Confessions Of A Killer: Never-before-heard police tapes from one of NI’s most shocking murder cases

Convicted Murderer Colin Howell (Image: Pacemaker Press)

A new BBC documentary series is set to revisit one of Northern Ireland’s most disturbing murder cases, revealing chilling police recordings that have never before been broadcast and shedding fresh light on crimes that went undiscovered for almost two decades.

Confessions Of A Killer tells the story of dentist Colin Howell, who on 29 January 2009 walked into a police station in Coleraine, County Londonderry, and confessed to the murders of his wife, Lesley Howell, and his former lover Hazel Stewart’s husband, Trevor Buchanan.

The killings had taken place 18 years earlier.

At the heart of the two-part series are original audio recordings of Howell’s confession to police, recorded in 2009 and now broadcast publicly for the first time.

The tapes offer what the BBC describes as a rare and deeply unsettling insight into Howell’s actions, and into the mindset that led him to finally admit the truth after years of sustained deception.

In May 1991, the deaths of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan were initially believed to be the result of a tragic “suicide pact”. That version of events was accepted at the time, allowing those responsible to evade justice for nearly 20 years.

The documentary reveals how the reality behind the deaths was “shockingly different”, exposing the manipulation and calculation that lay beneath a carefully constructed façade.

While examining Howell’s own detailed account of the murders, Confessions Of A Killer also places strong emphasis on the lives of the victims themselves.

Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan are remembered not simply as names linked to a notorious crime, but as individuals with families, relationships and futures that were abruptly taken from them. The programme explores the devastating and long-lasting impact of their deaths on relatives and those closest to them.

The series also revisits the role of Hazel Stewart, Howell’s lover at the time of the killings. It examines her involvement in the case, her recent unsuccessful appeal against her sentence, and her claim that she acted while under Howell’s coercive control — a claim that continues to generate debate and legal scrutiny.

Adding depth and context, the documentary features interviews with people who knew the victims, alongside investigators, journalists and legal experts who followed the case closely over many years. Those most directly affected by the events reflect on the long shadow cast by the murders, the failures that allowed the truth to remain hidden, and the emotional toll of the eventual unravelling of the case.

Produced by Below The Radar Television with support from Northern Ireland Screen, Confessions Of A Killer is presented as a sobering examination of manipulation, betrayal and delayed justice. It also serves as a stark reminder of the human cost at the centre of one of Northern Ireland’s most notorious crimes.

Both episodes will be available from 6am on Tuesday 20 January on BBC iPlayer.

The first episode will also air that evening on BBC One Northern Ireland at 9pm, and will be shown again on Sunday 25 January on BBC Two at 9pm.