Speaker 1: 10:13

By around 10am, the house, petrol station and grocery shop were swarming with investigators. Garda officers used a hammer to break into the Fox's house and what they found would stay with many of them for the rest of their lives. It was an awful scene, one detective told the Sunday World, as quoted in Nicola Tallent's book. One detective told the Sunday World, as quoted in Nicola Tallent's book. I just can't imagine what people were faced with when they walked into their home.

Speaker 1: 10:54

And if that description wasn't awful enough for you, let's talk about what the Garda found that summer morning. Firstly, they found 30-year-old Debbie. She was dead on the floor in the kitchen and was surrounded by a pool of blood. Upstairs, nine-year-old Trevor was in his bedroom and seven-year-old Killian was in his bedroom. They had both been stabbed multiple times and were both dead. Legarda then found Fox himself. He had cut his wrists and was lying on the floor behind a counter in the shop. He was not dead and indeed survived where his wife and two children didn't.

Speaker 1: 11:41

This is what happened in those early hours of the morning before Debbie and Fox went on a night out to the village pub called Fitzgerald's, and when they got back to their house she told him that she was in love with someone else and that she definitely wanted to leave him. Clearly not happy about this, fox took his one final act of control. This is going to be a really tough listen, by the way. Apparently, he repeatedly punched Debbie in the face. She fell against the table and smashed some bottles. He then took a broken bottle of Budweiser and stabbed her in the neck with it. He then got a kitchen knife and stabbed her in the chest and throat and I can imagine at this point Debbie was in a huge amount of pain and probably dying on the floor.

Speaker 1: 12:30

But Fox was not finished. He went and got a hurley and another knife from the storeroom. So a hurley is a stick that's used in the Irish game of hurling. It looks a bit like a hockey stick, so a pretty powerful weapon. And he took the hurley and he beat Debbie, who was at this point lying on the floor bleeding to death over the head with it. Repeatedly he fractured her skull with the hurley and the post-mortem showed that Debbie had multiple defensive wounds so was fighting for her life until she died. He then took this large knife and went upstairs to the bedrooms of his two sons. This is just awful. Fox stabbed his two children 47 times Now, according to Nicola's book, trevor, the eldest boy, took the brunt of Fox's violence, as his father stabbed him 31 times.

Speaker 1: 13:32

Trevor had defensive wounds on his hands which showed that he put up quite a fight against his father, literally fighting for his life, and Killian was stabbed 16 times and also apparently fought back fighting his father for his life. One news article said that the boys both begged their father not to kill them. I just can't. Now there is a news article which has loads of quotes from Fox on what he did that night, but I don't want to give him loads of air time, so I'll just use this one quote. I didn't want the kids to wake up and see their mum like that, so I decided to kill them. I went to the bedrooms and stabbed them. After he was discovered and the Garda found Fox was still alive, he was taken to Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinslow where he was treated and watched over by Legarda.

Speaker 1: 15:05

Now, as with so many cases we talk about on the podcast, the brutal murders of debbie trevor and killian shocked not only their small village but the wider community of Ireland and Dublin, where Debbie and Fox were from. There was so much anger towards Fox that when he was discharged from hospital a few days after he'd killed his wife and two children and was taken for official questioning, there were crowds of people shouting and kicking the car he was in. I'm sure you've seen those sort of videos on the news where people are sort of crowding like a police van and things like that. The community were angry and wanted to see justice done. They and Debbie Trevor and Killian's family had to wait, however, as Fox was declared medically unfit for trial due to the self-inflicted injuries to his arms and hands. Fox eventually stood trial in November 2003, over two years after the murders. Thankfully, he pleaded guilty and Debbie's family didn't have to be put through a harrowing trial.

Speaker 1: 16:12

Before sentencing, the courtroom heard from deputy state pathologist, dr marie cassidy, about the post-mortems of debbie trevor and killian. Dr cassidy stated that debbie died from blunt force trauma and deep wounds to the head and neck. As we've said, she also had various injuries to her hands, which was consistent with defensive wounds and her fighting for her life. Dr Casti also stated that Trevor died from multiple injuries to the face, neck and chest. Again, he had defensive wounds and fought for his life. Killian also died from multiple injuries to the chest. He also had stab wounds on his arms and legs from defending himself.

