The Night the Lights Went Out: The Chilling Abduction and Murder of Libby Squire
In the quiet, historic port city of Kingston upon Hull, England, the rhythms of life usually revolve around the bustling university, the charming Old Town, and the scenic beauty of the Humber Estuary. It is a place that feels safe, a community where students start their journeys and families build their futures. However, for 21-year-old Liberty “Libby” Squire, a bright and compassionate philosophy student, the familiar streets of her university town became the setting for a tragedy that would shatter the peace of the entire region. Her disappearance and subsequent murder not only devastated her loved ones but exposed the terrifying reality of a predator hiding in plain sight.
A Bright Light Extinguished
Libby Squire was more than just a statistic; she was a vibrant, quick-witted, and deeply caring young woman. To her friends, she was the life of the party, a person who made everyone feel included. To her family—her parents, Lisa and Russell, her brother, and two sisters—she was the heart of their world. Despite her academic success and infectious personality, Libby had battled internal struggles, including mental health challenges and an eating disorder. Yet, with a gap year in Paris and a strong support system, she had found her stride. She was glowing with potential, in a committed three-year relationship with her boyfriend, Connor, and dreaming of a career in journalism.
On the night of January 31, 2019, those dreams were violently interrupted. It was a freezing, snowy evening in Hull. Libby, having spent the night socializing with friends, attempted to enter a popular nightclub, The Welly. Due to her high level of intoxication, security staff denied her entry. While this rejection was meant to ensure her safety, it inadvertently set her on a path toward a monster. Her friends, doing what they thought was best, placed her in a taxi with instructions for the driver to take her home to Wellesley Avenue.
The Missing Hours
The taxi driver dropped Libby off just steps from her front door. In the glow of the streetlight, he saw her walking toward the entrance. But Libby never went inside. In a series of events that investigators would later painstakingly reconstruct through hours of security footage, Libby was seen wandering the streets alone in the biting cold, appearing disoriented and distressed. She rejected offers of help from concerned passersby and students, her mind likely clouded by the cold and her intoxicated state.
As the city slept, a silver Vauxhall Astra began a sinister pattern. The vehicle was captured on camera circling the neighborhood, its driver moving slowly, methodically. Shortly before midnight, the driver, 24-year-old Pawel Relowicz, pulled over. After assessing the area, he engaged a vulnerable Libby in conversation. Minutes later, she entered his car. Near the Oak Road playing fields, a local resident was startled from sleep at 12:14 a.m. by a piercing, agonizing scream. A man was seen quickly returning to a vehicle, which then sped off into the night.
The Predator Revealed
In the days that followed, the disappearance of Libby Squire sparked the largest search operation in the history of Humberside Police. As volunteers combed the freezing streets and investigators scoured every inch of available CCTV, a horrifying pattern emerged. Police identified the owner of the silver Vauxhall Astra as Pawel Relowicz, a married father of two who worked as a local butcher. To his neighbors, he was the model citizen: friendly, polite, and hardworking.
The truth, however, was far more disturbing. Upon examining Relowicz’s digital life and DNA evidence, detectives discovered a dark history of sexual deviancy. For two years, he had been breaking into homes, spying on women through windows, following lone travelers, and stealing intimate items. He was an addict to violent pornography who masked his crimes as “evening runs.” When confronted with the evidence—including DNA found on and in Libby’s body—his defenses crumbled, moving from a “good Samaritan” narrative to a desperate attempt to frame the encounter as consensual.
The Search for Closure
For seven agonizing weeks, Libby’s family lived in a state of torment, hoping for her return. That hope was extinguished when a fisherman discovered a body in the Humber Estuary. It was Libby. The post-mortem examination revealed she had been raped before her death, though the state of decomposition left the precise cause of death—whether by asphyxiation or drowning—a tragic uncertainty.
The discovery sent shockwaves through the community. Libby’s mother, Lisa, expressed a pain that resonated across the country, acknowledging the heartbreaking irony that her daughter, who had always been terrified of the water, had been found within it.
A Pursuit of Justice
The trial of Pawel Relowicz began in early 2021, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Prosecutors presented a devastating argument: Relowicz was a predatory hunter who had escalated his behavior over time, and that night, Libby was merely the target he had been looking for. Despite the defense’s attempt to argue that the timeline of the crime was too short for the events described, the jury was convinced by the overwhelming forensic evidence.
After just two weeks of deliberation, Relowicz was found guilty of rape and murder. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 27 years. The judge’s words were haunting: Libby had stood “no chance” that night.
The Legacy of a Fighter
The end of the trial did not mark the end of the journey for Lisa Squire. Transforming her grief into advocacy, she has become a vocal campaigner for the rights of victims and the tightening of laws surrounding sexual offenses. She has pushed for harsher sentencing and urged authorities to take “minor” sexual crimes seriously, recognizing them as the warning signs of escalating violence.
Lisa’s bravery has even extended to a desire to meet her daughter’s killer in prison, not for forgiveness, but to understand the final moments of the life he stole. Though Relowicz eventually withdrew his consent for such a meeting, Lisa remains a pillar of strength.
The loss of Libby Squire serves as a stark reminder of the predators who walk among us and the critical importance of community vigilance. While the justice system secured a conviction, the true weight of the tragedy remains with the family who still faces a life sentence of their own: a world without the daughter they loved so dearly. The memory of Libby—her laughter, her wit, and her potential—lives on, not just in the photos her mother cherishes, but in the changes she continues to fight for in her daughter’s name.
The story of Libby Squire is a somber chapter in the history of Hull, but it is also a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. In the face of unspeakable horror, her family chose to stand tall, ensuring that while her life was taken, her voice would continue to be heard. Every law changed and every conversation sparked about safety and predator behavior is a tribute to the young woman who deserved a lifetime of happiness, but was instead taken too soon by a man who chose to do evil in the dark.
