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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 64 - The McElhill Family
In November 2007 29 year old Lorraine McGovern and her five children – Caroline, Sean, Bellina, Clodagh and James - were killed in a fire in their home in Omagh, Northern Ireland. The fire was set deliberately by Lorraine’s partner Arthur McElhill who also died in the fire. McElhill was a convicted sex offender who groomed and abused many teenage girls including his partner Lorraine. A review into the murders found that authorities could not have stopped their deaths – I am not so sure.
This is the story of the McElhill 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
‘Help me, I’m burning’ - chilling last words of Omagh blaze teen | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
BBC News - Who was Arthur McElhill?
BBC News - Sex abuser McElhill killed his family in Omagh fire
McElhill fire deaths: Relatives sue for damages - BBC News
McElhill fire murder house in Omagh is demolished - BBC News
Northern Ireland Assembly debate McElhill/McGovern Tragedy in Omagh: 8 Feb 2010: Northern Ireland Assembly debates - TheyWorkForYou
Adolescence links:
Adolescence: ‘I left the No 10 roundtable with a sense of optimism.’ | The Children's Society
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Hi there and welcome to Killer in the Family podcast, and it's great to be back after a bit of a break. I hope you enjoyed the bank holiday bonus episode on adolescence as well, and I'd be really interested to hear your feedback what you thought of the show if you watched it. I've already had a few bits of feedback and one important thing I wanted to flag is that apparently there is a charity who will be working with schools to provide educational resources for teachers and students to go alongside adolescents, which is great news. There is also a blog that a brilliant listener sent me about the meeting the PM had with Netflix and children's charities, so I've added a couple of these links in the episode notes, so do take a look. So let's get straight into this episode, which was suggested to me by a brilliant listener who messaged me on Instagram. Thank you so much for the suggestion, and if any of you want to get in touch and recommend a case, then drop me a DM on at killer in the family pod or send a text through a link in the episode notes. So let's get straight into this.
Speaker 1:29-year-old Lorraine McGovern and her five children, caroline, sean, belina, clodagh and James, were killed in a fire in their home in Omar, northern Ireland. The fire was set deliberately by Lorraine's partner and all the children's father, arthur McElhill, who also died in the fire. Mcelhill was a convicted sex offender who groomed and abused many teenage girls, including his partner, lorraine. A review into the murders found that the authorities could not have stopped their deaths. I am not so sure this is the story of the McElhill family, so this is going to be a really tough listen team. I mean, all our episodes are as you know, but this guy is a real bag of crap. Now, as usual, there are links to information and support in the episode notes, if you need it Now for this episode, I've relied a lot on news stories and the official review into the murders to piece together what happened to Lorraine and her children.
Speaker 1:So let's start with Lorraine McGovern, who was born in Ireland on the 22nd of September 1978. She was just 29 years old when she and her five children were killed by her partner and their father In what is becoming a classic trope for this podcast. I couldn't find out loads about Lorraine's childhood, but she had two loving parents, kevin and Teresa, who continued to fight for her even after she had been killed. Now, although I've said I couldn't find much about Lorraine's childhood, in reality she didn't have much of a childhood. Unfortunately. When she was 15 years old she met and was groomed by a man who would father her children and ultimately go on to take her life. And when you know, I said at the start of the episode that this guy is a real bag of crap. I was not exaggerating. I don't know exactly how they met, but the official review into the murders of Lorraine and her children stated that in sort of late 1993, 15-year-old Lorraine met Arthur McKellhill and formed an intimate relationship with him. Now I believe that he groomed her and he sexually abused her. He was 22 years old at the time and had already been convicted of aggravated burglary and sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl when he met Lorraine. Now, lorraine and McElhill went on to have five children together and lived together latterly in Omar in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Now, the name of Omar might be familiar to some listeners, as it was the site of a horrific car bomb in 1998 which killed 29 people and injured hundreds more. Now, before we go on to talk about Lorena McElhill's children and family, I guess we probably have to talk about him. I actually really don't want to, but the depravity of this man is important context for what happens later on.
Speaker 1:Arthur McElhill was born on the 5th of October 1971 1971 in edinie in county firma in ireland. He was born into a big family. He had eight brothers and sisters. He was born to parents, charles and patricia mckell hill, who in a statement after the murder said, quote as parents we've already always tried our best for our children. The duty of any parent is to teach their children the. Now the official review into the murders states that by late 1988, so when McHale Hill was about 17 years old, he was experiencing some really severe mental health issues and he'd actually tried to take his own life. Now, after he tried to take his own life, he was admitted to Tyrone and Fermar Hospital and was discharged later that year. He remained under the mental health care of the hospital until the next year and had regular contact with a mental health social worker in that period.
