A CHILD KILLER who impaled the bodies of his three young victims on their mother's spiked fence has reportedly been released from prison.
David McGreavy, 68, was sentenced to multiple life terms in 1973 for the murders of Elsie Urry's children Paul Ralph, 4, Dawn, 2, and nine-month-old Samantha while babysitting them in their Worcester home.
Elsie – also known as Dorothy – said Victim Support informed her McGreavy had been freed today, after the Parole Board of England and Wales cleared him for release last December saying he had "changed considerably" over more than four decades in jail.
McGreavy, who was 21 at the time of the murders and living as the family's lodger, had been left to babysit the children by dad Clive Ralph while he went to collect Elsie from work on the evening of Friday, April 13 1973.
Elsie 'Dorothy' Urry's children Paul Ralph, Dawn and Samantha were murdered by McGreavy 46 years agoSometime between 10.15pm and 11.15pm, a drunk McGreavy became infuriated with the Ralph children and violently killed the baby, Samantha, before also murdering her siblings.
Each were killed in a different manner – Paul had been strangled with a wire, Dawn was found with her throat cut, and Samantha died from a compound fracture to the skull.
After murdering the children, McGreavy went down to the basement of the two bedroom home and retrieved a pickaxe which he used to mutilate their bodies.
The killer – dubbed the "Monster of Worcester" by the press at the time – then impaled the three bodies on the spikes of a wrought iron fence adjoining to a neighbour's yard and left the family's house in Gillam Street, Rainbow Hill.
When the Ralphs arrived back at their home, the police were already there and told them them the devastating news.
McGreavy impaled the bodies of the three children on a spiked fence next to the homeMcGreavy was arrested in the early hours of the following morning while walking on a nearby street and at first denied any responsibility, before confessing in a matter of hours and describing his crimes in graphic detail.
His only explanation for the murders during his trial was that the baby would not stop crying.
He pleaded guilty to all three murders and was sentenced to multiple life terms with minimums of 20 years.
In prison, he had been subjected to frequent abuse by other prisoners and spent most of his 46 years behind bars under protected conditions.
The Parole Board claimed in recent years that he had successfully adjusted, accepted rehabilitation and took up painting in his spare time.
Speaking to BBC Hereford and Worcester today, Ms Urry – who now lives in Hampshire – slammed the decision to release her children's killer.
Elsie Urry was informed that her children's killer had been released today (Image: BBC News)"They said he was going in for life and then they changed it for [a minimum of] 20 years, but he hasn't done 60 years," she said.
"He took three lives, not just one or two – three".
Ms Urry said she had been able to have input on the conditions McGreavy would be subject to upon his release, including exclusion zones.
She added: "It gives me a bit of peace of mind but it is still not fair he has been released after what he has done.
"There's other prisoners that haven't done half as bad as what he did to my children and they haven't been put up for parole, so what has made him be able to get parole?"
The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.
BREAKING: Elsie Urry, the mother of three young children murdered at their home in Worcester in 1973, says their killer David McGreavy - the ‘Monster of Worcester’ - has been released from prison. More details on @bbchw. pic.twitter.com/oDaeNY7sn0
— Tom Edwards (@tomedwardsbbchw) 11 June 2019
