Mark Chilman: The Obsessed Ex Who Burned His Love Rival Alive

 
(Mark Chilman. Picture credit: bbc)

When Juliet Adcock met Mark Chilman, he seemed to be the breath of fresh air that she needed after a painful divorce. The mother of three and Mark had met when he did some handyman jobs around the farm that she owned in Herefordshire, England. The pair grew close and started seeing each other on a personal level in 2013. 

At that time Juliet couldn't have been more happier, Mark seemed to be very hands on with everything and he was absolutely besotted with her. She enjoyed the attention and friends commented on how much he adored her. At first the attention and love from Mark was flattering and romantic but the more time that went on in the relationship, the more he became overbearing. Juliet just couldn't get a moment to herself without Mark being around, he had such a fixation on her that she felt smothered in the relationship but knowing how it would badly affect him if she decided to end things, she continued on with the relationship just for the sake of it but she wasn't in love with him anymore.

The couple moved to a smaller farm in near Worcester and Juliet thought that the fresh start would do them some good but things were still the same, it just wasn't working for her, she wasn't happy and she wanted some space and freedom. Mark had become too controlling and wanted to know where she was and what she was doing every minute of the day. Juliet had a heart to heart with friends and plucked up the courage to sit down and talk to Mark. When she told him it was over he refused to accept it and made all sorts of threats about taking his own life and she thought at the time that he was just being overdramatic. Mark would often play mind games and force blackmail on people if he couldn't get his own way. 


(Juliet Adcock. Picture credit: Daily Mail)

This time though, Juliet's mind was made up, she'd had enough and told him to move out. She tried to do things in as friendly a way as she possibly could but Mark was still in denial and continued to beg and plead for weeks and months afterwards.

No matter how many weeks and months rolled on, Mark (52) would not stop trying to get back into Juliet's life, he would make excuses to see her. Her friends and family nicknamed him 'The Layby Lurker' because he was always parked at a layby near her property. If anyone asked Mark why he was sitting there at silly hours of the night or morning, he would make excuses that he was just trying to get a signal on his phone but the truth was, he was stalking Juliet. 

The situation got even more extreme when he managed to break into the farmhouse and stole money and items even going so far as to steal a sweater of Juliet's along with a pair of her panties. He went through her personal drawers and cupboards and found her favourite perfume. He then took the items home and bought the same perfume that Juliet wore so he could spray it onto the stolen sweater and panties. 

He also left a noose and a message on a mirror which said ''I am sorry. Love forever, my darling. Sorry. Love Mark X''

Mark would take the perfume soaked sweater and panties to bed with him every night. 

The pair broke up before summer and as it approached the end of the year, Juliet had a new romance in her life. A man she would describe as a true gentleman and it was no secret that he wore his heart on his sleeve. The new man in Juliet's life was Neil Parkinson. Neil (66) also had two grown up children and he was carer for his 94 year old mother who had dementia. 

Neil and Juliet seemed to just click, they had so much in common and Neil made her feel safe, he was so caring and treated her lovely. They would enjoy days out together, he would help out on the farm and she'd cook him romantic dinners. the relationship seemed to be going well as both parties were happy and friends and family noticed how happy they both were together. 

The only person that wasn't happy was Mark Chilman because right there behind the scenes he was still spying on Juliet. He was determined to get her back from the moment she broke up with him and now there was this new man on the scene and Mark was furious. 


(Neil Parkinson. Picture credit: Sky)

Mark was hoping that it was just a fling and would be over soon enough but as time went on and he would see the couple holding hands or laughing together, it made him more and more angry to the point that he was daydreaming about ways to get rid of Neil. 

In Mark's head despite the fact that Juliet made it clear that she wasn't interested anymore, he refused to believe that and saw the only barrier to them being together as Neil. Neil was the problem, Neil was the issue and once Neil was out of the picture then things could go back to the way they were, in his mind. 

As well as being the centre of Juliet's affections, Neil was a handsome man in his 60s with a youthfulness to him. He came from a respectable family and drove a fancy BMW car so all of that didn't help matters either. Juliet went from dating a controlling, possessive and scruffy handyman to dating a kind hearted, handsome and stylish gentleman. This drove Mark even more crazy. 

The daydreams soon became more than fantasies, Mark was determined to get rid of Neil once and for all. 

In December of 2020, it was a typical chilly evening and Juliet had just cooked Neil some dinner. The couple spent some much needed time together before Neil had to head back to his house to check on his mother with him being her carer. 

Neil left Juliet's house around 9:25pm and the pair were in a happy mood as they were looking forward to a spa break together that they were due to go on the very next day. Neil and Juliet shared a kiss before he closed the door. 

Unknown to Neil, Mark had been watching the romantic display from afar and had been waiting in the cold, waiting to strike and attack Neil. 