Speaker 1:Now, apparently in October 1992, mcelhill was, according to the official review, quote involved in an accident where the car he was driving was shot at and his passenger wounded. Was driving was shot at and his passenger wounded. Now I couldn't find out loads about this, but it was clearly an important incident in his life and apparently had quite an impact on him. And it's really important to flag here that McElhill also struggled with alcohol dependency throughout his life and his abuse of alcohol was a common factor in many of the crimes that we will discuss throughout this episode. Now we're going to talk through sort of McElhill's criminality, his relationship with Lorraine and his children, and there might be quite a few dates and sort of different occurrences that we talk through. But you know, stay with me because it's all really important context and history.
Speaker 1:Now it was in 1993, the year that he met Lorraine, where McElhill's criminality really ratcheted up. He caused unknown harm to his victims throughout the rest of his life. That year he attacked a 17-year-old girl in her her bedroom and he was also convicted. This is when he was convicted of the aggravated burglary and sexual assault. So I think that he was trying to burglarize the house that she lived in, but that's not actually said anywhere, so I'm not 100% sure on that. But the girl who was attacked by him told the BBC quote he punched away. I was calling out for help. He was like a frenzied animal. I thought I was going to die. I just didn't think I would survive. To be honest, he also, according to the BBC, attacked another 17-year-old girl at the same time who was in a caravan. She said quote the attack that I went through was very, very quick, very intense and very violent. I was terrified. I remember just feeling helpless. I didn't know I was going to live through it. It was somebody who knew exactly what he was doing and knew exactly what he was there to do, and someone like that doesn't change. This just sounds just absolutely horrific experience for both these girls and I can imagine that it took a lot for them to move on and process what happened to them that night at the hands of McElhill.
Speaker 1:Now, as we said earlier, mcelhill was convicted of those sexual assaults and aggravated burglary by the time he met Lorraine in late 1993. So I was sort of thinking how could he have met her if he'd already been convicted? Well, piecing the timeline together and through the official review into the murders, it seems that when he was convicted, his sentence was deferred for six months and I think it was in those six months that he met, built a relationship, groomed, sexually abused and it turned out, impregnated 15 year old Lorraine. What an absolute piece of crap. So he did go to prison after that six month deferent, but just served half of his three-year sentence. Now I could do a whole other podcast about the shamefully short sentences people get for violent and sexual assaults on women, but let's just agree that not only was three years not enough, but the fact that he only served half of it meant that he could continue his sex offending ways sooner than he originally thought.
Speaker 1:Now, at this point Lorraine was pregnant with McElhill's child. He was in prison and Lorraine gave birth to Caroline McGovern a month before her 16th birthday. Now, apparently Lorraine didn't tell McElhill about the pregnancy until she was about eight months pregnant and at the point at which she gave birth to Caroline, she continued to live with her parents in County Caven in Ireland, and when he got out of prison in County Caven in Ireland and when he got out of prison, mcelhill lived with his parents too, but in Omar, northern Ireland. Now, caroline McGovern was just 13 years old when she was killed by her father. She was a brave, brave girl more on that later and was described as a as bright and bubbly by Celia McGinn, who was vice principal of Sacred Heart College in Omaha where Caroline was a year nine pupil. Now, on the 10th anniversary of the murders, celia told the Belfast Telegraph, quote she was a lovely, placid girl, always smiling. She was so bright and bubbly and very pleasant to talk to. She had many friends and was so easy to get on with. We have a beautiful piece of artwork that Caroline's classmates made for her following her tragic death on Show in the Corridor, and Caroline's school picture sits in a frame in the school's oratory, a quiet place where students can go to reflect and pray. We remember Caroline and her family at this time of this very difficult anniversary.
Speaker 1:A couple of years after Caroline was born, in July 1996, lorraine took her to Omar to live with a sister of McElhill, while he stayed living with his parents nearby. According to the official review into the murders, he was a regular visitor of Lorraine and Caroline in that period. Just a few months later, mcelhill was again arrested for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl. He was later convicted of that assault and placed on the sex offender register, prompting the involvement of social services with Lorraine and Caroline. Now, at this point, lorraine and McElhill still didn't live together. She was still living with his sister when he went to serve his sentence in prison and so, because he was in prison, the child protection case for Caroline was closed.
Speaker 1:Now again, mcelhill did not serve his full prison sentence and was released in August 1999 and went to live with his parents. Now, as you would expect, he was under the order of probation services and required to check in with them regularly for the next two years. Probation services and were required to check in with them regularly for the next two years. Later on that year, in September 1999, caroline was again placed on the child protection register, deemed to be at risk from sexual abuse from her father. At this point her and her mother, lorraine, moved to a house nearby in Omar, at Lammy Crescent. There were multiple discussions and case conferences within social services and case conferences are basically meetings which involve lots of different professionals about whether mckell hill should be permitted to move to lammy crescent to be with lorraine and caroline. Eventually, about a year later, in late november 2000, he did move into for Lammy Crescent with Lorraine, caroline and a new baby, son Sean, who was born on the 18th of April 2000. Sean was just seven years old when he was killed by his father in that very house.
