The Rettendon murders (also known as the Range Rover murders or the Essex Boys murders) occurred on 6 December 1995 in the village of

Rettendon Rettendon is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chelmsford in Essex, England, about south east of the city of Chelmsford. Situated near the River Crouch, the village was once owned by the Bishop of Ely. The A130 formerly passe ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England, when three

drug dealers The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

were shot dead inside a

Range Rover The Land Rover Range Rover, generally shortened to Range Rover, is a Sport utility vehicle, 4x4 Luxury car, luxury SUV produced by Land Rover, a marque and sub-brand of Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Tata Motors. The Range Rover line was launched ...

on a small farm track. The murders were the subject of a major police investigation and various special operations, including Operation Century. The murders have also been the subject of books and feature films.

Triple murders

On 6 December 1995, drug dealers Anthony 'Tony' Tucker, aged 38, head of a firm that provided security for nightclubs across Essex and also the security guard for former super middleweight champion

Nigel Benn Nigel Gregory Benn (born 22 January 1964), is a former British professional boxer who competed from 1987 to 1996. A two-weight world champion, he held the WBO middleweight title in 1990 and reigned as the WBC super-middleweight champion f ...

; Patrick 'Pat' Tate, aged 37, an amateur bodybuilder from Rochford, Essex; and Craig Anthony Rolfe, aged 26, were shot dead in a metallic blue

with the registration ''F424 NPE'' on a small farm track in

. The bodies of the three men were found the following morning by farmer Peter Theobald and his friend Ken Jiggins.

Police investigation

A police investigation codenamed Operation Century produced no arrests or evidence leading to a criminal prosecution. A prosecution that was eventually brought in connection with the murders was based on police operations subsequent to the closure of Operation Century. Two men, Jack Arthur Whomes of Brockford, Suffolk, and Michael John Steele of

Great Bentley Great Bentley is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Tendring district of north Essex, England, located seven miles east of Colchester. The parish includes the hamlets of Aingers Green and South Heath. It is home to the second l ...

, Colchester, were convicted of the murders on 20 January 1998 after an

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. The key witness was police

informer An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

Darren Nicholls from Braintree, Essex, who gave evidence against his former friends at their trial. Questions were raised over the reliability of mobile phone records used to corroborate the informant's testimony. During the investigation it was suggested that the murders may have been linked to the

death of Leah Betts Leah Sarah Betts (1 November 1977 – 16 November 1995) was an English woman from Latchingdon, Essex, who became a prominent figure in discussions about drug use in the United Kingdom following her death shortly after her 18th birthday. On 11 N ...

, who died after taking an

ecstasy Ecstasy most often refers to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand o ...

tablet in November 1995, which Tucker was believed to be ultimately responsible for supplying. In the two decades after their sentence, the pair unsuccessfully challenged their convictions. On 25 January 2021, after a Parole Board hearing, it was announced that Jack Whomes would be released from prison on licence after serving 23 years. His 25-year sentence was reduced by two years in 2018 due to his exemplary conduct whilst incarcerated. On 13 February 2025, the

Parole Board A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdiction ...

confirmed that Michael Steele would be released from prison on licence. In June 2025, it was reported that Steele, now aged 82, had been released and that he would be on licence for the rest of his life. On 15 February 2025, BBC News reported that the

Criminal Cases Review Commission The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is the statutory body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It was established by Section 8 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and be ...

had received an application to review the convictions of both Whomes and Steele.

Films

The following films are based, to varying degrees, on the crime: * ''

Essex Boys ''Essex Boys'' is a 2000 British crime film. It was directed by Terry Winsor and stars Sean Bean, Alex Kingston, Tom Wilkinson, Charlie Creed-Miles and Holly Davidson. Plot The film is based loosely around events in December 1995 that culminated ...

'' (2000), directed by Terry Winsor, inspired by the murders * ''

Rise of the Footsoldier ''Rise of the Footsoldier'' is a British gangster film franchise written and directed by Julian Gilbey, Will Gilbey, Ricci Harnett, Zackary Adler, Andrew Loveday and Nick Nevern, distributed by Optimum Releasing. The franchise and its first tw ...

'' (2007), a crime and gangster film franchise inspired by the murders ** ''Rise of the Footsoldier Part II: Reign of the General'' (2015) ** ''Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Story'' (2017) ** ''Rise of the Footsoldier 4: Marbella'' (2019) ** ''Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins'' (2021) ** ''Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance'' (2023) ** ''Rise of the Footsoldier: Ibiza'' (2025) * ''

Bonded by Blood ''Bonded by Blood'' is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Exodus. Although the album was completed in the summer of 1984, it was not released until 1985 due to issues with Exodus and the record label. It is considered one of th ...

'' (2010), a crime, drama, thriller film inspired by the murders ** ''Bonded by Blood 2'' (2017) * ''

The Fall of the Essex Boys ''The Fall of the Essex Boys'' is a 2013 British gangster thriller film based on the true story of the Rettendon murders in 1995. It follows the rise and ultimate fall of the feared criminal gang The Essex Boys. Plot On a boat in the North Se ...

'' (2013), directed by Paul Tanter, inspired by the murders ** ''Essex Boys: Retribution'' (2013) ** ''Essex Boys: Law of Survival'' (2015) * ''The Only Way Was Essex'' (2015)

Television

* ''The Essex Murders'', a 2023

true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...

documentary on

Sky Documentaries Sky Documentaries is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast, which launched on 27 May 2020. Sky Documentaries broadcasts imported programming from HBO alongside new original and other acquired program ...

References

External links

BBC: The Essex murders
{{Murders in the United Kingdom in the 1990s 1995 in England 1995 murders in the United Kingdom 1990s in Essex 1990s trials City of Chelmsford Deaths by firearm in England December 1995 crimes December 1995 in the United Kingdom Murder in Essex Murder trials in the United Kingdom Murdered British gangsters Organised crime events in the United Kingdom Organised crime in England People murdered by British organized crime Trials in London Violent non-state actor incidents in the United Kingdom