UK crossbow victim Louise Hunt hinted she had been in toxic relationship

Sisters Hannah and Louise Hunt and their mother Carol were murdered with a crossbow earlier this week. Photo / Facebook

One of the three women killed in a crossbow attack near London had hinted shortly before the killings that she had been in a toxic relationship.

In one of her last social media posts before the murders in Bushey, northwest of London, Louise Hunt shared a message praising women who had the courage to leave abusive relationships.

The message on X last week came just a few days before she split with Kyle Clifford, the 26-year-old suspected killer.

Clifford was detained yesterday (NZ time) near his home in Enfield, north London, after a huge manhunt.

Louise, 25, was found with her mother Carol Hunt, 61, and eldest sister Hannah, 28, after neighbours reported hearing screams early on Wednesday (NZT). They had suffered serious injuries and were pronounced dead by paramedics a short time later.

John Hunt, Carol’s husband and the father of Louise and Hannah, returned home from work to discover the tragedy. He is a horse racing commentator who works for the BBC.

Days before the incident, Louise had shared a tweet praising “women who leave” for their “strength”.

The message said: “I admire women who leave. idgaf [I don’t give a f***] if you left after the 1st time or the 12th time I admire that s***! idgaf if ppl was calling you dumb for 11 years but in the 12th year you decided you was done. It takes A LOT of strength to break a tie. It takes A LOT of self love to choose yo self.”

She shared the message a few days before she ended her relationship with Clifford. A neighbour told The Telegraph that the circumstances of the break-up had left her so upset that she had crashed her car into a telegraph pole outside the family home.

Louise’s mother had reportedly told friends at the gym she attended that her daughter was involved in a “messy break-up”. A friend told Mail Online: “Carol did not go into too much detail, but you could see she was concerned.”

Clifford, a former Queen’s Dragoon Guard, left the army in 2022 and had worked as a security guard.

Amthal, a fire and security installation company based in St Albans, near Bushey, said in a statement: “Kyle Clifford was employed from February 22, 2023, to July 20, 2023. Since he departed from Amthal in July 2023, we have had no further communication with Mr Clifford.”

Mourners continued to lay flowers at a police cordon near the murder scene throughout the day. One young woman burst into tears after reading tributes and messages of condolence left on the growing pile.

One message, signed “Love Mia”, read: “The three strongest women to ever exist. You’ll always be remembered. I wish I could continue doing life with you Louise, my beautiful girlie.”

Another note read: “Rest in peace Louise. I’ll miss you dearly. Sweet dreams angel. Love Kara xxx.”

One of the street’s oldest residents, 91-year-old Betty, described the Hunts as a “lovely, lovely family” who had helped buy food for her during the Covid pandemic. She said: “I’ve lived here 40 years and it’s a wonderful place and what’s more important we are a very mixed area. Everybody here is shattered at what’s happened. Shattered.”