Speaker 1:Now, at the end of this year, social services closed the child protection case that they had with the family. They were satisfied with the engagement of McElhill with his probation officer and the progress he was making. A few years later, his sex offender status was reduced from medium risk to low risk. And in this time, lorraine McElhill's third child was born. Belina was born on the 26th of June 2003 and was just four years old when she was killed by her father. Now, according to the official review into the murders, lorraine experienced postnatal depression after she gave birth to Belina and sought treatment for it from her doctor. I wonder at this point if she was asked any questions about the father of the child and their relationship and whether she felt safe at home of the child and their relationship and whether she felt safe at home. I just don't know. And in the next couple of years, lorraine and McElhill's final children were born. On the 7th of April 2006, clodagh McElhill was born and on the 21st of January 2007, james McElhill was born. Clodagh was just one year old and James just 10 months old when they were killed by their father. They were never even given a chance at living their lives and the next piece in.
Speaker 1:This story takes place in 2007, when social services became engaged with the family again, but not about any of their children. It was about a teenage girl, whose name will never be mentioned, who was spending a lot of time at Lorraine and McElhill's house. There were concerns about her safety and by September that year, this teenage girl was refusing to come home to her mother, and the police were called to an incident involving this teenage girl, her mother and the McElhill family in the Lammy Crescent house. Now it's not 100% clear, but there's a BBC report that at this time, mcelhill was grooming and sexually abusing a 16-year-old babysitter they had in the house. Now, I don't know if it's the same girl I think it might be but he had definitely been sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in his own house.
Speaker 1:Now, if this wasn't horrific enough, in a final piece of absolute crappery, in a final piece of absolute crappery, mikkel Hill was also grooming a young girl on the social networking website Bebo. I literally cannot believe this, but he was actually using a photo of his seven-year-old son as his profile picture on Bebo to try and create friendships with young girls. This guy was not only not low risk, he was actively posing a risk to girls using his son's face for his activities. Just honestly, I cannot. I literally cannot with this guy. And just a month before the horrific fire that killed his whole family, 13 year old Caroline actually called the police during an argument between Lorraine and McElhill, but no further action was taken. It's thought by friends, family and neighbors that McElhill was abusive towards Lorraine she was seen with bruises and he seemed violent towards her, and it would not surprise me if he was abusive and controlling. He groomed Lorraine from the age of 15 years old, when he was 22, and I have no doubt that he held control over her and their children for the rest of her life. But by sort of mid-November 2007, it's thought that Lorraine was getting ready to leave McElhill. Unfortunately, it would be his, not hers, final act of control that would prevent her and her children from getting to safety. So On the 13th of November 2007, neighbours in Lammy Crescent in Omar awoke in the early morning hours to the sounds of a blaze and glass breaking.
Speaker 1:Nearby, the house of Lorraine McGovern and Mackell Hill for Lammy Crescent was on fire and both parents and their five children were all in the house. Emergency services were called immediately and neighbours tried to put up ladders to the windows to try and help the family escape. But despite their best efforts, they were unable to save the lives of anyone in the house that day. They were unable to save the lives of anyone in the house that day, a neighbour told the Belfast Telegraph, quote the blaze was huge, absolutely raging. The rescue services were there, trying to do anything they could to get anybody out. They just simply couldn't. And when they did, it was too late. Everybody had gone. It was too late, everybody had gone. 29-year-old Lorraine, 13-year-old Caroline, 7-year-old Sean, 4-year-old Belina, 1-year-old Clodagh and 10-month-old James all died from either carbon monoxide poisoning or smoke inhalation. Arthur McElhill also died in the fire.
Speaker 1:What was initially thought to be an accidental fire turned out to be anything but Earlier that night. Possibly upon discovering that his partner, lorraine, was planning to leave him, mcelhill doused the house up the stairs and along the corridors with petrol and white spirit. As Lorraine and his five children slept, he lit his house on fire. Lorraine and his five children slept. He lit his house on fire. The house was so quickly engulfed that no one in the house really stood a chance, although 13-year-old Caroline did manage to call 999 and they heard her trying to get her younger siblings out to safety. In her call played later at the inquest, she could be heard saying, quote help me, I'm burning, and the line just went quiet. Caroline was found with the phone in her hand and rosary beads in her arms as well. She was actually awarded a posthumous award for bravery for what she did that night. Posthumous award for bravery for what she did that night. Police believe that Lorraine was genuinely trying to leave McElhill, as they found a bag that had like five or six bottles of baby milk in it, and they thought that that was more than she would normally need. So they assumed that she was packing a bag to leave, and no one knows whether McElhill intended to also take his own life in that fire or if he intended to escape, but what we do know is that he killed his whole family that night. So so Now, as you can imagine, the shock and heartbreak of what happened that day in Lammy Crescent resounded throughout the local community. Neighbours placed rosary beads on the front lawn of the house, and I just cannot imagine the heartbreak of Lorraine's friends and family, of Lorraine's friends and family.
