Family’s heartbreak as grandad brutally murdered by ‘savage’ stranger ‘looking for someone to kill’

A heartbroken woman has paid tribute to her grandad after he was brutally murdered by a stranger “looking for someone to kill” while out on an evening stroll.

Richard Hall, 70, was stabbed to death by Moses Christensen, 22, after he trekked 20 miles across the countryside “hunting” for a victim in August 2020.

Christensen was armed with two combat knives which he plunged into the 70-year-olds face, neck and chest, when they randomly crossed paths on Brown Clee Hill, in South Shropshire. He later called police and told officers he had carried out a “savage, animalistic and brutal” attack after he was overcome with a “strong desire” to kill.

Staffordshire Crown Court heard how marine dropout Christensen, of Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands, denied murder but was found guilty and jailed for life in March 2021. He must serve a minimum of 28 years in jail, plus 28 months to run concurrently for possession of a knife in April 2020.

Mr Hall’s devoted granddaughter Rachael Rhodes, 24, said losing him in the random attack has “devastated the whole family” and she is determined to raise awareness of the “senseless” killing and keep her grandad’s memory alive.

Ms Rhodes, a podiatrist and beauty therapist, from Essington, South Staffordshire, said: “I was very close with my grandad and I saw my grandparents every Friday night for a takeaway. I had just spent the night before with him before he died – it still doesn’t seem real. We all called him ‘Chief’ because he was the glue that held the family together.

“It’s still so hard for my dad Stuart, 52, his son, to talk about. I still struggle to get my head around how someone could hurt such a sweet and innocent man. We can’t bring him back, but I’ll do everything I can to honour his memory.”

On the day Mr Hall disappeared, on 13 August 2020, Ms Rhodes was having dinner at her parent’s house with her fiancé Dean, 27, when they received a distressed call from her Nan, Sheila, 79. She was worried that her husband hadn’t returned from his usual countryside walk that evening and wasn’t answering his phone.

The family, including Ms Rhodes’ parents Sue, 51, and Stuart raced over to her house and called the police, and a search party was sent out to look for Mr Hall while the family waited for any news of his whereabouts.

Ms Rhodes said: “He knew the route like the back of his hand, so it wasn’t like him to get lost. At that point, I was just worried he had fallen or hurt himself. It was sleepless night for us all waiting to hear anything from police. Never in a million years did any of us suspect it could be something so horrific that had happened.”

The family received a call from the police at 2.30am to tell them Mr Hall’s car had been spotted near Brown Clee Hill, Shropshire. Ms Rhodes’ sister Sarah, 27, and her partner, drove to the scene, closely followed by Rachael and her dad.

She recalled: “When we pulled up, I remember seeing about six or seven police cars. I remember my dad saying to me, ‘’You need to prepare for the worst’’. My stomach dropped and I felt sick.

“We were sent to Bridgnorth Police Station and waited over an hour for someone to meet us. Eventually a police officer broke the news that they had found a body and believed it was him.

“The worst part was hearing that someone had been arrested for murder. I just grabbed onto my dad and burst into tears – we were utterly heartbroken. It just didn’t make sense.”

The man arrested was 21-year-old Christensen, who called the police and turned himself in. He told officers how he was overcome with a "strong desire" to kill the pensioner after they greeted each other with a smile as they met at the foggy summit of the hill. He also described how he carried out the "very savage, animalistic and brutal” killing and even "stabbed him one last time to make sure he was dead".

Despite previously confessing, Christensen pleaded “not guilty” at the preliminary trial and so the case went to trial at Staffordshire Crown Court in March 2021.

Ms Rhodes recalls: “I couldn’t bring myself to go to the trial and hear all the details – it was still too raw. My parents went along to the trial so we could be there for him. I managed to get myself along to the sentencing though, I wanted to know justice had been served."

The court heard how Christensen had been plotting a massacre for months and intended to go on a killing spree after buying two deadly blades on the internet, which he had previously used to kill sheep to eat while living rough in the countryside.

The jurors also heard how he researched the Columbine High School massacre and experienced severe paranoia, psychosis, and delusions. His worried parents contacted police when he began talking about his desire to kill but he left and went missing, with officers saying trying to find him was like searching for a “needle in a haystack”. By the time he was found by officers, he had already carried out the murder after scouring the local area for victims, the court heard.

‘We miss him every day’

Ms Rhodes said the family held a funeral for Mr Hall in September 2020, a month after his death.

She explained: “My sister wrote a poem for him and then I played Lay Lady Lay but Bob Dylan on the piano. It was a song we would sing together for fun, and I know he would have meant a lot to him.

“Because of Covid restrictions it was a small service, and we couldn’t sit together which was quite distressing. Grandad was a very popular and respected man – everyone felt his loss. He would have had a huge turnout if we were allowed more people there.

“He an engineer by trade and a director of his own company. He was a real jack of all trades with a workshop in his garden. Anything we needed we needed making or fixing, we went to him.

"My sister and I were his only grandchildren, so we were a very close-knit family. He was so thrilled when Dean proposed and was supposed to do a speech at my wedding. It doesn’t feel right not having him there on the big day, but I know he’ll be there in spirit.

“He loved nature so in his memory we planted a tree in a natural burial ground, near nan and grandad’s home. Every year on the anniversary of Grandad’s death, we walk up Clee Hills as a family. It helps us to feel close to him.

"Me, Dean and my dad did a five-hour swim in the Lake District for victim support charity in September 2021. We raised £1,500 and I knew he would have been proud. He was the most amazing husband, father and grandad and losing him we miss him every day. But I hope sharing his story can help keep his memory alive."