Chilling moment stepfather confesses to shooting wife dead with a shotgun in front of her daughter
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This is the chilling moment a stepfather confessed to shooting his wife to death in front of their teenage daughter, pointing to the word “yes” after he was unable to speak due to a failed suicide attempt.
Cheryl Gabriel-Hooper, 51, was shot twice with a double-barreled shotgun by her ex-partner Andrew Hooper while sitting in her car after being subjected to years of domestic abuse.
His daughter Georgia, who was just 14 at the time, was standing by the front of the Land Rover Evoque when she saw her stepfather fire an antique gun at her mother in January 2018.
Hooper fled the scene and turned the shotgun on himself after the attack. His face remains badly disfigured and he can no longer speak. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 31 years.
Never-before-seen footage has now surfaced showing him in hospital admitting to the murder by pointing to the word “yes” on a board with his shaky finger when asked in a police interview if he was responsible for his wife’s death.
Never-before-seen footage emerges of police interviewing Andrew Hooper in hospital
Cheryl Gabriel-Hooper, 51, was shot twice with a double-barreled shotgun by her ex-partner Andrew Hooper
In the clip, which is part of a new ITVX documentary A Murder in the Family, a police officer says the investigation was an “emotional rollercoaster over 18 months full of unexpected twists”.
By the time police were able to interview Hooper, 10 months had passed: he had no mouth or nose, and the interview was described as “extraordinary”.
Georgia’s stepfather, Andrew Hooper, had already been convicted of domestic abuse crimes before he met his mother. But Cheryl never knew this when she started the relationship.
Georgia spoke to MailOnline in December 2020 and said: ‘I wish there had been a record of domestic abuse when my mother was alive.
“My stepfather had a history of domestic abuse before he even met my mother, so if there had been a record, it could have prevented her from entering into a relationship with him.”
Hooper pointing to the word yes in a police interview when asked if he was responsible for Cheryl’s death.
Cheryl Hooper, with her daughter Georgia, who was 14 when she witnessed the shooting.
“A registry would save lives because it would potentially prevent someone from entering into a relationship with an abusive partner,” Georgia added at the time. “Many abusers become serial abusers and attack every woman they date. It’s rarely an isolated incident, so we need that record to keep women safe.
‘Something needs to be done. We have a sex offender registry, so why don’t we have a domestic abuse registry?’
Cheryl, who had been abused by the ‘cowardly’ farmer for seven years, moved out of their shared home at Guild of Monks Farm, near Newport, Shropshire, in December 2017 and moved into another house with Georgia in town.
She was assassinated six weeks later, on January 26, 2018.
Police said the investigation was an “emotional rollercoaster over 18 months full of unexpected twists.”
Andrew Hooper, who was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of murdering his ex-wife Cheryl Hooper
Georgia and her mother had just parked in the driveway of their new home when Hooper, who had earlier confronted Cheryl in a pub after planting a tracking device in her car, pulled up behind them in his truck.
“My mom was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s here,'” Georgia previously said.
Knowing instinctively that something didn’t feel right, the 14-year-old schoolgirl got out of the car.
“But when I got to the front of the car, he shot through the car window to break it and then he shot Mom again,” she said.
‘I tried to find a pulse or get a reaction from her, but there was nothing.
‘I never thought I was going to kill her. I never thought that she would take it this far.
A Murder in The Family lands exclusively on ITVX on Thursday 5th January.
If you have been affected by the issues in this story, Women’s Aid offers a free helpline: 01708 765200