Speaker 1:The inquest into the murders took place in October 2009, where friends and family heard about Lorraine and her children's final minutes. This is going to be a tough listen team, so, as we talked about, 13-year-old Caroline's call to 999 was played during the inquest. According to the Belfast Telegraph quote, the recording lasted around five minutes and 30 seconds, but Caroline spoke for less than a minute. In the background, the distant screams and cries of family members could be heard. The operator repeatedly called out, trying to re-establish content, but it was too late. As the call ended, a series of gasping noises, thought to be Caroline's last breaths, are heard. Oh, that is. That's really tough, and I'm sure you can imagine how difficult that was for Lorraine and Caroline's family and friends to hear an inquest as well.
Speaker 1:Now the official review into the murders, assessing whether statutory agencies could have done anything differently or prevented the murders, was published in 2008. A key finding of the review, which was chaired by Henry Toner QC, was that information about McElhill's offending and sex offending wasn't always shared by police and probation with social services, who were obviously assessing risk to children. The review made 63 recommendations for change. Recommendations included better risk assessment of sexual abuse for social services, better sharing of information between services that we talked about, and better communication between health and social services in particular. I've linked to the review in the episode notes, so feel free to go and read the whole thing now. The review did lead to changes in how sort of statutory agencies worked with each others and how they risk assessed, particularly in health and social services and particularly around sexual abuse, which is a positive thing, and some of the changes focused on those like improving communication, information sharing and management of sex offenders. I wonder how effective those changes have been and if anyone has sort of looked into that since then. However, as with many reviews that we talk about on this podcast, it found that none of the agencies involved could have predicted or prevented what happened to the family that night in 2007.
Speaker 1:Now, while I am not expecting statutory agencies to be able to see in the future, I think there could have been much, much more professional curiosity about the behaviour of Mikel Hill, a convicted sex offender, his engagement and interaction with young girls and also his abuse and violence towards Lorraine. As far as I can see, I don't think there were any assessments made by social services looking at the potential for domestic abuse within the family and offer support or guidance to Lorraine. The risk that McElhill posed was so severely underestimated, and I don't even know if his online activity and grooming was even known or considered in any risk assessment of him and children and young people around him. Now, again, while I'm not saying that the extent to what he did could have been predicted or prevented, I think that the risk he posed to not only young people but also his partner and family could have been better assessed If there was professional curiosity about domestic abuse and coercive control, and if his online activities were discovered, I feel like more action could have been taken, particularly as he was a convicted sex offender. It just breaks my heart that these risks were not properly assessed or considered. Now, interestingly, there was a debate in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2010 calling for a full public inquiry into what happened that night. Now it hasn't been taken forward, but I've included a link to the Assembly debate in the episode notes as it's really interesting reading.
Speaker 1:Now, in the final stage of this horrific story, lorraine's family in 2013 issued legal proceedings against the Western Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland and the police in Northern Ireland as well. The action which was brought by Lorraine's father, kevin, alleges that quote the loss sustained by the estate of each of the six deceased so Lorraine and her children was due to the negligence and breach of duty of the defendants in three areas. These include the supervision, monitoring, care and control of Macau Hill. The care and supervision of the six deceased. And discharge of the defendants' statutory duties and exercise of their statutory powers on or before November the 13th 2007. So basically, what they're saying is that social services and the police neglected their duties to protect Lorraine and her five children in how they monitored and controlled McElhill. Now I I couldn't find 100% what happened with the lawsuit. I don't think it was successful, but to me it would have been in the health authority and police's best interest to settle with the family, but I just couldn't find what had happened. Lorraine McGovern and her five children are buried close to her home in West Haven, far away from McElhill, who was buried alone.
Speaker 1:This episode is dedicated to Lorraine, caroline, sean, belinda, clodagh and James. We will remember them. As one of their neighbours does quote, we will never forget them, ever. I can still see their faces the little boy out playing in the street with his tractor, laughing away. Lorraine and Caroline, so happy, those little babies, so beautiful. That's how I want to remember them, not how they died. 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 any comments or questions to my Insta at Killer in the Family pod or through a text via a link in the episode notes, and do let me know any stories you'd like me to cover as well. Also, don't forget that you can buy me a coffee if you like the podcast and help support it's 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 no-transcript.
