Where is Christopher Farrow now?
IN 1994, mum-of-two Wendy Speakes was brutally killed in her Yorkshire home.
The man placed behind bars for the horrific crime was Christopher Farrow - from where is he now to what happened to Wendy Speakes, here’s everything you need to know.
Where is Christopher Farrow now?
In November 2000, Christopher Farrow was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 18 years, for the rape and murder of 51-year-old Wendy Speakes at her home in Wakefield.
The attack took place in March 1994, when Farrow, then 33, forced his way into her property.
Following his sentencing, Farrow, from Cookridge in Leeds, was up for parole in 2018.
He was previously relocated to an open prison in 2018 in preparation for his release, however, he was returned to a higher security facility two years later following a challenge.
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Wendy Speakes' daughter, Tracey campaigned to have Farrow's parole denied in both 2018 and 2020.
In 2020, a document detailing the decision said: "The panel considered Mr Farrow needed to continue addressing problem areas and to develop appropriate skills [and] concluded that he was appropriately located in custody where outstanding levels of risk could be addressed.
"The benefits of a move to open conditions at this time were considered by the panel to be limited and to be outweighed by the remaining risks that Mr Farrow represents."
Following the second decision, Farrow was denied parole for a third time in June 2023.
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Parole Board documents seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) stated Farrow is "likely to re-offend" if released from custody.
"At the time of his offending, these risk factors had included Mr Farrow's sexual interests, his attitudes concerning women, and problems in his relationship," the report said.
It added: "At this stage, no key report writer could support Mr Farrow's release on parole licence."
Tracey, who has to renew the fight every two years when his case goes before the parole board, previously told of how she would fight to keep the killer behind bars "until my dying day".
Who was Wendy Speakes and what happened to her?
Wendy Speakes was a 51-year-old mother-of-two who lived alone in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
She was a woman of routine - going to work and returning at the same time every day, working shifts at a pub and waitressing at the weekend for extra cash.
On the night of March 14, 1994, following a shift at work, Wendy returned to her home.
“She’d get home, she’d lock her doors and then she was safe, in her happy place," says Tracey.
"She was just a quiet, happy, hard-working lady.”
Once back at her property, Wendy heard her door knocking, resulting in her making her way to see who was standing on her doorstep.
It was then a witness saw her talking to a man.
She was then pushed inside the house, where Christopher Farrow produced a knife, and forced Wendy to put on a pair of blue heels.
He had bought the shoes at a charity shop before marching her to the bedroom.
There he used stockings to tie her hands and gagged her, before brutally raping her and stabbing her to death.
The killer placed a pair of her black stiletto shoes on a bedside table before carrying out a sexual attack.
He also stole a pair of Wendy’s shoes from a cupboard under the stairs as a trophy.
The following day, police discovered Wendy’s body after she had failed to turn up to work.
Farrow had left behind a fingerprint on the inside door handle, his own blood, and plenty of DNA samples at the crime scene.
However, the killer would not be brought to justice for another six years - following a fluke arrest.
In 1996, a police officer in a Bradford pub overheard Farrow boasting about drink-driving and arrested him.
As a result of his arrest, Farrow was later convicted - meaning his DNA, fingerprints, and blood type were all added to the police database.
Four years later, in 2000, he was again arrested in relation to Wendy's death - but Farrow initially denied the murder.
However, when faced with overwhelming forensic evidence, he finally confessed telling officers he had “bad day” which drove him to search for a victim.
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He also revealed he killed Wendy “as an afterthought”, having walked out of the bedroom to leave he then realised she would be able to identify him.
His chilling statement was: “I’m a rapist who killed, I’m not a murderer who raped.”