Family of murdered woman traumatised after being handed photo of her killer laughing by police
The family of a murdered woman say they were left traumatized after her killer was handed a photograph of her openly smiling by police officers after being released from prison.
Emma King has spent the last two decades rebuilding her life after the brutal loss of her sister Julie, who was strangled to death by her ex-husband Richard Butcher in 2005.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 13 years after admitting to the woman’s murder; In this murder, he lured the 25-year-old into the house under the pretext of collecting the keys and tricked him into launching his deadly attack.
From 2016 Julie’s family knew her killer would soon be released and were horrified to learn he planned to return to the same part of Swindon where they lived.
“He was released in October 2020 and I told our liaison officers that I didn’t want to be wandering the streets wondering if he was behind me,” Emma said. Independent. They were informed they could receive an updated photograph of Butcher through the victim contact programme, which provides support to those affected by serious crime.
“Our police liaison officers came out and sat in my living room and apologized and said, ‘We need to explain that he was smiling,'” he said.
“After everything that has happened to a family, it is absolutely shocking to receive an inappropriate photo. It has robbed us of our family and years of our time spent going through the process and procedures, and it seems only fitting that these photos be managed properly.”
Now she wants ‘Julie’s Law’ online petitionThis will implement national guidance to ensure that offender photographs used within the criminal justice system follow a neutral identification format similar to that required by passports and driving licences.
He added: “At the time, I accepted the photo because it was presented as part of the security process. He had already been approved for parole; they were already looking for accommodation and could be released at any time.”
“I was not informed that alternative photographs might be requested, nor was there any clear guidance as to what the photograph might contain or what options were available. At that moment, without national standards or clear procedures, it didn’t exactly feel like an informed choice. Two police officers were already in my living room.”
After his release, his family faced another battle to ensure Butcher did not return to live in the same area, eventually securing a 2.5-mile exclusion zone after a “torturous” process of noting the locations of each place they regularly used on a map.
In August the government announced plans for new “restriction zones” that restrict serious sexual and violent offenders to certain areas through mandatory GPS tagging. The new restriction zones are part of the 2025 Sentencing Bill currently being considered in Parliament.
“The system should not harm victims,” he said. “I spent almost three years in therapy; you can acknowledge human error and move forward without apologizing, but I came out of therapy and thought ‘this isn’t right’.”
Before her death, Julie and Emma were close friends as well as sisters. “She was an absolutely incredible sister; she taught me so many things in life,” he said. “No matter what he was going through, he was always smiling.”
Despite Julie’s efforts to put on a brave face, her family had long suspected that she was in an abusive relationship; Butcher’s behavior escalated further in the last two weeks after he left Julie and moved out of the property.
On the morning of 15 November, he returned to their home in Chiseldon to collect some belongings but was ambushed and killed. Shortly after the attack, Butcher called Emma to inform her that he needed to take care of her sister, which led to her making a terrifying discovery.
After Julie’s death, Emma was devastated and struggled to leave her home for five years, and it took seven years for her to return to work.
She has since founded the Swindon Sisters Alliance, a charity that supports victims of domestic violence and provides funds for families to enjoy the outdoors as well as attend retreats at Julie’s Haven, a seaside holiday home created in her memory.
“I always say if the situation was on the other side he would definitely do the same,” Emma said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Our thoughts remain with Emma King on the loss of her sister Julie, this was a terrible crime and we apologize for the distress caused by the photo.
“Police and probation services may decide to show an offender’s photograph to a victim where this is necessary to protect the victim from serious harm. Police select the most recent photograph of an offender to ensure it is as useful as possible, but we understand the impact this can have and provide victim liaison officers to support victims through this process.”
Wiltshire Police declined to comment.
