Graham Clark was a local schoolteacher and the murderer of his wife Rebecca Clark and his fiancée Rachel Hughes.
Backstory:
Born on the 11th July 1971. Graham trained as a teacher. On 19th June 1993, he married Rebecca. Graham controlled her, and coerced her into living by his rules, and she eventually decided to leave him. He couldn't let that happen so he killed her and made it look like suicide.
1998-1999: Arrival and Killing Rachel
Graham arrived in the village in August 1998 and he looked around Keeper's Cottage after Lady Tara Oakwell evicted Seth Armstrong and Betty Eagleton. When he discovered the reason for the sale, he refused to buy it. He began dating Rachel Hughes. Graham at first appeared to be a perfect boyfriend for Rachel, who had a son Joe. Graham moved in with her and redecorated her home, cooked and even alphabetised her CD collection. But gradually Graham began to take control of Rachel's life. He got her to dress differently and dye her hair auburn so that she resembled his dead wife. Graham later took Rachel for a walk in the countryside and Rachel realised that Graham had an overwhelming desire to control every woman he dated. Graham planned a day out at Burview Crag where he would propose to her. Rachel saw a photo of Graham's dead wife, who had auburn hair. Rachel realised that is why she was asked by Graham to dye her hair auburn. Rachel tried to escape but Graham tried to force himself on her and she fled away in fear until Graham trapped her on a clifftop. During a struggle, she fell but landed on a ledge, and was helped up by Graham. She tore a ligament in her leg. After a short talk, Rachel realised Graham had murdered his wife and made it look like she had committed suicide. In a panic, Graham then pushed Rachel off the cliff where she fell several metres to her death.
He later went to the police station and reported Rachel missing, saying they got lost when racing through the woods, and joined the search to find her to avoid suspicion. Her dead body was found at the bottom of the cliff by Jack Sugden. When he arrived at the place where she had fallen, Graham pretended to have just come across her body to divert suspicion away from him.
Graham pretended to be grief-stricken and told Eric Pollard that Rachel had accepted his marriage proposal to her. But Eric had spoken to Rachel the day before her death and knew that she had been thinking of ending her relationship with Graham. Eric was suspicious of Graham and, believing he had killed Rachel, he tried to find incrimination evidence against Graham but was unsuccessful.
1999-2000: Relationship with Kathy and Death
After Rachel's death Graham moved onto her friend Kathy Glover. Kathy had been engaged to Biff Fowler but Biff was convinced that Kathy was attracted to Graham. In an attempt to break up their relationship Graham actively encouraged Biff to think that there was an attraction between them. Finally on his and Kathy's wedding day Biff saw that Kathy was watching out for Graham to arrive and he decided that as she wasn't committed to him he jilted her at the altar and rode off on his motorbike.
With Biff gone Graham could start a relationship with Kathy and they later planned to marry. When Eric accused Graham of murdering Rachel, he left the village with Kathy and took her on a romantic weekend away.
While driving with Graham it became clear to Kathy that there was something wrong with Graham and when he realised her suspicions he tried to get Kathy to stop the car. The car veered off the road and got stuck on the edge of the cliff. Graham and Kathy were trapped but Kathy managed to climb into the back seat. Graham, petrified, remained still in the car but the car began tilting forward, Kathy managed to escape out of the back door and the car fell down the cliff, bursting into flames below to the horror of Eric and Marlon Dingle. Graham was killed but Kathy survived.
2000: Effect on the Villagers
With Graham's secret now public knowledge, Eric was called a hero. Meanwhile, officer Angie Reynolds was heavily questioned by press about how she didn't investigate the serial killer in the village despite Eric's strong suspicions.
In 2018, over 18 years after Graham died, Rachel's son Joe Tate remarked how his mother was killed when he was 4 years old.
Quotes
"No! Nooooo!" - Final line