Speaker 1: 16:57

As well as the horrific brutalities of the murders, what Debbie Trevor and Killian injuries show, and something we've spoken about many times before, is that the most dangerous time for women and children, when they are at most risk of homicide, is when they are leaving an abusive relationship, especially one with a coercive controller. As I've talked about in my master's dissertation and the 135 domestic homicide reviews I analysed of women killed by their partner or ex-partner, coercive control was identified as the biggest risk factors, with separation also identified as a risk factor too. We have to talk about how dangerous it is, even though it doesn't always involve physical violence. After admitting responsibility for the murders of Debbie Trevor and Killian Fox, greg was sentenced to three life sentences to be served concurrently and is still in prison to this day.

Speaker 1: 17:58

One of the things that has really frustrated me about this case is the constant victim blaming from Fox himself, but also in the media. You'll see just from what the news articles are called in the notes section how the media treated the case. One headline was literally quote I loved her but she didn't love me and I went mad. Not only does that put Fox front and centre of the story, but puts the blame clearly on Debbie for not loving Fox. The only source that I read that even referred to Fox's controlling behaviour was the book by Nicola Talent. Another headline you'll see in the episode notes from a news article referred to a spurned husband, again placing the blame clearly on Debbie. It's so disappointing that sentencing didn't include remarks about his abusive ways and why Debbie might have wanted to leave him. I've said it before and I'll say it again leaving your partner or having an affair is not a justification for murder. I was also really disappointed not to see more discussion of the clear overkill of both Debbie and the boys.

Speaker 1: 19:11

Debbie was not only punched and stabbed with a broken bottle, but she was also stabbed with a knife and then very deliberately was hit over the head with a hurley, which Fox had to go and get. He had plenty of opportunity to stop what he was doing If he genuinely felt rage and red mist, but he didn't. He decided to hurt Debbie in all those different ways and very deliberately decided, after he had stabbed her and she would surely be dying, that he wanted to get the hurley and inflict even more pain on her. That is overkill. We've talked about overkill before, and it's a classic trait of intimate partner homicides that are motivated by power and control. Not only did Fox inflict overkill on his wife, but his children as well. We talked about how many times he stabbed them as they begged for their lives. His actions were not to save them from seeing their mum dead, but to save himself from having to explain what he had done. Fox talks of the rage he felt and how he went mad when he knew that Debbie wanted to leave him.

Speaker 1: 20:23

If we go back to the four types of family annihilator that we talked about right at the start of this podcast, in 2023, fox is a classic self-righteous family annihilator. The description of this type is quote he seeks to blame his partner or ex-partner for the annihilation will have often been controlling, possessive within the family in the past, narcissistic and dramatic both in the method by which the annihilation takes place and his statements prior to the murders. Narcissistic and dramatic both in the method by which the annihilation takes place and his statements prior to the murders. Will take his own life, or make serious attempts to do so, partly to avoid being judged by the criminal justice system. The horrific overkill and the murders of his children clearly shows that the murders of Debbie Trevor and Killian were not an act of rage or red mist. It was an act of selfish control and none of Fox's apologies could ever change that. This episode is dedicated to Debbie Trevor and Killian Fox, to their lives ended much too soon by the one person who should have loved and protected them the most. We remember them.

Speaker 1: 21:33

This has been Killer in the Family podcast, written and produced by me, claire Laxton. I'll be back next week with a new episode. Don't forget to send me any comments or questions to my insta at killerinthefamilypod or through the text via the link in the episode notes. Do let me know any stories you'd like me to cover as well. Don't forget that you can also buy me a coffee and, if you like the podcast and help support its running. The link is in the episode notes and thank you so much to everyone for your support so far. Until then, I've been Claire Laxton. This is Killer in the Family podcast. No-transcript.