‘My brother murdered our mum’: Grieving mother-of-four left devastated after her older sibling brutally butchered their one remaining parent

A GRIEVING mum-of-four has told how her life was ripped apart when her older brother snapped and stabbed their mum to death.

Kirsty Griffiths, from Pencoed, South Wales, was struggling to come to terms with the death of her twin brother in January 2015.

While the whole family rallied round to support each other, her older brother Mark Stephens, 44, fell to pieces and horrifically murdered their frail mum Rita Stephens, 67.

To add insult to injury, he claimed she drove him to it with her nagging, even accusing her of being the aggressor.

Kirsty, 34, said: “If my family were all planets, then my mum was the sun we orbited around.

“Looking at her, a tiny five foot two, it was hard to believe she’d carried two sets of twins.

“We all gravitated towards her and she was our rock.’

But that all changed the day Kirsty’s twin brother, Karl Stephens, died aged 33.

After battling depression for years, Karl swallowed a fatal overdose in January 2015.

Rita found him in his bedroom at the house they shared and watched as paramedics battled to save his life.

Kirsty recalled: “Karl never flew the nest. He lived at home all his life and when our dad, Ray, died in 2011, it was just him and mum.

“They even worked together at the family furniture business my parents started in their garage 25 years earlier.”

When Rita called Kirsty with the devastating news, she rushed to be by her side.

She explained: “Karl was my twin and a part of me died that day. But, as I watched my capable mum crumble, I put my own grief on a backburner.”

Leaving her four children – Chloe, 14, Ryan, 12, Kayleigh, 9, and Ruby, 7 - with husband, Paul, 44, she promised to stay with Rita for as long as she needed her.

She said: “We moved mum’s bed downstairs but neither of us slept a wink that night.”

Kirsty desperately need the support of her older identical twin brothers, Martin and Mark.

But Mark, whose drinking had been spiralling out of control since he split with his wife Liz in 2012, proved to be difficult and aggressive.

She explained: “They came round to mum’s the following day. But Mark sprawled out on the settee, sloshed as usual, and picked a fight with Martin.

“Knowing everybody deals with trauma in different ways, I decided to bite my tongue.

“But I was annoyed and also, if I'm honest, scared of him.”

Kirsty vowed to keep her family away from Mark and focus all her attention on her mum.

She recalled: “She was in a bad way. She refused to leave the house and suffered from debilitating insomnia. She stopped eating and her weight dwindled to five-and-a-half stone.

“She wasn’t fit to go into work, so Mark did the business accounts and Martin stepped in to do the upholstery.”

The family took the difficult decision to fulfil existing orders and then wind the business down.

In February 2015, following the inquest into Karl's death, the family were free to bury him and say their final goodbyes.

Kirsty said: “Dressing on the morning of the funeral, my sadness was too much to bear.

“But wandering into mum’s kitchen, I found her forcing cups of coffee down Mark.

“My selfish brother was drunk again. He showed no respect that day and I felt embarrassed for him.”

With the ordeal of the funeral behind her, Rita started to engage with life again.

Kirsty explained: “She cleared out Karl’s room and enjoyed walks with her two Jack Russells. She even cooked her weekly Sunday roasts for the family

“Suffering from crippling anxiety and missing my own family, I knew the time had come to deal with my own grief.”

Kirsty moved home but, along with husband Paul, kept a close eye on Rita.

They spoke every day and called in to see her regularly.

Seeing how much better she was, Mark asked her to go back to work a couple of days a week.

But one day, having turned up unannounced, Rita discovered Mark was sleeping rough at the factory.

She immediately invited him to move in with her on condition he quit the booze.

Kirsty recalled: “I warned her against it but she was adamant. He was her son and she loved him. She couldn't bear to see him homeless.”

Rita converted her back room into a bedroom and he moved in at the beginning of June last year.

Kirsty said: “I saw mum a couple of days later and she admitted she hated Mark living with her.

“He was trying to stop drinking but suffering terrible side effects.

“She asked me to move back in but I had to say no. My family needed me.

“And I was scared of my brother. I spoke to mum on the phone every day but I didn't even want to visit when he was there.”

On 19 June 2015, the family business closed its doors for the last time – a day Kirsty described as “emotional” and the “end of an era”.

To make matters worse, she discovered Mark was back on the sauce.

She admitted: “All I could do was shake my head in despair.”

The next afternoon, Kirsty called Rita to check on her. Her landline and mobile both rang out.

She spoke to Mark who told her their mum was ill.

Kirsty said: “I knew she’d call back as soon as she noticed a missed call from me. When she didn’t, panic set in.”

Eventually Kirsty sent husband Paul round to Rita's house to check on her.

She explained: “I paced the room anxiously with mum's number on redial.

“Eventually Mark answered and I insisted on speaking to mum.”

But Mark told her that was impossible as their mum was dead and he had killed her.

Kirsty recalled: “It was unbelievable. My own brother had murdered our lovely mum.

“He was cold and emotionless, like a stranger.”

Different scenarios ran through Kirsty's head. She imagined Mark punching or shoving their mum during an argument.

Rita was so frail that could be enough to kill her.

But the following day, police confirmed Rita died from a stab wound to the brain.

Kirsty said: “I cried bitter tears at mum’s funeral. My own brother had murdered my mum while I was grieving for my twin brother.

“We buried her with Karl, her coffin on top of his. I took comfort that they were together.”

In April 2016, Mark Stephens denied murder at Swansea Crown Court but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of loss of self-control.

Kirsty explained: “During his trial I learned what happened to mum in her final moments. It was the stuff of nightmares.”

The court heard that Mark Stephens downed beer and vodka before launching a savage attack on his mum.

In total, her battered body sustained 38 injuries, including stab wounds to the face and the fatal wound through her temple.

Kirsty said: “He didn't even try to call for help. He went about his day with mum's lifeless body under a throw in the living room.

He didn't even try to call for help. He went about his day with mum's lifeless body under a throw in the living room

“Disgusted, I listened as he dragged mum’s name through the mud.

“He claimed she drove him to murder with her nagging about his drinking and debts. He even told the police he acted in self-defence.”

But the jury saw through Mark’s lies and returned a unanimous guilty verdict after deliberating for just one hour.

He was sentenced to life in prison, to serve a minimum of 20 years.

Kirsty said: “Justice was done. Even though he’s my flesh and blood, I felt no sympathy for him.

“The light went out of my life the day he murdered mum. We all have to live with the effects of his actions for the rest of our days.

“I never want to set eyes on him again.”