The fiancee of a ‘loving father’ who blasted his partner and their two young children to death with a shotgun had spoken about their financial difficulties and tried breaking up with him in the months before the tragedy, an inquest heard today.
Robert Needham, 42, shot his daughter Ava, four, in the head and his two-year-old daughter Lexi in the chest during the first Covid lockdown in 2020.
He also shot his fiancee Kelly Fitzgibbons, 40, in the head and neck at their £600,000 home in West Sussex.
Mr Needham, who along with Ms Fitzgibbons had racked up combined debts exceeding £30,000, is believed to have turned the gun on himself before firing a bullet into his own head.
All four were found dead at the detached property in the quiet village of Woodmancote on Sunday evening, March 29 2020 – just a week after lockdown was imposed.
Mr Needham and his partner Ms Fitzgibbons had rowed over their struggling romance and vowed to not argue in front of their children in heated text messages shared with the court on Tuesday.
And it was later revealed that just a week before the shootings Mr Needham bought a semi-automatic shotgun from a registered firearms dealer, telling him he needed it to shoot pigeons.
His two girls, who were described as ‘angelic’ and ‘mischievous’ by family members, were found lying side by side on the double bed in their parents’ bedroom.
Miss Fitzgibbons, a legal secretary, was found lying face down on the floor while Mr Needham was found in the hallway with the gun cradled in his arms and the barrel pointing towards his head.
Police said officers also found Bill, the family’s Staffordshire bull terrier, shot dead in the landing. In total, six spent shotgun cartridges were found in the property.
Robert Needham (left) killed his partner Kelly Fitzgibbons and their two children, Ava, four and Lexi, two (also pictured)
Needham is pictured with Ms Fitzgibbons. Their bodies were found at their the family home in Woodmancote, West Sussex
Today an inquest into the deaths heard there had been no signs of the mental stress Mr Needham was under before the brutal killings.
But the hearing was told he was a secret cocaine user and, in the days leading up the tragedy, had tried to get hold of the drug from a supplier without success.
The inquest heard toxicology tests also showed he had not taken any cocaine at the time of the tragedy.
Robert Griffiths, a firearms expert, told he hearing he thought Kelly Fitzgibbons was first shot in the arm and face between one and 1.5 metres away while the second fatal shot to the head was carried out at point blank range with the muzzle of the gun touching her head.
He said both young girls where shot while they were under the duvet covers on the bed with Ava, four, being shot at point blank range and Lexi, two, shot in the chest a little further away.
He said the Staffordshire bull terrier, Bill, was found dead from a gunshot wound outside the bathroom.
Text messages between the couple also showed they had agreed to take a break in their relationship.
On January 13, part-time legal secretary Kelly begged for an end to the shouting matches between the pair.
In one text message she wrote: ‘Can we be civil in front of the girls, please? I dread coming home.
‘I’ll stay at my mum’s if you want.’
A month later on February 5, Kelly wrote: ‘I think we should have a break and see how we both feel,’ to which Needham replied: ‘If that’s what you really want’.
The next day, Kelly wrote: ‘Let’s not argue in front of the girls. Please don’t bang the door and shout.
‘From now on, whatever happens, I don’t want to argue any more.’
And in a chilling message foreshadowing future events Kelly messaged on March 2: ‘I’m getting out of your way. I can see you are angry.’
In a statement read to the court his family said the killings were a ‘diabolical tragedy’.
They said: ‘The loss of Robert, Kelly, Ava and Lexi has left an agonising hole in our lives which will never be filled. They appeared to be a strong loving family.
‘There was no indication of the inner turmoil Rob was clearly experiencing. There is no plausible explanation for the destruction caused that night that we can fathom.’
Mr Needham and his partner Ms Fitzgibbons had two children – Ava, five, and Lexi, three
All four were found dead at the detached property in the quiet village of Woodmancote in the evening of Sunday March 29, 2020 – just a week after lockdown was imposed
Police tape surrounds the garden of a house in the West Sussex village of Woodmancote
Mr Needham, a builder, was first granted a shotgun license from Hampshire Constabulary in September 2015 with the certificate being renewed by Sussex Police in March 2017.
