1. Man searched ’16 steps to kill someone’ before murdering his ex-partner and her boyfriend.
A 21-year-old man has pleaded guilty to stabbing his ex-girlfriend and her new partner to death outside the shop where they worked, The Telegraph reports.
Andrew Saunders is accused of repeatedly stabbing 21-year-old Zoe Morgan and her 33-year-old partner Lee Simmons outside a fashion chain store in Cardiff just before 6am on September 28.
He was armed with an eight inch knife, and attacked Simmons first before telling his ex-girlfriend he was “coming for her next”. Cardiff Crown Court heard he took a second, larger knife from his backpack after Simmons collapsed to attack her.
Police and paramedics attended the scene, where both Simmons and Morgan were pronounced dead. A post-mortem examination confirmed they had suffered eight stab wounds each.
Saunders and Morgan were in a relationship from June 2014 until she ended the relationship in July 2016. When she told Saunders their relationship was over, he accused her of cheating on him.
“You are definitely chatting to someone else. I will kill whoever it is,” Saunders said, Cardiff Crown Court heard.
The court was told Saunders then began researching methods to get revenge online and contacting Simmons on Facebook, telling him he would “smash his f****** head in”.
In the weeks leading up to their murders, Saunders Googled terms like “the easiest way to kill a person”, “how many years for killing a person”, “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught” and “how long to murderers serve in prison:”. He also searched online for guns and instructions on how to make pipe bombs, the court heard.
On September 21, he also searched “is it as easy to slice someone’s throat as they make it look in movies and TV shows” online.
In a note Saunders left at his home the morning of the attack, he wrote, “You know you are messed up when you think like I do”.
“No-one will forget me,” he wrote.
At 6.17am the morning of the murders he texted his father, “Thanks for being a pathetic, useless father. Just killed two people. Cheers.”
His sister called the police after her brother arrived home covered in blood and carrying a gun. When he was arrested, Saunders asked if Morgan and Simmons were dead.
“I just want to know for peace of mind,” he said, according to police reports.
Saunders’ sentencing hearing will resume this week.
2. Woman’s incredible tale of survival after she spent 11 hours trapped in her crashed car.
A 43-year-old woman is in a serious condition in hospital after she spent 11 hours trapped in her car after it crashed in NSW’s central west late on Sunday night, 7 News reports.
Melissa Jones called 000 when she became trapped in the wreck of her trapped car, but could not tell emergency workers where she was. It is believed she crashed shortly after midnight.
A rescue helicopter was able to spot her car the next morning – her car was barely visible from the road – but she wasn’t rescued from the wreck until 10am yesterday morning.
“It took another hour to release the victim from the vehicle,” NSW Ambulance Service inspector Ron Gavin told 7 News.
Jones was flown to Liverpool Hospital with a broken shoulder and a broken leg.
Crash investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the accident.
3. Mother accused of murdering her three-year-old son because he ‘looked like his father’.
A court has heard that a mother wanted to “pummel” her three-year-old boy with a baseball bat because he ‘looked like his father’, 7 News reports.
The woman and the boy’s stepfather, both of whom cannot be named for legal reasons, are accused of murdering the boy, known only as Timothy, in August 2014 in NSW’s central west.
Timothy’s mother told police that her son had tripped on a rope tied to the family’s two dogs. The three-year-old never regained consciousness and died three days later.
The pair allegedly later admitted that Timothy was repeatedly assaulted during the seven weeks he lived with the couple after the mother asked for custody back from the boy’s grandparents.
The boy’s mother allegedly told police that she wanted to kill him.
“I did love that boy…but there was part of me that hated him because he looked like his father,” she said, according to police sources.
The Supreme Court heard that before his death, Timothy had his head slammed into a sliding door and had been put naked in a portable ice box by his stepfather.
The trial continues.
4. Victorian predator charged with grooming and abusing 22 girls.
Fabian Roy Meharry has pleaded guilty to 62 abuse charges for the period between 2006 and 2015 after he coerced girls into sending him explicit photos and videos.
He also blackmailed them into sending images more after he threatened to post the explicit material on the internet, 9 News reports.
The Victorian County Court was also told Meharry coerced one girl into having sex with her brother, while other victims were compelled to perform sexual acts with animals and objects which he recorded via webcam.
One of the man’s victims, who was just 14 when she was abused, told the court during his plea hearing that she suffered post traumatic stress after the abuse.
“I’ve never been made to feel so belittled or ashamed by anyone. You broke me,” she said.
“You saw my weaknesses and used every single one against me. No one has the right to take someone’s innocence.”
Meharry’s latest charges included the persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16, compelling sexual penetration, sexual penetration of a child under 16, producing child pornography and using a carriage service for sexual activity.
His plea hearing continues today.
5. 29-year-old woman in a coma after being punched in the throat at a NZ music festival.
A 29-year-old woman is in an induced coma after she and her boyfriend were attacked leaving the Electric Avenue festival in Christchurch on Saturday.
Amelia Rayner’s trachea was allegedly crushed when she was punched in the throat by three men, reports stuff.co.nz.
Amelia’s mother, Barbara Rayner, said her daughter was leaving the music festival when three men approached and stole her hat. When she took it back, the men attacked her and her boyfriend in a nearby park.
“This is so close to being a homicide. The hospital thinks she was within a hair-breadth of dying. She was very, very lucky,” she said.
She said her daughter “wouldn’t hurt a fly” and was “the last person you’d expect this to ever happen to”.
Amelia’s brother confirmed his sister had to be operated on immediately to save her life.
6. A Brisbane personal trainer has broken the burpee world record.
A Brisbane personal trainer has broken the Guiness World Record for the most burpees in one hour, completing a stunning 1321 burpees.
Kate Beeley, 40, broke the previous world record by over 49 burpees on Monday, the Brisbane Times reports.
To complete a burpee, a person must start standing, before squatting to the ground, doing a push-up, jump back into the squat position and then jump up as high as possible.
Beeley maintained a steady pace of 22 burpees per minute throughout the world record breaking feat, exclaiming “thank god that’s over” when the time was up.
She must now submit photos, videos and witness statements to Guiness World Records and await confirmation of her achievement.
“I don’t think I’ll cook tonight, I’ll get takeaway,” she said after the gruelling experience.
Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au