Elle Edwards: Connor Chapman convicted of murdering beautician in Christmas Eve shooting
A 23-year-old man has been found guilty of the murder of beautician Elle Edwards, who was shot dead outside a pub in Merseyside on Christmas Eve.
A jury at Liverpool Crown Court convicted Connor Chapman, who fired twelve bullets from a Skorpion sub-machine gun outside the Lighthouse Inn in Wallasey, just 10 minutes before Christmas Day last year.
Ms Edwards, 26, was last seen on CCTV leaving the pub for a cigarette just four minutes before Chapman unleashed his attack.
Along with killing Ms Edwards, he injured five men, two of which were his intended targets.
Chapman was found guilty of Ms Edwards’s murder following a trial, which lasted more than three weeks.
He was also found guilty of two counts of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of a firearm.
His co-defendant, Thomas Waring, 20, was found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon and assisting an offender by helping to burn out the stolen Mercedes used in the murder.
The family of Ms Edwards were present for every day of Chapman’s trial and, for them, this conviction is a “huge relief”.
Her grieving father, Tim Edwards, also labelled Chapman a “coward” who he said had not looked him in the eye throughout the trial – adding: “I hope he rots in hell”.
Connor Chapman. Pic: Merseyside Police
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “He’s taken the core of our family and he’s ripped it out. We’ll never have Elle back, that’s just something that’s never going to happen.
“But she’ll always be here, so we still have that and we’re never going to allow him to take that away from us. No one can.”
Mr Edwards added that the conviction was a huge step forward for the family.
“It’s a new chapter,” he said. “It’s the beginning of the future without Elle.”
Speaking about the conviction of Chapman, he added: “It means he [Chapman] is off the streets, someone else is not going to suffer at the hands of him.”
Mr Edwards said he had attempted to look the defendant in the eye as he sat in the dock, but that he had avoided eye contact with him.
“He’s a scumbag, isn’t he? An absolute scumbag,” he said.
“No remorse, not one ounce, not one sign of regret for what he’s done. If anything, arrogant to actually believe he can pull the wool over people’s eyes and get away with it.”
Speaking outside court following the verdict, he said: “I hope they never see a Christmas again ever in their lives
“I’ve had my eyes on him [Chapman] for four weeks – he’s not looked at me once.
“He’s a coward. That’s exactly what he is. I hope he rots in hell.”
Elle Edwards was shot while out celebrating Christmas with friends
‘Dangerous, despicable and ruthless’
Merseyside Police investigated more than 1,400 hours of CCTV footage, carried out 37 searches and examined 1,800 exhibits in relation to Elle’s murder.
To convict the “dangerous, despicable and ruthless individual” the evidence was overwhelming.
The jury was shown evidence relating to Chapman’s DNA, including red gloves worn by the attacker when carrying out his shooting, which police seized at his friend’s address.
A bullet casing found at the scene of the murder was also covered in Chapman’s DNA.
CCTV footage of the 23-year-old also showed Chapman ruffling his long hair and dropping the Skorpion gun as he walked towards his friend’s home just 12 minutes after the shooting.
A Skorpion sub-machine gun, similar to that used in the shooting
Police arrested Chapman 17 days after the attack while in a supermarket despite repeated requests to hand himself in.
Detective Superintendent Paul Grounds told Sky News: “This was a sickening attack by a ruthless and dangerous individual.
“It’s incomprehensible that somebody would think that they could get away with leaving the house, possession of a gun, going to a pub that was packed and then discharge a submachine gun into a crowd.
“That night changed the lives of many people forever.”
‘Ongoing feud’ led to wild shooting into crowd
Chapman was seen arriving in Wallasey just before 9pm on Christmas Eve, just under three hours before he would carry out his attack.
CCTV showed him driving a stolen Mercedes A-Class into the pub car park and pulling up in a bay where he lay in wait for 55 minutes.
Gunman leaving the Lighthouse pub car park, Merseyside, in the Mercedes following the shooting
After seeing his targets, two men from a rival estate, he’s seen approaching the building and then firing 12 shots indiscriminately into a crowd of people at the entrance of the pub.
Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, Chapman’s intended targets, were both seriously injured.
Just a day before the attack the pair had assaulted an associate of Chapman.
Read more:
Hundreds attended victim’s funeral
Footage released of arrest
The prosecution said his “inexplicable actions” were the culmination of this “ongoing feud”.
DS Grounds added: “Connor Chapman has given Elle’s family a life sentence.
“I hope during his period in custody, which will be significant, the enormity of what he’s done and what he’s taken from that family remains with him for the rest of his life.”
Mr Edwards said Chapman has shown no remorse throughout the entirety of the trial.
The grieving father said: “He doesn’t care for what he’s done and what he’s guilty of.
“He hasn’t got an ounce of humanity about him – he hasn’t showed one bit of regret.”
The father of Elle Edwards, Tim Edwards, arrives with family members at the Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts in Liverpool
Remembering his daughter before her funeral in January, Mr Edwards told Sky News: “She’s the type of person that would walk into the room and everyone would gravitate towards her because she was always smiling.
