2020 killing in West Parley, Dorset, England
On 10 May 2020, 41-year-old Claire Parry, from Bournemouth, Dorset, England, was killed by off-duty Dorset Police officer Timothy Brehmer. Parry was strangled by Brehmer in the car park of the Horns Inn in West Parley, Dorset. Brehmer strangled Parry to death after fearing she would reveal the affair they were having to his wife.
Brehmer admitted manslaughter but denied murder. On 28 October 2020, he was acquitted of murder and convicted of manslaughter and received a ten-and-a-half-year prison sentence. Brehmer's sentence was found to be unduly lenient by the Court of Appeal, who, on 19 March 2021, increased his sentence to 13 years and 6 months.
Background.
Claire Parry.
Claire Parry (19 December 1978 – 10 May 2020) was a nurse practitioner from Bournemouth, with a career of over 20 years. At the time of the incident, Parry worked as a nurse practitioner at Moordown Medical Centre, starting work there in 2018. She was married to Andrew, a Dorset Police officer, and they had two children.
Timothy Brehmer.
Timothy Keith Brehmer, 41, was a police constable with Dorset Police. Born in Zimbabwe, he was raised by his mother and stepfather in Hampshire.
Raised in North Hampshire and growing up in Andover, Brehmer joined Dorset Police in 2003, where he first worked in Bournemouth. In 2010, he joined the Roads Policing Unit (RPU). At the time of the incident, he was seconded to the National Police Air Service (NPAS), based at Bournemouth Airport, where he operated the helicopters camera and assisted in navigation.
Brehmer met his wife, Martha, a Dorset Police detective, in 2003, marrying her three years later. At the time of the incident, they had a nine-year-old son and lived in Hordle, in the New Forest in Hampshire.
It was reported that Brehmer used "grooming" techniques to exert "coercive and controlling behaviour" over women. Colleagues in Dorset Police allegedly knew of Brehmer to prey on 'vulnerable' emergency workers, with him being described as a 'sexual predator'.
Affair.
Parry and Brehmer met through work in 2005. At the time, Brehmer was a police officer and Parry worked at Royal Bournemouth Hospital. A few years later, they began an 'on and off relationship'. Parry and Brehmer had been having an affair for over ten years, however, prior to her death, she had faced the realisation that whilst her marriage was ending and that Brehmer was not who she thought he was, finding that he was a 'womanizer', involved in other affairs.
Parry's husband had suspected the affair months before Parry's death. Parry's husband hid his daughter's mobile in Parry's car and tracked Parry's location using an app. Parry's husband stated that he located evidence of the affair, including an email from Brehmer to Parry stating that she would 'never love someone as much as him'. It also included Parry's husband finding bookings for Travelodge on their joint bank account and under the couple's bed, a male's rugby shirt.
In February 2020, Parry's husband confronted her, to which Parry confessed she had slept with Brehmer on one occasion. Parry stated that this had happened 'years ago'. Parry's husband met with Brehmer, who gave him a 'well rehearsed' response regarding the affair.
Due to the suspicions, the Parry's marriage had faced difficulty and they attended counselling as a result. Despite this, Mr Parry decided he was going to leave his wife in March 2020 and the couple were only living together due to the coronavirus lockdown.
On 6 May 2020, Brehmer met Parry whilst at work, visiting her at her home, where they slept together. That evening, Parry looked into Brehmer's background, by setting up a fake Facebook account, using the alias 'Louisa Morgan'. Parry concluded that Brehmer was a serial womaniser after conducting internet searches. She used the fake account to message Kate Rhodes, a Detective Constable with Dorset Police, who had unwittingly had an affair with Brehmer between 2011 and 2012, before she finished the relationship when she realised he was married. Parry and Rhodes worked out that Brehmer was likely to have had at least three lovers within the emergency services, including with another police officer.
Parry began relentlessly messaging Brehmer, accusing him of cheating and threatening to tell Brehmer's wife about their affair.
On the same day, Parry drafted a note to Brehmer's wife that revealed the affair, explaining that Brehmer was only staying for the sake of their children and that there were at least two more people he had had an affair with.
On 8 May 2020, Brehmer had worked a night shift and spoke to Parry on his way home. He gave her access to his social media accounts. Parry messaged Brehmer asking to meet him at 3pm in the car park of the Horns Inn pub in West Parley, Dorset the next day. She did not tell Brehmer why she wanted to meet, but stated that if he did not meet her, she would tell his wife about the affair.
Incident.
On 9 May 2020, Parry and her husband had got on well, despite not sleeping in the same bed together. Brehmer was having a barbecue with his family. He lied to his wife, stating that he was going to work to collect some steaks for a barbecue, in order for him to meet Parry. Brehmer did attend work that day, however, this was just in case his wife rang asking if he was there.
Having arranged to meet in the car park of the Horns Inn car park on 9 May 2020, Brehmer arrived at 2:31pm, with Parry arriving at 2:44pm. They parked outside the view of CCTV. Parry got into the passenger seat of Brehmer's Citreon C1. Parry had met with Brehmer to confront him over another extra-marital affair.
At approximately 3pm, a neighbour to the car park heard a female and male arguing and shouting. Another neighbour heard some shouting between approximately 3:15pm and 3:30pm, as well as hearing a horn sounded two or three times.
