Colin Reeves carried out a “violent and savage” attack on Jennifer and Steven Chapel at their home in Somerset’s village of Norton Fijuarin, while their two children slept upstairs, shortly after his wife told him she wanted a court case. . Reeves, 35, pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied the murder. However, jurors in Bristol court ruled he had no “mental disorder” at the time and convicted him of murder. Reeves stabbed Jennifer Chapple, a 33-year-old coffee worker, and Stephen Chapple, a 36-year-old teacher, six times each using a dagger shown to him when he left the army. Following the verdict, the couple’s family said they would focus on raising their two sons the way their parents wanted. “We will now focus on the beautiful boys of Jennifer and Steven, helping them live the life that Jennifer and Steven would like for them,” they said. Reeves claimed to have been activated by the glowing white of the blinking Chapples safety lamp, reminding him of flares in a war zone. He described being stationed at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan and seeing colleagues returning from patrols horribly injured. He said after his tour he was not given time to “decompress”. An army spokesman said they would not discuss individual cases, but added: “Our service personnel are our most valuable asset and we take their health and well-being extremely seriously.”
