Richard Hillman Richard Charles Hillman was a financial advisor and businessman who had been married twice before arriving in Weatherfield . In June 2001 he turned up for Alma Halliwell ' s funeral , claiming to be her cousin . He began a relationship with Gail Platt . Richard went into property development with Duggie Ferguson , but the partnership was troubled . Richard left Duggie for dead after he fell from a flight of stairs in The Ridings , a property they were selling , choosing to rob Duggie of his money rather than help him . When Richard was due to marry Gail later in the summer , his ex - wife Patricia came back threatening to tell everyone about what Richard was really like and ruin his business , so Richard killed her with a shovel and buried her body in the foundations of his new flats . Richard began to have financial troubles , and tried to kill his mother - in - law Audrey Roberts after finding out she was wealthy . He made her look like she was going insane and set her house on fire , making it look as if she had caused it . His attempts to kill her proved unsuccessful , so in January 2003 he decided to murder Emily Bishop instead , as he could inherit her house and money . Whilst babysitting for Joshua Peacock . He beat Emily over the head with a crowbar , however he was interrupted by Maxine , so Richard killed her when she started to panic . Emily survived the assault but was unaware that Richard was responsible . Richard confessed his crimes to Gail after she had grown increasingly suspicious of his actions , then fled the Street . He returned two weeks later , and tried to kill the family by tying them up in the car in the garage and gassing them . He then drove the car into Weatherfield Canal ; they were all pulled out alive , but he drowned . Biography . 1951 - 2001 : Early years and arrival in Weatherfield . Richard was a financial advisor and had two previous marriages before arriving in Weatherfield . His first wife was Marion , who wanted to have children , but Richard had to attend to his sick mother . Marion divorced him , as she didn ' t want to take care of an old pensioner . Following his mother ' s death he married Patricia . Like Marion , she wanted children but Richard later discovered he couldn ' t have any children . Believing he made up the story , Patricia also divorced him . In 2001 he turned up at Alma Halliwell ' s funeral , claiming to be her cousin . He befriended Gail Platt and they eventually began dating . Before long , he ' d moved in with Gail and started winning over her children with expensive presents . Hillman ' s dealings were questioned by Norris Cole when he learned that elderly people had lost their life savings to Richard . Richard went into business with Duggie Ferguson , converting The Ridings , an old house in Crimea Street , into luxury flats . However , the partnership soon ran into trouble as Duggie happily cut corners . One night in February 2002 , Richard confronted Duggie in one of the flats , angered by the poor workmanship that his partner had overseen . When Duggie leaned on one of the bannisters it gave way and he fell several floors . Duggie was badly injured , and although Richard initially intended to help him , he realised that this was an ideal opportunity to rid himself of his unwanted business partner . Leaving Duggie for dead , Richard took the keys from Duggie ' s pocket , visited his house and emptied his safe , including the money that Duggie had made from the sale of the Rovers . To cover himself , Richard went to meet Gail at the pub and left a message on Duggie ' s phone arranging to meet him the next day . The following morning Richard visited the conversion site with Gail , and he was shocked to see Duggie was missing , though he had only crawled into the next room before succumbing to his injuries . 2002 - 2003 : Killer Hillman . Richard was due to marry Gail in the summer of 2002 , but his ex - wife Patricia turned up , demanding £25 , 000 for her share of their business , Kellett Holdings . When she threatened to tell the police and Gail about Richard ' s past crimes , Richard grabbed a shovel and smashed Patricia over the head , killing her instantly . She fell into a ditch at The Ridings where new flats were to be built . Richard buried the body in cement . Later , the police visited Richard to inform him that a body matching Patricia ' s description had been found . Richard identified it as Patricia , even though it wasn ' t her , and was convinced that he was now safe , as nobody would be looking for the real body . With Patricia out of the way , he married Gail and the whole family went on their honeymoon to Florida . Richard discovered that his mother - in - law Audrey Roberts was wealthy and Gail would inherit a large sum of money if she died . In the autumn , He set about trying to convince Audrey ( and everyone else ) that she was going insane by stealing her keys and leaving them in the door of the salon , altering the salon ' s appointments book , and leaving the radio on in her house . His plan appeared to be working and Audrey began questioning her sanity , but she discovered that one of her " mistakes " was not one when paperwork from the dry cleaners on Moxton Street proved she was right about an incident there . One night Richard set the house on fire when Audrey was asleep . She was saved with the help of Steve McDonald and Archie Shuttleworth . She worked out that it must have been Richard behind the incident and tried to convince Gail of this . However her frantic attempts to prove this to Gail only resulted in her becoming convinced Audrey was having mental problems and soon refused to speak to her . With the police also dismissive of Audrey ' s claims , she soon found her only allies against Richard were Norris and Archie . Richard had previously persuaded Emily Bishop to sign a contract in