His sickening crimes led to a groundbreaking investigation that changed the face of British justice - but now Colin Pitchfork is set to walk the streets again.
The dad-of-two was jailed for life in 1988 over the rapes and murders of 15-year-olds Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, after becoming the first killer to be snared by DNA evidence.
However, a Parole Board decision published on Monday confirmed the 60-year-old has now been cleared for release - a verdict that has left his victims' families "devastated".
Following Dawn's murder in 1986, Leicestershire Police launched the biggest manhunt in its history, asking 5,000 local men to volunteer blood or saliva to match evidence from the crime scene.
However, Pitchfork hatched a warped plot to escape the law, doctoring his passport and convincing a workmate to impersonate him at the test centre.
A 17-year-old boy with learning difficulties was nearly wrongly sent down in his place, before a chance conversation in a pub finally led cops to his door.
Brutally murdered schoolgirls before baking a cake
Bright, popular schoolgirl Lynda was making her way to a friend's house on the evening of November 12, 1983, when she took a shortcut on a dimly-lit path through the village of Narborough.
Lying in wait was Pitchfork, a convicted flasher. Leaving his baby son in his car, the then 22-year-old brutally raped Lynda before strangling her with his scarf.
He then calmly drove home and put his son to bed.
Three years later, Dawn was raped and murdered in virtually identical circumstances. This time, Pitchfork is said to have returned to his home in Littlethorpe and baked a cake.
When he was later asked by a detective why he had murdered Dawn, the killer reportedly shrugged and replied: "Opportunity. She was there and I was there."
Teenage boy nearly sent down for killings
Dawn's death sparked a huge manhunt as police realised the two cases were connected.
Her body was found in a nearby field covered in nettles; she had been killed just a few hundred yards from where Lynda was attacked, and they had been strangled in the same manner.
The police quickly centred their investigation around Richard Buckland, a 17-year-old local boy with learning difficulties, who knew Dawn and appeared to know private details of the case.
He repeatedly admitted the crime under questioning before withdrawing his claims, but was charged and appeared in court on August 11.
Despite the police's convictions, though, he refused to admit to the murder of Lynda.
In a groundbreaking move, the authorities contacted geneticist Alec Jeffreys, who had realised through a series of failed medical experiments that advances in DNA testing meant it could be used to identify criminals.
The scientist took samples of Buckland's blood and compared it to semen found in the girls' bodies.
The results were clear: both girls had been murdered by the same man - but it wasn't the teenager.
Twisted plot to foil detectives
With Buckland freed, police decided to pursue the forensics further. They set up two test centres in Narborough and invited every male born between 1953 and 1970, who had lived or worked in the village over the last two years, to submit blood samples.
After eight months, more than 5,000 men had volunteered, and the case received international attention as the media got wind of the unusual scientific methods being used.
Pitchfork, however, had hatched a sinister plan. The baker asked his workmate, named Ian Kelly, to take the test for him, claiming that he had already covered for a pal who had previously been convicted for indecent exposure.
The killer drove Kelly to the test centre, having doctored his passport to switch their pictures. By the end of the day, Pitchfork's blood sample was in the system - and wouldn't prove a match.
The deceit was short-lived. One evening shortly after, Kelly was in a pub and began telling friends how his colleague had asked him to switch the samples.
Weeks later, a witness to the conversation reported it to the police, who swiftly arrested Pitchfork and Kelly.
On January 22, 1988, he was sentenced to life for murdering the two schoolgirls. He received a 30-year minimum term, which was cut to 28 years in 2009.
'It's something you can never get over - he should never be freed'
Despite his sickening crimes, Pitchfork launched a series of appeals against his prison sentence.
While they were denied in 2016 and 2018, the Parole Board now say he can be freed after considering more than 1,100 pages of information, victim statements, and evidence from his probation officers, police and a psychologist.
Pitchfork has been on courses to stop him re-offending, studying art and design behind bars, and has been living in open conditions since 2016.
A document outlining the decision said: "After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Mr Pitchfork was suitable for release."
The news has come as a crippling blow to the families of Lynda and Dawn, who have been campaigning to keep him in jail despite his appeals.
Rebecca Eastwood, Lynda's sister, set up a petition against his release which gathered nearly 12,000 signatures.
Following today's verdict, she wrote on Facebook : "So the call has come in and after looking at everything he will be released.
"We have 21 days to apply for a reconsideration (which we will be) then after that he will be moved to a residence somewhere in the UK to start his life over. Devastated about this."
Previously, her mother Kath told the Mirror how Lynda's death continued to haunt her decades later.
"It's always there," she said. "I can see an old picture, or notice a date on the calendar and it all comes back. It's something you never get over. How can you?
"I don't care what he says he has done, how many years he has served or how he says has been rehabilitated - he should never be allowed out."
