Former EastEnders actress Sian Blake, 43, and her two young sons, Zachary, eight, and Amon, four, were brutally murdered with an axe by her partner Arthur Simpson-Kent in December 2015. The killer then buried the bodies in shallow graves in the garden of their family home in Erith, South-East London, before fleeing to Ghana. He was later extradited and sentenced to a whole life order.
The Murders
According to court documents, Simpson-Kent claimed 'something snapped' after learning Blake planned to end their relationship. He used a small axe kept in the kitchen to strike Blake repeatedly on the head as she bent over. Due to her motor neurone disease, which weakened her arms, she could not defend herself. He then killed both boys with the same weapon, delivering repeated blows and using a bladed weapon to ensure their deaths.
The sentencing remarks by Mr Justice Singh stated: 'The manner in which the Defendant killed his victims in this case was truly horrific. It is consistent with his doing so with repeated blows with a blunt instrument, using severe force, and then by using a bladed weapon.'
Cover-Up and Escape
After the murders, Simpson-Kent wrapped the bodies in plastic, buried them in the garden, and cleaned the house, partially repainting to hide bloodstains. He then used Blake's phone to send messages to her family, pretending to be her, saying she was going away for a couple of weeks. When police visited, he lied that she had gone to Cambridge. He fled in her car, abandoned it in East London, and tried to catch a flight out of the UK but failed. He eventually reached Ghana on December 19, 2015.
Witnesses reported that in Ghana, Simpson-Kent did not appear grieving. He partied on New Year's Eve, took two women to breakfast, and attempted to bribe someone who recognized him with cash and an iPad. He was arrested on January 9, 2016, and claimed he had committed a 'mercy killing' that Blake had agreed to because she felt she had 'no meaningful life' left due to her illness.
Impact and Sentencing
Former Metropolitan Police detective Steve Keogh described the case as 'probably one of the lowest points of my career.' He said: 'To have that hope that something's happened to Sian... but you have that hope that, not the boys, why would he hurt the boys? When we got that phone call it was horrible to know that he had done that to them.'
Simpson-Kent pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and was handed a whole life order. The judge rejected his mental health defense. Blake's mother called him an 'evil monster,' stating: 'It's difficult to put into words how much we have suffered as a result of their murder and how we will continue to suffer for the rest of our lives. We are all living a life sentence, we are all living a nightmare. I would give my life for another moment with my daughter.'
