Four killed in house of horror stabbings
Grandmother, mother and granddaughter among the victims
A GRANDMOTHER was stabbed to death alongside her partner, daughter and granddaughter at a house in what neighbours called a ‘bloodbath’.
NHS hospital worker Dolet Hill, 64, and her 58-year-old partner Denton Burke, were killed inside the terraced home in Southwark, south-east London, early yesterday morning, according to devastated friends.
Standing next to the police cordon, tearful friend Venecia Reid confirmed that three generations of the family – including Mrs Hill’s daughter and 27-year-old granddaughter Samantha Drummonds – had been killed.
Scotland Yard said the alleged knifeman, in his 20s, was Tasered at the scene and was last night being quizzed by detectives. All five are understood to have known each other and police are not looking for anyone else, Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove said.
Jamaican-born mother-of-two Mrs Hill recently underwent cancer treatment and worked as a housekeeper at nearby Guy’s Hospital, neighbours said. One added: ‘She was a lovely lady. I can’t believe this has happened.
‘I live close to her and didn’t hear a thing until I saw all the police this morning outside her house. I know she has two daughters. My heart goes out to her family. It’s such an awful, awful thing to happen.’
Miss Reid said she was so close to Mrs Hill she called her ‘auntie’. ‘I can barely speak,’ she added.
‘She recently recovered from cancer – she had surgery to remove it from underneath her arm. My auntie was a very good person. She does not deserve this.’
Mrs Hill’s partner Mr Burke worked as a street sweeper and one of her daughters was a nurse, Miss Reid said.
Neighbours said they heard a woman screaming for five minutes at about 1.30am yesterday, before seeing emergency workers frantically trying to save the victims in the street. One said: ‘It was awful. When I heard the police, the helicopter, the ambulances, I knew it was really serious.
‘I saw about eight or nine police cars – all were armed – come out and surround the area.’
Another neighbour said: ‘I saw a load of police jump out of their cars with guns. There were about eight police cars, several ambulances, and some of them were going door to door.
‘They came to the back garden to make sure our door was secure. It was about 2am. We didn’t hear anything else – we were just told to stay inside.’ Police put up a large cordon and four forensic tents outside the £550,000 terraced home. Four body bags were carried from the house yesterday afternoon.
A police spokesman said officers forced entry to the home after neighbours raised the alarm. ‘Inside the house they made a dreadful discovery of four people who had been stabbed,’ he added.
‘Despite the efforts of officers and paramedics, all four people were sadly pronounced dead at the scene. A man in his late 20s was arrested at the address on suspicion of murder.’
‘I saw a load of police with guns’