Ex-builder guilty of family 'massacre'
A former builder was today found guilty of murdering three generations of the same family in Wales.
Mandy Power (aged 34), her bed-ridden mother Doris Dawson (aged 80) and her daughters Katie (aged 10) and Emily (aged 8) were found dead by firefighters at their home in Clydach, near Swansea, in June 1999.
David Morris (aged 44) of Craig-cefn-Parc in the Swansea Valley, beat all four to death with a pole before setting the house on fire.
High Court Judge Mr Justice McKinnon said in this case “life imprisonment should mean imprisonment for the rest of your life. As I see it, if ever there was a whole life case, this is it."
During the three-month retrial the jury of six men and six women at Newport Crown Court heard the murders described as a “massacre“ and were unanimous in finding him guilty.
The prosecution claimed Morris had visited Ms Power at home on the night of the murders and became violent when she rejected his sexual advances.
He had then murdered the rest of the family as witnesses and set the house on fire to destroy any evidence.
Morris insisted he was innocent, claiming to have had a secret affair with Ms Power, the best friend of his own partner, Mandy Jewell.
However, a blood-stained gold chain belonging to Morris, found at Ms Power’s home in the aftermath of the murders, had led police to him.
Early in the investigation Morris had been ruled out as the killer because his wife had provided him with an alibi.
She later admitted lying to the police about his whereabouts on the night of the murder, meaning his alibi disappeared.
Mr Justice McKinnon then gave Morris four mandatory life sentences, to run concurrently.
He spoke at length about the savagery of the brutal murders that Morris carried out and made a recommendation for a whole life term.
