Richard Hillman
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| Coronation Street character | |
| Richard Hillman | |
|---|---|
| Played by | Brian Capron |
| Duration | 2001-2003 |
| Date of Death | 2003-03-12 |
| Marital Status | Deceased |
| Occupation | Financial adviser |
| Family | Alma Halliwell |
Richard Hillman was a fictional character in Coronation Street played by Brian Capron.
Hillman, a financial advisor, first appeared in the storyline when he attended Alma's funeral in the summer of 2001, claiming to be Alma's cousin.
He quickly became friends with Gail Platt. This developed in to a romance, and eventually Richard moved in with her, winning over her children Sarah-Louise and David by buying them expensive gifts.
Hillman's dealings were questioned after it was leared by Norris Cole that several elderly people had lost their savings to him. A charming con man, there was subsequent speculation that Hillman was not a relative of Alma but simply an opportunist.
Richard set up a business called Kellett Towers, which specialised in buy-back mortgates where he would buy a person's house outright, but they would be free to reside there until their death. Richard also went into business with Duggie Ferguson, building an estate of new homes. Hillman confronted Duggie at the flats during a disagreement about Duggie's shoddy workmanship. During the argument Duggie fell several floors when a bannister gave way. Duggie was critically injured Richard left him to die, opportunistically allowing the incident to remove his unwanted business partner, while he went to Duggie's flat to steal the large amount of cash Duggie stored there.
Soon after, Hillman's bitter ex-wife Patricia came to Weatherfield and wanted her half of the business. Hillman refused and, after a heated argument at the flats, smashed Patricia in the face with a spade, killing her instantly. Her body was buried in the foundations of the flats. Norris became increasingly suspicious, but Hillman bullied him into silence. Several months later Hillman and Gail married.
Over the following months, his business going downhill, Richard learned that Gail's mother, Audrey Roberts, was worth £250,000. Over the next few months, he managed to convince Audrey and her family that she was going senile, then tried to kill her in a house fire. She survived and eventually realised that Hillman was trying to kill her. She tried to warn Gail of his shady dealings, but Gail was convinced she was indeed senile and refused to believe any of it, cutting all ties with Audrey. Audrey enlisted her friend Archie Shuttleworth Roy Hudd and tried to expose Hillman, but they were unsuccessful.
Hillman was becoming desperate for money and needed to kill again. His next target was Emily Bishop, whose house he had bought in a mortgage buy-back scheme. Upon Emily's death he would be free to sell her house. During Todd Grimshaw's 18th birthday party at the Rover's Return pub, Hillman snuck out of the pub, disguised himself as Aiden Critchley, and entered the house of Maxine Peacock where Emily was babysitting. Richard brutally attacked Emily with a crow bar. However, Maxine unexpectedly returned home at that point, saw him with the crowbar standing over Emily and confronted him. Hillman muttered in a sinister voice, "You should have stayed at the party Maxine," and beat her to death. Hillman staged a robbery and framed the despised Aiden who was jailed. Emily survived the attack.
Hillman received a phone call that a woman who had sold her home to Richard in a buy-back scheme had died a week prior. Hillman was distraught with guilt, realising that the attempt on Emily's life and Maxine's murder were now pointless, as he already legally gained possession of the dead woman's home
After drug tests showed that Aiden has been drugged the same variety of tranquilizers that Audrey had been prescribed but had never taken, instead entrusted to Gail, Aiden convinced Sarah that he didn't committ the murder. Gail also then learned that Richard had lied about several other matters connected to his ex-wife's disappearance. She recalled seeing Richard at the cabinet where the tranquilizers were kept the night of Maxine's murder. She also learned that Richard had lied about his former wife's bracelet when Steve McDonald revealed he had himself found it on the building site. Gail confronted Hillman, who confessed to the murders. Gail was sickened and described her husband as "Norman Bates with a briefcase".
Hillman ran, but returned two weeks later and planned to kill his entire family. He was in the house when David returned home, and kept him silent when a neighbour called through the window, then picked up Sarah's daughter Bethany when Sarah returned home later, saying that Bethany would be alright as long as Sarah did exactly what he told her. Gail returned home in the evening, and had her hands tied by Richard. The kids were safe, but were bound and gagged in the family's car. Originally, Richard was going to gas the family in the garage, until Audrey called in and disturbed his plans. With the help of Kevin Webster, Tommy Harris, and Gail's ex-husband Martin Platt they broke down the garage door. However, Hillman drove off, with "You and Me Song" by The Wannadies playing on the CD player, which he said was a favourite of Sarah-Lou's from a previous summer holiday. Martin and Kevin and Tommy were pursuit in another car. However, Gail had smuggled a pair of nail scissors from the house and subtly handed them to Sarah Lou before she got into the car. Sarah cut David's bonds, then cut her own, so they could free their mother and try to regain control of the car. Hillman eventually drove them into the canal, screaming "This is it! I LOVE YOU!". The various family members managed to free themselves from the vehicle and were rescued by Tommy Harris. Richard drowned. His corpse was later identified by Gail beside the canal before being zipped into a body bag.
On 3 February 2006 as Sarah celebrated her 19th birthday she received a birthday card signed "I still think of you as my daughter...Love Richard". The Platts put this down to a sick joke, but a week later Gail received a Valentine card from Richard. Gail received a third card on 10 March 2006, the third anniversary of his death. On Mother's Day, Audrey received a card. On her birthday, she received a card from him stating that he would 'see her soon'. In April, Les Battersby announced that he gave a ride to Richard Hillman in his cab, though this was seen as Les getting in on the gossip. It was later revealed that David was the one who was sending the cards, because he said he received no attention from her, and he wanted to split Gail and her new beau Phil up.
[edit] Family
- Wife: Gail Hillman
- Cousin: Alma Baldwin (deceased)
