Bio

Robert William Healey was born in 1949 in the United Kingdom. By the 1980s, he lived in Hazel Grove, Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. Healey was married to Greeba Healey, who was 40 years old at the time of her death. Greeba had a 13-year-old daughter, Marie Walker, who was Healey’s stepdaughter. The family lived on Longmead Avenue in Hazel Grove.

Reports from the time described Healey as a self-employed driving instructor. Before the murders became known, he was treated as a missing person after disappearing from the family home. At first, the case appeared to involve a possible suicide because men’s clothing and a suicide note were found on a beach at Prestatyn in North Wales.

Police later suspected that the suicide scene had been staged. When officers visited the family home, they found bloodstains and discovered that Greeba Healey and Marie Walker were also missing. This changed the investigation from a missing-person inquiry into a suspected double murder case.

The later High Court judgment stated that Healey had sexual intercourse with both victims shortly before their deaths. The judge said it could be inferred that his motive arose from sexual activities inside the home. Because one victim was his 13-year-old stepdaughter, the case involved serious abuse of trust and sexual conduct involving a child.

Murder Story

In July 1986, Robert William Healey killed his wife, Greeba Healey, and his stepdaughter, Marie Walker, at the family home in Hazel Grove, Stockport. Greeba Healey was attacked with a rolling pin. The High Court judgment later stated that Healey struck her at least 15 times over the head. The fatal injury was a crush fracture to the left parietal region of the skull.

Marie Walker, who was 13 years old, was killed by asphyxiation caused by sustained pressure to the throat. The judgment also stated that Healey had sexual intercourse with both victims shortly before they died. After the killings, Healey took steps to hide what he had done. He buried the victims’ bodies, created a false trail suggesting that they had left, and staged his own suicide. Men’s clothing and a suicide note were found on a beach at Prestatyn in North Wales. His car was later found in a car park near Birmingham’s New Street railway station.

At first, police appealed for Healey to come forward. They also investigated bloodstains found at the family home and in connection with the abandoned car. As the evidence developed, fears increased that Greeba and Marie had been killed. Healey eventually gave himself up on August 16, 1986. He was later charged with murder.

At trial, Healey admitted that he had killed both victims, but he advanced a defence based on provocation and lack of intent. The jury rejected that defence. He was convicted on March 30, 1987, of murdering his wife and stepdaughter. Healey was sentenced to life imprisonment. The trial judge originally recommended a minimum term of at least 15 years. In 1997, the Home Secretary notified a minimum term of 20 years. Healey later applied to the High Court for that minimum term to be reviewed under the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

On February 7, 2006, Mr Justice Gibbs reviewed the case and ruled that the 20-year minimum term should stand. The judge noted the seriousness of the double murder, the killing of a child, the sexual element, Healey’s position of trust, and the concealment of the bodies. The judge also noted that Healey had later admitted he was guilty of murder and acknowledged that the defence he advanced at trial was false.

In a 2006 High Court review (Case No: MTR/20/2005), it was noted that under contemporary sentencing standards, such crimes would likely result in a whole-life order. However, based on the laws applicable at the time of his conviction, his minimum tariff expired in September 2006. Under the requirements of a life sentence in the United Kingdom, Healey remains in custody unless the Parole Board is satisfied that he no longer represents a significant risk to the public. If released, he would remain on license for the duration of his life, subject to immediate recall to prison for any breach of conditions.