JOHN Torney (40), an RUC constable who killed his wife and children out of lust and greed, was yesterday jailed for life.
He showed no emotion when told he would serve at least 20 years before being considered for release.
Torney had denied killing his wife, Linda (33), his daughter, Emma (10), and his son, John (13), with his police issue Ruger revolver as they slept in their beds at their Lomond Heights home in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, in September 1994. He said his son had killed his mother and sister and then committed suicide. It took the Belfast jury just under five hours to convict Torney by a majority of 10 to two.
The Crown Court judge Lord Justice Carswell told Torney his was "one of the most callous and cold blooded crimes it has been my misfortune to encounter".
Whatever may have been the mainspring of the obsession which drove you to do such a terrible thing, when you planned and embarked upon it with fiendish ingenuity and ruthless precision, you planned throughout to blame your son and tried forever to blacken his name and reputation", said Lord Justice Carswell.
During the six week trial, the jury was told Torney killed his family out of lust and greed and hoped to escape his failing marriage. He had become "infatuated" with a fellow RUC officer, Ailsa Millar, with whom he served at Magherafelt RUC station.