Beverley Stephens was volunteering at a day centre for the down at heel in the Saltley area of Birmingham when she first met Barry Williams.

She thought he was kind with a friendly personality, a ‘regular’ man who had simply fallen on hard times.

Despite a 17-year age gap they started dating, but while Beverley, 34, was falling for her new man, he was hiding a dark secret that would make most potential suitors run for the hills.

Williams, 51, was a convicted spree killer who had just spent 15 years in Broadmoor Hospital for executing five people in a gun rampage across the West Midlands.

He came clean to Beverley about his horrifying crimes and incredibly their romance blossomed.

When the five-times killer proposed a year into their relationship, she said yes.

Beverley told The Crime Desk: ‘He was kind and just seemed like a pleasant, regular man. He wasn’t violent then. He just liked a quiet life.’

But despite the scenes of domestic bliss, behind the net curtains of the couple's terraced home Williams was a ticking timebomb.

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