On November 24, 2022, 38-year-old Liam Smith stepped outside his home in Shevington, Greater Manchester. He never made it back inside.
For nearly ten hours, Michael Hillier had been waiting in a Mitsubishi Shogun parked outside Liam's home. When Liam approached the vehicle, Hillier shot him in the face at close range before pouring sulphuric acid over him as he lay fatally wounded. The shocking attack stunned the community, but what investigators uncovered next was even more disturbing.
The motive traced back to a single Tinder date three years earlier. Hillier claimed his girlfriend, Rachel Fulstow, had told him Liam had raped her during their encounter in 2019. According to Hillier, the couple spent months planning a vigilante attack because they believed the justice system would never hold Liam accountable. Rachel told a very different story. She admitted she had told Michael about the encounter, but denied ever wanting Liam harmed, insisting she was living under Michael's coercive control and had become trapped in his obsession.
As detectives pieced together CCTV footage, internet searches, cloned licence plates, burner phones, and months of meticulous planning, one question emerged: Was Rachel Fulstow an equal participant in Liam's murder, or another victim manipulated by the man who carried it out?
Sources:
https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/culture/a71770037/killer-couple-love-on-trial-bbc/
https://www.thejusticegap.com/documentary-reveals-inside-story-of-womans-joint-enterprise-murder-conviction/
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-66600454
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-66615107
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/i-love-you-much-always-27585163
https://www.iclr.co.uk/document/2025002869/transcriptXml_2025002869_2025050612425263/html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H4-F-wRA1Y
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/murderer-who-shot-dad-face-27582056
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/michael-hillier-rachel-fulstow-court-b2393233.html
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