Sisters who were separated when their father murdered their mother with a hammer in Wales reunite after 50 years
Two sisters whose lives were torn apart after their father murdered their mother with a hammer have been reunited more than 50 years later - after tracking each other down on Facebook.Theresa Fazzani, 59, and her 57-year-old sister Janet were just children when their mother Helen Barnes was brutally killed in December 1973 at the family home in Newport, Wales. The sisters say the trauma of that day and the decades of forced separation that followed, shaped their entire lives.Helen's husband Malcolm Barnes murdered her with a two-pound hammer before telling the children she was 'sleeping'. He then bundled the four girls - aged eight, five, three and two - into a car and drove them on a five-day journey to John O'Groats.Five days later Barnes confessed to the killing. Although sentenced to life imprisonment, he served just nine years.In the aftermath, the sisters' lives diverged dramatically. Theresa later discovered Barnes was not her biological father and was sent to live with her real father in London. Janet and the two younger girls stayed together and were adopted in Wales.For more than five decades, Theresa and Janet had no contact at all. Theresa Fazzani (R) and her sister Janet (L) as children. The sisters were separated after their mother was brutally murdered by their father over 50 years ago Theresa, 59, and her sister Janet, 57, were just children when their mother Helen Barnes was brutally killed in December 1973 at the family home in Newport, Wales Theresa Fazzani in her youth with her grandfather. Since reconnecting, the sisters have visited each other's homes and now speak almost dailyThat changed in July 2025, when Theresa, now a mental health counsellor living on the Isle of Wight, decided to search for her lost sisters through a Facebook group that helps reunite families.Within 48 hours, the group had traced Janet and the others.Since reconnecting, the sisters have visited each other's homes and now speak almost daily.Theresa, a mental health counsellor from the Isle of Wight said: 'I remember walking into the room and seeing my mum on the bed, and Malcolm said she was asleep and that we needed to get in the car.'The next thing I knew, we were in Scotland. I was frightened and confused when I found out our mother was murdered, it was hard to understand when I was so young.'I couldn't understand that Malcolm wasn't my father but was the father of my sisters.'My real dad was horrible, and he wouldn't let me contact my sisters, or even talk about them at all, it was brutal.'I thought about reaching out to my sisters so many times, but I was so anxious and scared of rejection.'I finally decided to reach out to them because I thought, "I'm 60 soon and I don't want to have any regrets".'Since finding them through Facebook, I've been to Wales to meet them all, and Janet and I have visited each other's houses.'The first time we met up was so overwhelming, it was like I'd got a missing part of me back.'Me and Janet are never off the phone to each other. There's hardly a day that goes by that we don't chat to each other.'Theresa and Janet had an ordinary upbringing in their early childhood, and said they saw no signs their mother was in danger.'I have no idea why Malcolm murdered my mum', Theresa said. 'We never saw him be violent to her, and he was never violent to us.' Theresa (R) and Janet (L) as children. The sisters had an ordinary upbringing in their early childhood, and said they saw no signs their mother was in danger Helen Barnes who was murdered in December 1973. Helen's husband Malcolm Barnes murdered her with a two-pound hammer before telling the children she was 'sleeping'As the events happened when the sisters were so young, they have had to piece things together from newspaper clippings they have been able to locate.'One newspaper article claimed that Malcolm murdered our mum because she neglected us, but I don't believe this,' Theresa said.After Malcolm was sent to prison, the sisters were taken in to foster care in Scotland, before being returned to Wales.Theresa was then told that Malcolm was not her father at all, and was sent to live in London with her biological father and step-mum, whilst her sisters were adopted in Wales.When Theresa left for London, Janet said that she wasn't able to give her a proper goodbye.Janet said: 'After she was gone, we were told we'd never see her again. When we were separated, it felt like part of me had been torn away.'I'd lost the two most important females in my life before I was six years old. Growing up without my big sister was really hard, because we had had such a close bond.'The family me and my other two sisters were adopted in to was very dysfunctional and suddenly I was the big sister, trying to navigate a hostile environment without Theresa there to protect me.'Over a hundred miles a way, in London, Theresa was also having a miserable upbringing.'My real dad wasn't particularly nice, he hit me', she said. 'Growing up without my sisters was so hard because I wasn't able to share any special moments with them.'Both Theresa and Janet had thought about reaching out to each other over the years, but fear and anxiety always stopped them.Janet said a big reason why she never tried to contact Theresa was because she always felt guilty, as it was her father that had killed Theresa's mother.'When I was growing up, my adopted mother told me I would end up in prison like him', she said. Both Theresa and Janet had thought about reaching out to each other over the years, but fear and anxiety always stopped them Theresa Fazzani in her youth. Since reuniting, the sisters have been trying their best to piece together what happened all those years agoJanet said she had tried to look for Theresa in 2022, by looking through her mother's documents to find Theresa's surname.However, she ended up being too scared to reach out.She said: 'I thought she might hate me because of what my father did, and I thought that if I truly mattered to her, she would be looking for me and that somehow it would come together, and it did.'When Janet got the call from Theresa, she was in complete shock.'I couldn't believe it, I was overwhelmed and so relieved,' she said. 'But it was so upsetting to hear how terribly she had been treated too.'Since reuniting, the sisters have been trying their best to piece together what happened all those years ago.'We've had to piece everything together ourselves as the authorities sealed our files until 2073', Theresa said.The sisters weren't even allowed to go to their mother's funeral, and have only just seen her grave for the first time.'Janet had to track our Mum's grave down which I saw for the first time this year', Theresa said.'A lot was pieced together when we reunited in July this year.'