which he would give her a sum of money for her house , and she would be allowed to live there until her death , upon which the deed to the house would revert to him . Richard started to have serious money problems when the flats he owned weren ' t selling due to the planned construction of a bail hostel nearby , and he knew he had to get some cash fast . When he heard that Emily would be babysitting for the Peacocks as there was a party at the Rovers , he decided to murder Emily . He also decided to kill two birds with one stone , and stage it as a robbery in order to take revenge on Sarah Platt ' s troublesome boyfriend Aidan Critchley for abandoning her after a car accident . First , Richard drugged Aidan with some tranquillizers that had been prescribed for Audrey then , after he had passed out , stole his jacket and ( after making sure he was seen wearing it from the back ) broke into the Peacocks ' house and hit Emily hard over the head with a crowbar while she was watching TV . Unfortunately Maxine showed up , wanting to check on her son Joshua . After remarking " You should have stayed at the party Maxine " , Richard beat her to death with the crowbar . Emily miraculously survived the attack , but had no memory of it . The other aspect of Richard ' s plan worked ; no - one suspected him of having any involvement and Aidan was quickly arrested with almost everyone believing he was behind Maxine ' s murder during a bungled robbery . Richard soon learned that Ann Lawson , one of his elderly clients , had died a week earlier , and therefore he already owned a house that he could sell . Furthermore , the plans for the bail hostel had also fallen through and as a result the flat he owned began to sell . Richard was now guilt - ridden , as he realised that there had been no need for him to harm Emily or Maxine . Richard was desperate to avoid Maxine ' s funeral , but could not get out of it . Richard almost cracked up during the service , and when Maxine ' s father broke down while reading a bible passage , Gail insisted that Richard took over the reading . Audrey noticed how tense Richard appeared and realised that he was responsible for Maxine ' s death and publicly accused him of murdering her . However no - one believed her , and Gail severed all ties with her . Ken Barlow , having seen Aidan Critchley under the effects of the tranquillizers on the night of the murder , knew he wasn ' t responsible but the rest of the Street turned against him , believing him to be defending a murderer . 2003 : Demise . When Richard murdered his ex - wife Patricia months earlier , a bracelet that slipped off her wrist in the struggle was found by Steve McDonald . Richard later took it off him and gave it to Gail , saying it was a present for her . Gail overheard Steve in the pub talking about the bracelet and how he found it , not Richard . She began to get suspicious of Richard when she learned he ' d lied about several matters connected to the disappearance of Patricia . Police tests confirmed that Aidan had been drugged on the night of the murder with the same tranquillizers that Audrey had been prescribed , and therefore could not have killed Maxine . Gail recalled seeing Richard at the medicine cabinet containing the tablets , and that he had disappeared from the party for a while and started to piece everything together . That night , she confronted him back at the house . Richard then confessed the murders and his plans . Shocked and disgusted , Gail called him Norman Bates with a briefcase , and Richard went on the run where he quickly became the most wanted man in the UK . A couple of weeks later Richard returned to the Street . He kidnapped Sarah , David and Bethany , binding and gagging them in his car in the garage . Gail was shocked to find him waiting in her home . He told her that the children were safe , and that they could run away together . He tied Gail up and took her in the garage . When she saw her children tied up she realised that Richard was going to kill himself and them as well . When he started up the car , Audrey came round to help with the tea but couldn ' t get inside . When she heard music coming from the garage , she realised Richard was back . Kevin Webster burst the door to the garage open but Richard sped off into the night . Tommy Harris , Martin Platt and Kevin gave chase in another car . Richard then drove into the canal . Gail and the children were saved . Richard managed to escape from the car , but had drowned and his body was later identified by Gail . Legacy . Despite his passing , Richard ' s shadow had a lasting impact on the Platt family for many years to come . His stepson David in particular was psychologically troubled by the incident . Throughout the period of early 2006 , the Platt family began to receive cards seemingly sent from Richard . Although put aside as a prank , Les Battersby claimed he had given Richard a ride in his cab , although this was simply Les getting in on the gossip . When David was ( rightfully ) accused at the beginning , he told Phil Nail about suffering nightmares of being kidnapped by Richard . Despite this , David was outed at the culprit . In October 2007 , David attempted to ruin his sister Sarah ' s wedding and drove his car into the canal at the same spot where Richard took the family years earlier , even playing The Wannadies " You and Me " song over the radio . David however wasn ' t killed , and successfully ruined the wedding by bringing attention on himself . List of victims . Richard Hillman has had numerous victims during his Reign of Terror on the street , who he either attempted to kill or ended up killing . Quotes . " Hello " ( First line , to Janice Battersby ) " You should have stayed at the party , Maxine " ( before killing her ) " This is it . I LOVE YOU ! " ( Final line before driving his family into Weatherfield Canal ) .