Lisa Skidmore murder: 'Grotesque' killer told probation officer he wanted to rape again
A brutal killer warned a probation officer six weeks before he raped and murdered a 'caring and devoted' nurse in her home that he felt like raping someone.
Leroy Campbell, 56, who had raped before the savage attack in Bilston on 37-year-old district nurse Lisa Skidmore, told the officer that the feelings he had experienced before previous sex attacks had returned.
She reported his comments to Wolverhampton Police who visited Campbell and he also told them of his desires but after several visits insisted he was coping better and did not need their help.
But Birmingham Crown Court heard that he was not managing his feelings and on November 24 last year he used a step ladder to climb through Ms Skidmore's first-floor bedroom in Mill Croft, where she was off work sick, and raped and strangled her.
When her 80-year-old mother Margaret Skidmore called at the house two hours later, he tried to strangle her with the vacuum cleaner lead and set fire to the house. After confessing what he had done to his sister, he handed himself in to police three days later.
Campbell, a paranoid schizophrenic, had broken into the home of a nurse in 1983 and tried to strangle her with intent to rape or sexually assault her and was jailed for seven years.
In 1992, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after breaking into a house, disguised, and repeatedly raping a woman while her five-year-old son was in the property.
Eight years later he terrorised a young French au pair at the house in Wolverhampton where she worked, indecently assaulting her at knifepoint and then forcing her into a cold bath to wash herself in order to remove DNA evidence.
She had woken to find him sitting beside her wearing her dressing gown and holding a knife. Later he kept her prisoner for 15 minutes before she managed to unblock a door he had wedged shut and escape to a neighbour's house to get help. Campbell was jailed for public protection to serve a minimum eight-year term.
He was released from that sentence on July 25 last year after serving 16 years and lived in Bilston for a while before moving to a hostel in Moseley, Birmingham, but made several return visits to the town in part to search for a victim.
Ms Skidmore was completely unknown to Campbell, the court heard.
Describing the offences as 'grotesque', Judge Mark Wall said: "Miss Skidmore had to suffer the pain and terror of being raped by an unknown intruder in her own home before she died.
"Despite your medical condition, your are capable of planning the most serious criminal offences and carrying those plans through with ruthless efficiency."
Mrs Skidmore, who sobbed in court as the judge told Campbell he would never be released from prison, continues to recover from her ordeal and is being cared for by family members, including the victim's two elder sisters and brother who were also at the sentencing.
In a statement afterwards they said: "The tragic death of Lisa has not only devastated the whole family but also her friends and work colleagues.
"Lisa was one of those rare people who made a difference in the community, first by being a nurse and even more so when she became a district nurse.
"For 19 years she devoted her life to caring for other people, tending to their needs in their last hours, but no one was there for her in her last hours.
"We couldn’t tell you how many people Lisa nursed, helped and cared for during her time as a nurse or lives that she saved, but all were treated with dignity and respect.
"Lisa was one of the most caring, kind and honest person you could meet who also had a sensitive side and would not have hurt anyone. To be taken in such a cruel way is lasting pain that the family will have to endure. She will always be lovingly remembered and sadly missed by all."
Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Payne said: "This horrendous crime has had a devastating impact on the many people who knew Lisa, her family, friends and work colleagues and those who lived near her.
"Campbell has refused to give an account of what happened that morning and they may never know, so I hope they can get some comfort from the fact that Campbell will never be set free again."