It's unknown at what point Mark pounced on Neil but due to the traces of Neil's blood later being found on the farmhouse gate, it is assumed that this is the point where Neil attacked him. 

Neil had been struck with an object at the back of the head so I'm assuming that Mark must have sneaked up on him as he was closing the farmhouse gate. Neil didn't have a chance to fight back, he was struck at the back of the head and passed out instantly. 

Juliet was in the house the whole time putting the dishes away and organising clothes for the next day, she had no idea of what was going on with Mark and Neil. 

Mark then transported Neil in his BMW car to a layby and placed his body in the driver seat before covering him and the vehicle with petrol and setting it on fire. From the investigation findings it was determined that from the injury that Neil suffered he would have been passed out but still alive so he would have still been breathing, Mark would have known this but still he burned the man alive. 

He fled the scene and used a mobile phone that he had bought some weeks before as part of his plan. He texted Juliet pretending to be Neil. He said ''Juliet, it's Neil, on one of my other phones...I lead a double life. I use and abuse women.''

The petrol that was used to murder Neil was actually stolen from Juliet's farm and this was also mentioned in a text. Juliet knew straight away that this was not Neil texting her. She knew it was Mark by the spelling errors and the tone of the messages, Neil would never have spoken to her like that and he had his own unique way of texting. 

As the flames on the BMW grew, members of the public saw the fire and called the police & fire service. The police arrived at the scene and obviously there was sadly nothing that could be done to help Neil. Mark had set the whole thing up to look like a suicide but failed because Juliet and everyone knew how crazed Mark actually was. It wasn't long before the police arrested him and without a shred of remorse he told the police a pack of lies claiming that he was there when Neil took his own life but that Neil had ended things himself. 

He denied any involvement in Neil's death and was acting very strange in the interviews coming out with statements such as ''Whatever, he's out of the way now'' and ''I wanted to cut Neil's C**k off with a penknife''. 

There was other ramblings during the police interviews where he claimed that he worshipped the ground that Juliet walked on and that she was his property and that he could never let her go.

Despite his endless lies and bizarre statements and claims of being innocent, the police had all of the evidence and knew the truth. Mark soon stood trial for the murder of Neil Parkinson and still claimed innocence. 

Mark's excuse for the cold hearted statements was that he was tired and just telling the police what they wanted to hear. The jury could see right through him and so did the Judge. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 22 years.

I stumbled across this case recently and as I have written about a few of these deadly love triangles or obsessed ex partners, I thought this would be a shocking and interesting case to include here as I'm sure a lot of you would not have heard this story. 

It's an unbelievable story and at the same time a very sad one. Whilst doing my research I read a lot about Neil and he came across as a very warm and very well liked man who was the type of person who would give you the shirt off your back if he could. All he did was fall in love and he treated Juliet like a Queen and for his life to be taken like that, it's so cruel and heartbreaking. 

It seemed that Mark did get away with a lot in this case, the fact that he had been in Juilet's house, stolen items and was hanging about near her home should have been taken more seriously and the police should have been involved more. Like in the beginning Juliet must have been scared to do anything incase of provoking him somehow. 

I think of Neil and his family and how they must feel but also how Juliet must feel. Nobody could have foreseen Mark going this far and I imagine that Juliet is left with a lot of questions and possibly feelings of guilt. 

It's hard to imagine what must go through her mind, having that last memory of Neil, all smiles when he left her house, their last dinner together not knowing that he was going to die in such a sickening and horrendous way. 

Let's hope that Mark Chilman never gets out of prison.


I'm hoping that wherever Juliet and Neil's family are, that they are able to stay strong and able to live their lives as Neil would have wanted them all too. 


RIP Neil. 


Sources & Further Reading: 


Mark Chilman Article | Sky New Report

Mark Chilman Article | Worcester News

Mark Chilman Article | Daily Mail

Mark Chilman Article | Express And Star

Mark Chilman Article | Mirror

Mark Chilman Article | Daily Record


Thank you for reading my latest case, hopefully I will see you (on my Social Media) in the next one x

4 comments:

  1. Wow! Creepy and Chilling!

    It's truly disturbing when someone becomes obsessed and possessive like Mark did.

    Some of this behavior reminds me a lot of how certain people act on the internet. Acting like obsessive freaks and creeps it's quite disturbing.

    I know for myself being on the receiving end of such obsession it's quite frightening.

    Brilliant story and quite frightening as to what happened.

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    1. Thank you so much for taking the time to read & comment, much appreciated x

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  2. Thank you so much for taking the time to read & comment - just be careful with the use of language lol, much appreciated x

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  3. You are right Jo, I'm so sorry. I got caught into the moment. I will be careful next time. Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention.

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