A killer subjected a mother and daughter to a two and a half year campaign of physical, emotional and financial abuse before beating both of them to death in their Anfield home.
Anthony Showers was sentenced to 29 and a half years in prison after admitting to murdering Karen and Jade Hales in their home in June 2016.
Events leading up to the murders show a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour that saw Showers seize control of many aspects of Jade and Karen's life and attempt to isolate them from their loved ones.
And a domestic homicide review into how the police, council and others handled the case details how Jade tried desperately to find a new house for her and her mother to try and escape Showers, just weeks before he murdered them.
Karen, 53, had been disabled by a stroke and relied on her 28-year-old daughter Jade to care for her - but she was a frequent target of Shower's violent outbursts.
Jade was in a relationship with Showers for periods before their murder but had made attempts to cut him out of her life.
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The harrowing report into the case shows a pattern of domineering and violent behaviour over a number of years - and points to some missed opportunities for local services to intervene.
The most disturbing incidents include:
- Almost two years before the murder, when Jade and Showers were broken up, he threatened to drug her and bury her body - but this was not recorded as an offence when she spoke to police about it
- Two allegations of rape against Showers were made in the two and a half years before the murder - but neither ended up going to court despite the alleged victim in one case being prepared to go to testify against him
- Showers was alleged to have attacked a man with a claw hammer, later being found not guilty, and when police went to his house to investigate they found the body of a dog in a wheelie bin and removed two other dogs from his possession that were suffering neglect
- Jade told police numerous times she didn't feel she could leave the house because of the likelihood of running into Showers, who she said was trying to control every aspect of her life.
- Three safeguarding referrals were made about the two women over the two and a half year period - but the review said the responses to these were 'fundamentally flawed and ineffectual'.
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The review, which includes submissions from the police, council, NHS and other services, doesn't look to lay out blame, but does highlight areas where lessons can be learnt by services.
It details Shower's behaviour from spring 2014, when he began a relationship with Jade, to the time of the murder.
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The report shows how Karen and Jade’s families felt Showers was ‘immune’ from police attempts to control his behaviour and that had he been prosecuted for earlier crimes Jade and Karen may still be alive.
The report, which refers to Karen and Jade using the pseudonyms Lynn and Natalie, states: “They feel that the perpetrator appeared to be completely immune from any attempts to impose effective criminal sanctions or controls over his behaviours, even though there was repeated and increasing evidence that he was a very high risk violent and sexual offender.
“In particular, they find it extremely difficult to understand or accept that a decision was made not to prosecute for an alleged rape (of a person unconnected with Lynn or Natalie), bearing in mind that the alleged victim in this case was prepared to support a prosecution.
“They are mindful that a successful prosecution would, in all probability, have resulted in a very substantial prison sentence with the outcome that Natalie and Lynn would still be alive today.”
The domestic homicide report also made a number of other recommendations for how police, and other agencies deal with domestic abuse cases where there are signs of the levels of control and coercion showed by Showers.
An extra report published last month shows that an action plan to train staff and learn from the case has been put in place by the police.