“She was beautiful looking and she was a great hugger. She was just a fantastic human being with a heart of gold.”
He added: “Christmas Day didn’t mean anything, that had gone.
“It didn’t feel real and Christmas will never be the same. Christmas will never be a point of celebration for me, ever.”
The judge, Mr Justice Goose, said he would sentence Chapman and Waring on Friday at 2pm.
Jeffrey Epstein led two different lives – sex offender and celebrity networker – and he did that in the UK as well as the US.
The newly released Epstein documents reveal, in particular, how the paedophile financier ascended into the highest levels of British society.
This photo of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor sprawled across the lap of several women, whose identities have been protected, speaks to his close relationship with Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was jailed for child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with Epstein. But the furnishings are even more revealing.
Epstein files – latest updates
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor pictured with Ghislaine Maxwell. Note: inclusion in Epstein files does not infer wrongdoing
Sky News matched the fireplace in this photo with the one in Sandringham, the estate where the royals tend to spend Christmas – (Andrew is not invited this year).
Andrew has vigorously denied any accusations against him.
Prince Charles, now King Charles III, at Sandringham with Prince Edward. Pic: PA
Also included in the latest release are Epstein’s flight records. They provide some useful corroborating evidence.
A flight log from the Epstein files
On 9 March 2001, his plane landed at “EGGW” – Luton Airport – with JE, GM and VR on board – Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Roberts, better known by her married name of Virginia Giuffre and perhaps Epstein’s most famous accuser.
The next day is when this photo was alleged to have been taken, in London, of Giuffre and Andrew.
Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts, aged 17, and Ghislaine Maxwell at Ghislaine Maxwell’s townhouse in London, in March 2001
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell hunting, date unknown. Pic: US DoJ
Other photos show Maxwell on the steps of Downing Street – and power was as much a draw as celebrity.
Ghislaine Maxwell outside 10 Downing Street, date unknown. Pic: US DoJ
On 15 May 2002, the flight records show Epstein again arriving at Luton.
A flight log from the Epstein files
The next day is when he met Tony Blair, prime minister at the time. This was before Epstein’s first arrest and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing.
Read more:
New photos of Jeffrey Epstein’s circle released
Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking case material to be released
The meeting was arranged by Peter Mandelson, who lost his job as ambassador to the US because of his Epstein connections, and who features prominently in the files.
Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: US DoJ
The UK was a draw for Epstein’s wider circle too – Maxwell here is pictured touring the Churchill War Rooms with Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey. Neither are accused of wrongdoing or knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
(L-R) Ghislaine Maxwell, Kevin Spacey and Bill Clinton, with three other men. Pic: US DoJ
And the other grim life that Epstein led, of sex trafficking, also had British links.
A page from the Epstein files
Another document released in the files, from 2019, shows witness testimony from Maxwell’s trial. In it, a victim is mentioned who is “17 years old” and who grew up “in England”. She would later be taken to Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
Police have announced a £20,000 reward in the hunt for the killers of a man in north London in March.
Mahad Abdi Mohamed, 27, died after being shot in the head in Waverley Road, Tottenham at 8.45pm on 20 March, the Metropolitan Police said.
The Met, which announced the reward from the independent charity Crimestoppers, said officers believed the shooting was a case of mistaken identity.
Police now want to speak to two people in connection with the incident.
DCI Rebecca Woodsford, who is leading the investigation, said: “There is someone out there who knows what happened that night, and we are urging those individuals to find it in their heart to come forward. It could be exactly what we need to locate those responsible.”
Images of the two people police would like to speak to. Pics: Metropolitan Police
A targeted attack
Police believe the suspects, who got out of a stolen Mitsubishi Outlander, which was later recovered burned out, were taking part in a targeted attack.
On the night of the murder, Mahad had spent the early evening with his friend at their home.
They were breaking their fast outside when the Mitsubishi Outlander approached and the suspects opened fire, striking Mahad and his friend multiple times.
Mahad’s 26-year-old friend received treatment for a gunshot wound to his leg.
The force suspects another stolen vehicle, a blue Jaguar, was used to transport the suspects to and from the Mitsubishi.
Read more from Sky News:
Driver guilty of murder in Christmas Day rampage
Ukraine “hits Russian tanker in Mediterranean Sea for first time”
The stolen cars from the night. Pics: Metropolitan Police
Police arrested four adult men in March and April on suspicion of murder, who were subsequently bailed.
The investigation so far has led officers to believe whoever killed Mahad set out to hurt someone else in a pre-planned, targeted attack.
Appealing to the public for information, Mahad’s youngest sister said: “To stay silent is to be complicit. To stay silent is to let a grieving mother suffer in confusion. To stay silent is to let a little boy grow up not knowing what happened to his father.”
Pic: Metropolitan Police
The reward, which is offered for information that leads to the identification, arrest and prosecution of those responsible, is available for three months and is due to expire on 20 March 2026.
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