Clydach murders: My hubby & I were wrongly accused of killing my lesbian lover & her kids – it ruined our lives
ALISON Lewis emerged from the police station with a blanket over her head, officers escorting her on either side. A furious crowd had gathered just to see her, and everywhere she turned people were calling her a murderer and saying she deserved to die. It was all because of one horrific night, on June 26, […]
ALISON Lewis emerged from the police station with a blanket over her head, officers escorting her on either side.
A furious crowd had gathered just to see her, and everywhere she turned people were calling her a murderer and saying she deserved to die.
It was all because of one horrific night, on June 26, 1999, when three generations of one family were brutally murdered in a small village in South Wales.
At the time Alison was blamed – by the police, the press, and the local community – for the slaughter, which led to the biggest murder investigation in Welsh history.
“I remember lying on the floor of the car thinking, ‘I’m going to die here, in the back of this car’,” Alison says now, 20 years later. “I really thought I was going to be killed.”
She was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but Alison Lewis will forever be remembered in connection to the mass murder which shook the sleepy Welsh village of Clydach to its core.
Now a new true-crime documentary series examines a case that continues to haunt its residents.
Sky’s Murder in the Valleys revisits the murder of Mandy Power, 34, who was bludgeoned to death in her own home.
Mandy’s daughters, Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, were also killed, as was her 80-year-old mum Doris Dawson.
A local builder, David Morris, was eventually convicted of the murders. But despite the conviction, a small community remains torn, scarred by the events of that night.
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Cover-up
It all started with the discovery of a fire on Kelvin Road, in the village of Clydach.
Police and firefighters were called to the burning property, home to the Powers family.
A team of firefighters dealt with the blaze while rescuers looked for survivors.
Nobody had been seen leaving the property, so firefighters thought Mandy Powers would be inside with her terminally-ill elderly mum and her two daughters.
They feared the worst, but none of the rescuers expected to come across the gruesome state of the family.
All four were dead, with severe head injuries. A jury would later be told that the bludgeoning had been inflicted by a heavy fibreglass pole which had been left in the house.
I remember lying on the floor of the car thinking, I’m going to die here, in the back of this car. I really thought I was going to be killed
Alison Lewis
It was obvious, from the severe wounds, that none of the family had died in the fire.
Evidence later suggested Mandy Powers had been sexually assaulted – most likely after she was killed.
Police suspected the fire had probably been started as an attempt to cover up the killings.
Their theory was that the killer had to be known to the victims – or at least to Mandy – as there was no sign of a forced entry to the house.
Investigators believed the killer had worn a sock as a glove, and picked up the fibreglass pole, a metre-and-a-half long, which had been left on the landing.
Police believed the killer first used the pole to kill Mandy, thought to be the real target, and then murdered the rest of the family to cover their tracks.
Mandy’s corpse was then violated by her killer.
Nearby, on the carpet, a bloodied gold chain was found. This would later prove to be crucial evidence.
Martyn Lloyd-Evans, the Senior Investigating Officer at the time of the murders, says in the documentary: “There were no financial worries. She was not involved with drugs, or criminality.
“She was a very happy, friendly and likeable individual. Why would someone kill Mandy?”
Community in shock
The murder sent shockwaves through the village, and terrified locals were desperate for the police to act swiftly and find the killer.
Every aspect of Mandy’s private life was overturned, and one detail raised eyebrows.
Mandy was divorced, and since breaking up with her husband she had been involved in a lesbian relationship with a local woman, Alison Lewis.
Alison, a capped Welsh rugby international, was a former police officer. Her husband, Stephen, was still serving in the force.
Suspicion fell on Alison and Stephen, and in the tinderbox environment of the torn community, fingers were being pointed everywhere.
A theory was widely circulated that Stephen might have found out about his wife’s lesbian affair and taken revenge on Mandy.
One of Mandy’s neighbours, Louise Pugh, was interviewed as a witness.
Almost a year after the murders, Louise claimed she had heard a man who looked like Stephen shouting at Mandy a few weeks before she was killed.
Louise alleges on the documentary that the man shouted: “Stay away from my f*****g wife or I’ll f*****g kill you.”
The neighbour, speaking on the documentary, also claims Mandy had been expecting a visit from Alison the night she was killed. Alison and Stephen deny these allegations.
