Ex-Army commando, 34, accused of killing married neighbours at their £250,000 home as their children slept upstairs will stand trial for murder next June
A former soldier accused of killing a young married couple in their Somerset home while their children slept upstairs will stand trial for murder in June next year.
Collin Reeves, 34, is accused of fatally attacking Stephen Chapple, 36, and his wife Jennifer, 33, at their home in Norton Fitzwarren on the evening of November 21.
Both victims were allegedly stabbed to death as their sons aged five and six slept upstairs at their £250,000 property on Dragon Rise.
Former soldier Collin Reeves, 34, is accused of murdering a married couple on November 21
Stephen Chapple, 36, and his wife Jennifer, 33, were allegedly stabbed to death last month
Reeves did not appear at a case management hearing at Bristol Crown Court today, where Judge Peter Blair QC provisionally listed the trial for June 6 next year.
Adam Feest QC, prosecuting, said he did not expect the case to last more than a week. A further case management hearing is scheduled for March 25.
Reeves, who is also from Norton Fitzwarren, is expected to appear at this hearing and be arraigned on the charges. He was remanded in custody today.
Following the couple's deaths last month, tributes flooded in - including from Gregg Mockridge, headmaster at West Somerset College, where Mr Chapple worked.
A court artist's sketch of Collin Reeves (left) at Taunton Magistrates' Court on November 25
Detectives at the scene on Dragon Rise in Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset, on November 23
He said: 'Steve was a fantastic colleague at West Somerset College, a brilliant teacher that cared deeply about the students in his care. He led innovations in the use of technology across the school as well as within his own teaching.
'Steve will be sadly missed by all staff and students and our thoughts and prayers go out to his children and wider family at this time.'
Rob Brooks, manager of the Otter Garden Centre, where Mrs Chapple worked in the coffee shop, said: 'She was a well loved member of staff and a very kind person.
'We all loved her and so did the customers. We are devastated. We will remember her as a beautiful, kind and dedicated mother and colleague.'
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