Father of a British man convicted of killing his American wife and their baby daughter blames depressed wife for deaths

The father of a British man convicted of killing his American wife and their baby daughter believes his son is innocent - and claims his daughter-in-law shot the child before killing herself.

Almost exactly ten years after the horrific event which became known as the 'Entwistle slayings,' Neil Entwistle's father, Cliff, from Worksop, Nottinghamshire, claims he has identified 'glaring holes' in the case against his son.

His son Neil, now age 37, a former IT consultant, was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 after being found guilty of the murder of his American wife Rachel and their nine-month-old daughter Lillian in their Boston home.

The bodies of 27-year-old Rachel and baby Lillian were found on January 22, 2006 in the master bedroom of the family's rented home where they had been living for only ten days.

Autopsy results showed that Rachel died of a gunshot wound to the head and Lillian of a gunshot wound to the torso.

But now, on the 10th anniversary of the murders, Neil's parents maintain that their son is not guilty.

Mr Entwistle said: 'There is no way on God's Earth that my son would murder his wife and child. He was not given a fair trial, key evidence that proves his innocence was swept under the carpet and people are finally beginning to realise this.'

Mr Entwistle has now recruited Australian detective turned crime author Duncan McNab to look into the case and the pair believe that Neil had 'no chance' even before his trial began.

Mr Entwistle said: 'A book which portrayed Neil as a cold-blooded killer was given the go ahead to be published on the day of the trial.

'Members of the jury would have seen that book everywhere and would, of course, been influenced by it.

'That just goes to show what kind of environment my son was tried in.'

Mr Entwistle claims that other crucial factors including Rachel's state of mind at the time of the killings and the fact she had gunshot residue on both sides of her hands went unnoted by the judge.

Mr Entwistle said: 'Rachel had post-natal depression and I just don't understand why this wasn't brought up in court at all.

'I remember one occurrence when Yvonne and I were speaking to her on the phone and she asked if we had received photos of Lillian from Christmas that she had posted over.

'When we replied that we hadn't, she put the phone down and, according to Neil, ran upstairs sobbing.

'She had been having problems since Lillian was born. This is what should have been addressed.'

On the day of the deaths, in January 2006, Mr Entwistle says that Neil was making breakfast when he heard a gunshot and rushed upstairs to find Lillian already dead before Rachel turned the gun on herself.

Mr Entwistle said: 'Inevitably, the finger was pointed at Neil when he got on a plane and rushed home to Worksop.

'But why wouldn't he have done? Have you ever been through a traumatic incident? The natural instinct is to go home to your family.

'It would have been the same wherever he was in the world.

'He didn't go off running to Bolivia and shack himself up somewhere- he came home because he simply didn't know what else to do.'

When Neil returned home, his father said he knew immediately that his son was 100 per cent innocent.

Mr Entwistle said: 'He was in a state of shock - we all were. I telephoned Rachel's parents immediately.'

Mr Entwistle has criticised the British Government for ignoring the family's requests for legal help and for instead turning Neil over to the American Embassy.

Mr Entwistle is angry that his family had nobody.

Cliff said: 'In America it was easy for them to jump to the conclusion that this British man had killed his family before hopping on a plane back to England.

'Imagine being alone in a situation like that- what do you do?'

Author Duncan Mcnab is now hoping to publish a book on the 'reasonable doubt' surrounding Neil's conviction and Cliff has said this has finally given the family 'some hope'.

Mr Entwistle said: 'We won't stop until we have a re-trial. We will continue to stand by the fact that our son is completely innocent.'

Yvonne explained that she and Mr Entwistle fly over to America once a year to see their son.

She said: 'Not a day goes by where we don't think of Neil, or of our granddaughter, Lillian.

'I miss them every day. Every birthday and Christmas goes by and all I feel is emptiness. But I will never give up fighting.'

Original report here


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