It was alleged that Parry took Brehmer's phone from him to look through, typing 'I'm cheating on you' in a message to his wife. The message was sent at 3:02pm. Brehmer's wife received the message and tried to phone him, but he did not reply.
During this time, Parry was asphyxiated, with internal neck injuries that were severe, before going into cardiac arrest.
At 3:26pm, CCTV footage showed Brehmer walking towards the car park entrance, sitting on the pavement. He had knife wounds to his arm after self-harming with a pen knife. A member of the public, Rachel Bartlett, was cycling past with her husband Lloyd and saw Brehmer covered in blood, walking towards the entrance. Brehmer asked her to call and ambulance.
Bartlett spoke to Brehmer, who was paying some attention to something behind him, but did not say Parry was in the car park. Brehmer was described Bartlett as 'very emotional' and 'difficult to understand'. Asking him what had happened, Brehmer told her that he had been stabbed.
Bartlett told the ambulance service via 999 they thought there was 'a dead person' in the car. As a result of what Brehmer had said about being stabbed by Parry (which would later be found to be a lie), the call handler from the ambulance service told the members of the public to stay away from Parry.
Mr Bartlett went to look at the cars in the car park, discovering Parry. He asked Brehmer 'is she dead'. Another witness at the car, Mark Herridge, took over the 999 call and told the operator that he could not remove Parry from the car. He said that Parry had a 'blue face' and had 'blood in her mouth'. At this stage, paramedics arrived and Brehmer's car was moved. Herridge spoke to Brehmer who said Parry was 'going to tell' his wife.
At 3:31pm, a solo paramedic was dispatched to the location to reports of a 'stabbing'. He arrived in approximately six minutes, with another paramedic already being on scene directing him to the Citreon C1. The paramedic found Parry with her eyes closed and dried blood under her mouth and both eyes. This paramedic and another noticed marks and discolouration on Parry's neck. Paramedics began chest compressions.
Brehmer told the member of the public's husband 'I'm going to prison for a very long time'. A paramedic heard Brehmer say 'I fucked it up'. Brehmer explained to a medic that he had been having an affair with Parry and that she had made him meet him or that she would tell his wife and was worried he would lose his son.
When police arrived, Brehmer told an officer that he could not remember what had happened. Brehmer was asked who caused the injuries and Brehmer stated that Parry had.
At 4:44pm, Brehmer was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder before being taken to Poole Hospital.
On 10 May 2020, despite her heart being restarted after it had stopped, Parry died at Royal Bournemouth Hospital after the compression of her neck had caused a brain injury.
The same day, Brehmer was taken from Weymouth Police Station to Salisbury District Hospital for an operation. Whilst there, at 9:27am, Brehmer stated that he might have stabbed himself, saying this was an attempt to end his life. At 9:28am, for the first time, Brehmer referred to the pushing and pulling that went on within the car, stating 'I was basically trying to get her out the car so I could go and kill myself'.
At 1:30pm, he arrived back at Weymouth Police Station. The police officer who had transported Brehmer was made aware that Parry had died and further arrested Brehmer at 1:55pm on suspicion of murder. Brehmer was cautioned and made no reply.
Investigation and legal proceedings.
Post-mortem.
Dr Amanda Jeffery conducted a post-mortem on Parry which revealed her cause of death was a brain injury caused by compression of the neck.
Dr Jeffery noted 31 separate sites of blunt force trauma to the upper part of Parry's body. This included bruising to Parry's trunk in 9 areas and her upper right arm in 11 areas. Parry's left arm had 10 areas of bruising and abrasion, with an area of laceration and bruising in her mouth. Dr Jeffery determined that Parry's prominent areas of bruising on her arms were consistent with actions of grabbing and that the injury to Parry's mouth was consistent with a blow. Dr Jeffery stated that it was clear that in order to resist the violent attack from Brehmer, Parry had fought back hard.
Dr Jeffery noted Parry had a fractured hyoid bone, with cartilage to the left of the larynx also damaged. She found bruising in Parry's neck tissues and near her jaw line, as well as deep internal bleeding. There was 'multiple evidence of asphyxiation'. Dr Jeffery also noted haemorrhages in Parry's face which were consistent with neck compression. She stated that research suggested it would take approximately 30 seconds for these haemorrhages to form, but could not confirm this. Dr Jeffery reported how Parry's neck was compressed with such force and for such an amount of time that Parry had a cardiac arrest.
Dr Jeffery stated there were two mechanisms that may have caused Parry's injuries. This was either a person using the crook of their elbow as a 'fulcrum' or by a person putting their forearm across the throat. Dr Jeffery determined that Parry's neck was compressed for a minimum of between 10 and 30 seconds for the extent of her injuries to have been caused. As a result of either mechanisms, it led to Parry being asphyxiated, with her brain being starved of oxygen, which killed her.
Brehmer's police interview.
Brehmer stated during his police interview that he and Parry had been seeing each other for 11 years, on and off. He stated that Parry wanted his phone to look at his 'perfect life' with his family. To try and show her how desperate he was, Brehmer stated that he stabbed himself in the arm. He stated he accidentally killed Parry as he tried to get her out of his car so he could kill himself after Parry had sent a text to his wife about their affair. Brehmer stated that as he did not have the strength to pull Parry out of the car, he thought that he could push her out instead. He stated that he lay across Parry, using his legs on the car seat to gain leverage to push her out the vehicle.