Arthur Hutchinson

Who is Arthur Hutchinson?

Arthur Hutchinson is a British convicted triple murderer.

Born in Hartlepool, County Durham he attained notoriety in 1984 when he was convicted of three murders committed in Dore, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on 23 October 1983. He murdered Basil Laitner, 59, his 55-year-old wife Avril, and their 28-year-old son Richard. He raped their 18-year-old daughter Nicola at knife-point before fleeing. Just hours earlier, the family had hosted the wedding reception of their other daughter Suzanne at the house. It is believed that Hutchinson was planning to commit an armed robbery.

Hutchinson was also wanted for a rape at the time, and had already spent more than five years in prison for the attempted murder of his brother-in-law. His identity was established by the description given by Nicola Laitner, and by scientific evidence in the form of a palm-print left on a champagne glass. After spending weeks on the run, wearing disguises and moving from place to place in Barnsley, Nottinghamshire, Manchester, York, and Scarborough, he was finally captured on a farm in Hartlepool.

He was found guilty of all three murders and the rape on 14 September 1984, and sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 18 years, which could have seen him released from prison by 2002 and the age of 61 in the event of the Parole Board deciding that he no longer posed a risk.