The hearing was told Mr Needham had been suffering financial problems in the run-up to the Covid lockdown in March 2020, with the couple having combined debts of almost £30,000.
Mr Needham had been forced to close down his building firm the previous October owning HMRC £8,500. He also had debts of £10,000 on his credit cars and £14,000 owed on a bank loan.
The couple had been suffering relationship woes in the early months of 2020 and had exchanged a series of messages which culminated in them agreeing to have a break in the relationship.
The family had earlier moved into Mr Needham’s family home in Woodmancote, West Sussex to help care for his mother, Maureen, 77, after his father Rex, who suffered with Parkinson’s disease, died in 2017.
They lived upstairs rent free while his mother lived in a ‘granny flat’ downstairs.
Mr Needham was building an extension to the house but the family had run into financial problems and had stopped contributing to the bills.
The builder had also been forced to take out a loan of £20,000 from his mother to cover his family’s day-to-day living.
When Covid struck Mr Needham found it difficult getting hold of building supplies and had to put the work extension on hold.
In a statement read to the inquest Maureen Needham said she believed they needed the money for nursery fees and day to day living.
She also entered an equity release agreement for £180,000 to help fund the building of the extension.
In a statement to the hearing, Miss Fitzgibbons’ twin sister, Emma Ambler, said she did not believe the couple had any serious money worries.
She said: ‘I got the impression they were OK for money. They could afford nights out and nice things.’
Miss Fitzgibbons said her sister had talked about tightening their belts for a bit but did not seem unduly concerned.
The tragedy came just two days after Ms Fitzgibbons posted a series of pictures on Facebook of her family out in the countryside last Friday under the heading ‘our walk for the day’
A photograph Ms Fitzgibbons posted two days before the family were found dead
She said she did not have an answer as to why Mr Needham shot his partner and two girls to death.
‘Rob absolutely adored the girls. Ava was a real daddy’s girl. Kelly had never told me Rob was violent towards her and the girls in any way.
‘I thought life was good for Kelly and Rob and the girls. If it was down to money difficulties it must be something Kelly didn’t know about. She was not terribly concerned about money or worried about the coronavirus situation.’
She said: ‘Ava was a beautiful, angelic little girl. She was a right chatterbox. She loved holding hands, dancing and chatting. She made many friends in school. She was a ray of sunshine and had a positive approach to school life. She was always ready with a smile on her face.
‘Lexi was cheeky. She was always either smiling or frowning. She was a little bit more confident. She had a mischievous streak in her but she loved to cuddle up. She greeted every day with love and enthusiasm. They got on well together and shared a strong bond.’
Hair sample tests showed Mr Needham had previously been a ‘cocaine user’ and had been forced, in the past, to see a doctor over damage the drug had caused to his nose.
The hearing was also told in the days leading up to the killings he had twice tried to get hold of the drug without success.
Miss Ambler said she had no idea Mr Needham had recently purchased a shotgun and kept it at the house but said her twin sister wouldn’t have told her because she would have known she wouldn’t have approved.
The bodies were found by family friend Ronald Peacock who climbed a ladder into their dormer bedroom.
He found the two young girls lying side by side on the bed under the duvet and their mother lying on the floor. Mr Needham was found on the landing.
Examination of the body showed Miss Fitzgibbons had injuries to her forearm and the side of her face, suggesting she had tried to defend herself as her fiancee levelled the shotgun at her and shot.
A second gunshot wound to the left side of her head would have immediately proved fatal, the hearing was told.
Both the young girls had been shot a close or point blank range and died almost immediately.
The killings shocked the village’s close-knit community, with locals claiming keen angler Mr Needham appeared to be a dedicated family man.
Just 48 hours before the tragedy, Miss Fitzgibbons posted a series of images online showing the whole family enjoying a lockdown walk in the sunshine.
The inquests continue.