Falsely accused
After Louise’s testimony, the Lewises became the prime suspects and Alison, then 33, and Stephen, 38, were arrested on suspicion of murder.
“I thought, this isn’t happening,” says Alison, recalling the day of the arrest. “After all this time, this isn’t happening.”
Alison speaks through tears in the new documentary as she recalls how she was arrested in front of her crying children.
She adds that while she was at the police station, officers told her she “was going to prison for life”.
“They kept telling me they had all this evidence against me,” Alison says. “They did everything they could to get me to admit to the murders.”
But Alison and her husband protested their innocence. On the night of the murder, they had been in bed together, in their home.
There was no substantive evidence, and Alison recalls pleading with officers: “Please tell me you’ve got more than this. Please tell me you haven’t ruined my life on this.”
‘Baying mob’
Tensions in the community were running high, and some members of the public suspected the police would conspire to protect one of their own.
When Alison was released on bail, villagers turned out en masse.
“I think the pubs have closed and everyone descended on [the] police station,” she says. “All they wanted was my blood. A baying, screaming, shouting mob.”
She feared she would be killed that day, before she had a chance to prove her innocence, but was eventually driven to safety.
The Crown Prosecution Service eventually decided there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Alison and Stephen Lewis.
The community was fearful, and seething. The killer was still out there somewhere.
“They were looking for scapegoats,” Alison said at the time. “I believe I was one of those scapegoats. I know I was.
“There was never any evidence because I’m innocent. I wasn’t there, I didn’t do it.”
Alison believed her hounding by the police and public was motivated partly by homophobia.
Her husband, eager to put the ordeal behind him, went back to work as a policeman, and the investigation rumbled on.
Trial of David Morris
Blame for the murder fell later on builder David Morris, then 38. Morris was convicted in 2002 and died in prison last year.
Morris was linked to the crime by the bloodstained gold necklace which was found at the scene. He had previously lied about owning the necklace, but later admitted it was his.
He had been having a fling with Mandy Powers, which he also initially hid from police.
A jury was told that Morris killed Powers in a fit of drunken rage after she rejected his advances.
Morris, who had previous convictions and was known to police, was sentenced to four life sentences after an eleven-week trial.
His conviction was later quashed, but he was again found guilty at a retrial.
Morris had no alibi, and the chain linking him to the crime scene was sufficient evidence to convince a jury that he was the murderer.
Miscarriage of justice?
A forensic review into the case was opened last year after new questions were raised.
A link was found between David Morris and the sock the killer used to grasp the murder weapon.
Morris’s supporters have always maintained his innocence, however, and many still point to irregularities in the handling of the crime scene.
Stephen Lewis’s identical twin brother, Stuart, was also investigated at the time of the murder.
Stuart, also a policeman, happened to be the first senior officer on the scene of the Powers murders.
Initially Stuart reported the incident as a fatal house fire, failing to mention in his original report that the four victims had clearly been beaten to death.
If I thought for one minute my brother was the Clydagh murderer, he’d be dead to me. I know my brother, one hundred per cent. Yes, he used to get into trouble… but he’s not the monster they made him out to be
Debra Thomas, David Morris' sister
Stuart should have immediately notified his superiors that they were dealing with a murder investigation.
Instead, he disappeared for an hour. The crime scene was left unsecured and valuable forensic evidence was allowed to degrade.
An internal investigation found the policeman didn’t conduct himself properly. He was arrested for perverting the course of justice.
According to the documentary, this aspect of the case was never presented to the jury at Morris’s trial.
Debra Thomas, the sister of David Morris, says: “If I thought for one minute my brother was the Clydagh murderer, he’d be dead to me.
“I know my brother, one hundred per cent. Yes, he used to get into trouble… but he’s not the monster they made him out to be.”
But Martyn Lloyd-Evans, the Senior Investigating Officer, tells the show: “I have no doubt at all that David Morris is the killer. No doubt at all. I’m puzzled as to why people can’t see Morris for what he is.
“This case will never go away. And certainly not in Clydagh. There’s lots of rumours and innuendos.
“It’s almost beyond belief, the actual true story of this case.”
All four episodes of Murder in the Valleys will have a boxset release and be available to view on Sky Crime at 9pm on Sunday 6th February.
