Dad's haunting question for killer Lee Ford 26 years after four kids and ex-wife murdered by her new husband

Dad's haunting question for killer Lee Ford 26 years after four kids and ex-wife murdered by her new husband Lee Ford strangled his step-children Sarah Jane, 17, Anne Marie, 16, Steven, 14, and Craig, 13, with a rope at their home in the quiet hilltop village of Carnkie, Cornwall A dad whose four children and ex-wife were murdered by her new husband 26 years ago has revealed the one haunting question he wants their killer to answer. Lee Ford, then 33, strangled his step-children Sarah Jane, 17, Anne Marie, 16, Steven, 14, and Craig, 13, with a rope at their home in the quiet hilltop village of Carnkie, Cornwall. The monster then went on to bludgeon his wife Lesley, 36, to death with a rounder bat during the horrific killing spree in 2000. The mass murderer received five life sentences and is currently serving a prison sentence of a minimum of 27 years. But the children's' father - and Lesley's ex husband - Michael Tranter, 65, fears parole rules mean Ford could be released October next year. For two decades, Michael has been campaigning to guarantee Lee - dubbed 'Britain's most evil stepdad - dies in prison. Michael, from Telford in Shropshire, who spoke on crime podcast Key Witness: Aftermath this week (25), said: "My aim is for the justice system to come out and do the right thing. By telling him he will never, ever come out." He added: "I'm anxious and I do get angry. I worry I'm going to lose my mind. The big question is why? Why my family? Why Lesley?" Lesley and her children were last seen alive at the end of August 2000. Over a period of 24 hours, all five of them were ruthlessly garrotted by Ford, who killed the children with a 2ft rope from behind. Ford even attempted to cash in victim Sarah's last wage packet from McDonald's. After carrying out the brutal murders he hid their bodies in woodshed, where they lay undiscovered for weeks. He told people Lesley had left him and continued to live in the house with their two shared children. Days before the first body was found, Ford even asked a neighbour if he could store some Christmas presents at his home so the children would not find them. He reburied the decaying bodies of Sarah and Anne Marie in a field and was arrested before he could move the others. "The police rang me and it was just the case of, they've gone missing," Michael said. "But I knew something was up. My mind went to, 'he's done something to Leslie or he's done something to the children' "Then, later on that night, my brother rings me up and he's got the news on. [The police] went to search the bungalow and they discovered two boys in the woodshed. Then a report came in later, a tip from a farmer, saying they had found two daughters. I learned the first bit from the news. It was just horrible." Ford never explained why he killed them, but police speculated he had begun a sexual relationship with eldest daughter Sarah Jane. Michael said: "I know he was beating Leslie up, not only using fists, but using weapons as well such as bats. And, yeah, he got my four children. On by one, he took them in the kitchen and garrotted them." After being arrested, Ford told police investigators: "That my own hands have done what they have done to five people with a rope is a nightmare. I do not even understand why I did what I did." In May 2001, Ford pleaded guilty to five counts of murder at Bristol Crown Court. The court heard the killings were done precisely to leave little or no bruising or damage on the necks. He was given five sentences of life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 27 years. Ford could be released in October next year, aged 60. Speaking to Key Witness: Aftermath presenter, Daisy Maskell, Michael said: "I've got a lot of good people around me. I'm married now and my wife is very supportive. But I still have my times where I worry. I go back to where I was when it first happened, because when everything happened, I had a problem where I was drinking up to three bottles of brandy a day. I haven't got back to that, but I worry I'm going to lose my mind." Michael aims to launch a new petition urging the government to keep monster Ford behind bars for good - following his previous campaign which garnered over 40,000 signatures. But Michael - almost three decades later - still lives without knowing why his family were the victims of such a horrific crime and has admitted he'd ask Lee if he ever came face-to-face with him. "But that's never going to happen. It doesn't matter what he says, he couldn't hurt me even more," he said. Michael described what his children would be up to now if they were still alive. "I think me boys would be into the football," he reminisced. "They used to go into school every day and talk about football with their mates and do it at weekends - and the girls, they'd be out and about on the cricket pitch, meeting up and going out together." He added: "There are places I go and I've always got the fond memories of and I do reminisce a little bit. I think they were the times." He concluded: "I'd just like to say that Leslie was a fantastic mother and she did everything for the children and she'd be there all the time. She was fantastic, fantastic mum." Key Witness: Aftermath is a collaboration between social producers Creatorville and content agency SWNS. The weekly vodcast is released on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. Each week, presenter and journalist Daisy speaks to the people closest to some of the world's most notorious crimes to uncover details never revealed before.