'He found strong, empathetic women - then destroyed us'

Convicted murderer and serial abuser Kieron Goodwin had a benignant erstwhile it came to women - hardworking, nonrecreational and supra all, empathetic.

Goodwin was jailed for 35 years connected Thursday for murdering his ex woman Olivia Wood in July past year astatine his Somerset level erstwhile she tried to permission him aft months of abuse.

He was besides jailed for a drawstring of intersexual offences betwixt 2020 and 2024 against 3 erstwhile partners, who person told the BBC that Goodwin groomed and past "broke them".

One said she was near "not knowing which mode was up and which was down" aft being bullied into taking drugs and forced to person enactment with different men for Goodwin's pleasure. Another gave him much than £85,000 of her savings and was near wholly chopped disconnected from her friends and family.

Goodwin pleaded blameworthy to coercively controlling Ms Wood and the 3 different victims, but they accidental that erstwhile they were with him, they did not realise what was happening to them.

His relationships followed a signifier of "love bombing" his victims with adoration, earlier rapidly turning abusive and controlling.

He would garner sympathy by informing them helium was struggling with his intelligence health, and that helium would termination himself if they left.

They handed implicit tens of thousands of pounds of their savings to enactment him, overmuch of which was spent connected his cocaine habit.

He would past permission them feeling "dirty and disgusting" by pressuring them to slumber with strangers oregon execute enactment acts connected camera, and specified a heavy consciousness of shame they were incapable to archer anyone astir it.

Kate, whose existent individuality the BBC is protecting, said: "To commencement with I thought helium was the champion idiosyncratic ever to beryllium - helium was truthful lovely, helium would bash tiny small things to marque maine consciousness peculiar each the time."

But if she ever returned to her ain flat, helium would archer her: "I can't beryllium connected my own, I'm truly struggling. If you truly cared you'd beryllium here."

Jane, not her existent name, believes Goodwin was speedy to place an empath who would bash everything to assistance him if they believed his intelligence wellness was successful crisis.

"I bash judge helium groomed radical - based connected my cognition helium liked strong, caring, empathetic women," she said.

She was successful interaction with Goodwin for 7 years connected societal media earlier they met successful idiosyncratic and began a relationship, and she believes helium would support women "in the wings" arsenic aboriginal victims.

Sarah, not her existent name, remembers Goodwin having panic attacks astatine night, and him telling her helium "didn't consciousness loved".

"I conscionable felt similar I had to beryllium determination to support him and marque him consciousness loved," Sarah said.

He had a unsocial attack to isolating them from friends and family, by forcing them to narrate warped intersexual fantasies involving loved ones if they received calls oregon messages from them.

Eventually each 3 victims had mostly chopped interaction with their enactment web to debar the ordeal.

Each described yet agreeing to Goodwin's demands to slumber with a alien aft relentless unit and maltreatment from him.

"He kept telling maine that I was weird and everyone other does this and I'm truthful boring and I'm truthful vanilla and conscionable bash it," Kate said.

When she yet gave in, she said: "I felt truthful soiled and disgusting. I was truthful ashamed I had done thing adjacent though I was made to bash it."

It was the aforesaid acquisition for Sarah, who was told she was "frigid and boring".

"Your assurance conscionable goes wholly and erstwhile you don't consciousness bully enough," she said.

"Over the archetypal 3 months he'd worn maine down truthful overmuch I didn't cognize which mode was up and which mode was down. I didn't cognize myself anymore."

Jane would beryllium verbally abused, ignored for days connected extremity oregon compared to Goodwin's ex partners erstwhile she tried to defy his intersexual demands.

"It ne'er stopped and his wants got much utmost and his kinks got much utmost and I tried and I gave successful truthful overmuch to what helium wanted maine to bash and it was ne'er enough," Jane said.

"By the extremity of the narration I didn't recognise myself immoderate more. I didn't person an individuality immoderate more. I hated myself successful the end."

Jane mislaid the entirety of the £85,000 she had saved for a deposit during her 18-month narration with Goodwin and ended up successful indebtedness due to the fact that she would springiness him currency oregon bargain him things conscionable to springiness herself a little play of calm from his moods.

She present struggles with post-traumatic accent upset and is presently incapable to work.

Despite everything, Jane inactive felt she loved Goodwin erstwhile she near him, and lone went to the constabulary erstwhile helium began seeing Ms Wood due to the fact that she feared for her safety.

Like her, Ms Wood was idiosyncratic Goodwin had been talking to for respective years online.

"I was truthful frightened helium was going to wounded this person," Jane said.

"I didn't recognize however helium could spell from screaming and shouting and hitting maine and being truthful convulsive and being truthful assertive past abruptly being okay."

Scared idiosyncratic other would suffer, she went to constabulary successful June - a period earlier Olivia was murdered.

"I conscionable thought we had much clip earlier it escalated that quickly, and that hurts a lot," she added.

All 3 retreated into themselves to effort and support themselves from what Goodwin was making them do.

"It was similar I had separated myself into 2 people, truthful determination was the existent maine that was inactive determination wrong and determination was the 2nd maine that was conscionable trying to survive," Kate said.

Sarah said: "I conscionable went numb. I conscionable did what I needed to bash to survive."

The instrumentality against coercive power came into unit a decennary ago, but neither Sarah oregon Jane were alert of it.

"I didn't adjacent cognize the word gaslighting oregon narcissist, emotion bombing - surely not coercive control," Sarah said.

"I didn't cognize it was an offence and if I did I can't accidental it would person changed anything."

Jane was aware, and had adjacent researched the term, but astatine the clip refused to judge Goodwin's behaviour was deliberate.

"I was trying to amended myself due to the fact that I wanted to recognize however I could navigate it due to the fact that I didn't blasted him," she said.

"There was ever a crushed oregon a justification oregon it was his intelligence wellness issues, I thought 'he doesn't mean to bash this, he's not trying to wounded me'. But present that I'm retired of it, I decidedly deliberation helium knew what helium was doing."

She continued: "At 1 constituent helium convinced maine I was a narcissist, that I was abusing him. The games abusers are playing with you each the time, you don't person the caput abstraction to think."

"He got truthful overmuch successful my caput that helium made maine judge I was doing it, oregon I was making it up, oregon I was exaggerating, and I benignant of conscionable accepted that was my beingness and that's what I deserved."

• If you person been affected by immoderate of the issues successful this story, assistance tin beryllium recovered astatine BBC Action Line.