CHILLING video footage released by police shows how double murderer Jonathan Houseman tried to cover his tracks after shooting to death two men to whom he owed £400,000.
The footage was released as Houseman, formerly of Quarry Bank Road, Stourbridge, was jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 40 years, for the cold-blooded killings of Will Henry and Brian McIntosh.
Houseman, aged 33, was sentenced today (Friday) after jurors at Birmingham Crown Court found him guilty on August 6 of murdering Mr Henry, aged 31, and Mr McIntosh, aged 29, as they sat in a Range Rover on the Albion Works industrial estate, Moor Street, Brierley Hill, on September 30, 2020.
Co-defendant Richard Avery, aged 34, of no fixed address, was cleared of murder after the eight-week trial but convicted of perverting the course of justice and he was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
The video footage, released by West Midlands Police, shows the moment Houseman fled the scene in a car he'd parked nearby after six gunshots were heard, and 10 minutes later he was seen arriving at the H20 car wash at Merry Hill, run by Avery, to whom he gave the gun.
CCTV showed Houseman removing his clothes, which would have been covered in blood and gunshot residue, and appearing to spray himself with cleaning fluid given to him by Avery.
Avery was then seen bagging up the clothes worn at the time and loading them into a car, and the evidence was later destroyed in a garden waste incinerator to try to cover Houseman's tracks.
Detectives had established the victims, who worked in the waste clearance business, were owed thousands of pounds by Houseman for work they had done but not been paid for.
It is believed Houseman, who had a waste site in Halesowen, owed them at least £400,000 and although he claimed to have paid them a small proportion of this amount, they had become increasingly frustrated with his failure to reimburse them.
Houseman maintained he was innocent of the killings and during his trial claimed the gunman was a mystery fourth person in the car but jurors found him guilty of both counts of murder.
Detective Inspector Wes Martin, who led the investigation, said after today's sentencing hearing: “These were killings motivated pure and simply by greed and Houseman’s selfish desire to wipe out debts and maintain a lavish lifestyle he could ill afford.
“We believe Houseman arranged this meeting to ambush and ultimately execute Mr McIntosh and Mr Henry – both of whom were young, family men, who were well-loved by their families and had their whole lives ahead of them.
“There has been absolutely no remorse from the two men on trial, and they have tried to distance themselves from these horrific killings at every step of the way. It was carried out as cold-blooded execution which was completely unjustified.
“Our thoughts are with the families of Mr McIntosh and Mr Henry today, as they have been throughout this investigation.”
Mr McIntosh’s family said after the case: “We as a family need the time to be able to grieve our horrendous loss of our beloved Brian and Will, who were both humble, big-hearted, compassionate, funny, ambitious, thriving family men. Their characters were larger than life and the world will now be an empty place without them.”
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