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| Katie and Elizabeth Edwards were found dead in April |
Physinews: A 15-year-old girl has been found guilty of
murdering a woman and her daughter while
they slept.
The bodies of 49-year-old Elizabeth
Edwards and 13-year-old Katie Edwards
were found at their home in Dawson Avenue
in Spalding, Lincolnshire, last April.
The convicted teenager's boyfriend, also 15,
admitted murder last week but neither can be
named for legal reasons.
The pair, who were 14 at the time, are one of
the youngest couples ever to be charged with
murder.
After the killings, the two teenage
sweethearts shared a bath, drank
alcohol and had sex, before watching
Twilight movies.
They had carried out the murders following
"rational, logical and cold" planning over
several days.
The boy killed Elizabeth Edwards first,
stabbing her in the throat while she was
sleeping and then smothering her.
In an interview with police, the girl said her
boyfriend had slowly opened the bedroom
door before attacking Ms Edwards.
"He walked into the room and he kind of
climbed onto the bed," she told officers.
"He was on top of her. He had a pillow over
her face.
"Then after about 10 minutes of him putting
his weight on her, she was dead."
The girl said she did not witness Katie's
murder in the next room but did hear her
mumble something as she was killed by the
boy.
The plan was mostly carried out "to the
letter", and included stabbing each victim
through the voice-box so they could not
scream for help.
The girl told detectives that she had "felt like
murdering for quite a while" and had
intended to take her own life after the
killings.
The teenager left a note saying "f*** you
world", and asking for her ashes to be
scattered at a special place.
In her police interview she said: "A gun would
have been easier but we don't have any
really in this country... the knife was a better
solution."
When asked by officers how her boyfriend
seemed afterwards, she said; "He seemed
fine. I don't know how he's feeling now but at
that moment in time he seemed fine."
When asked how she had felt, the girl said: "I
was OK with it. Just the fact that it happened
so quickly gave me peace of mind."
The bodies were discovered by police who
broke into the house about 36 hours after the
murders.
Eight sharp force injuries were found by a
pathologist on Elizabeth Edwards' body, of
which five were on her hands, suggesting
"she may have been trying to fend off her
killer".
Her daughter was found with two stab
wounds to her neck and a pillow over her
face.
A post-mortem examination concluded she
died from bleeding and "smothering".
Officers found the murder weapon, a 20cm
kitchen knife, discarded on a chest of
drawers in the 13-year-old's bedroom.
In court, the prosecution asserted that the
girl had "shown no hint of remorse".
A jury rejected the girl's argument that she
was suffering from "an abnormality of mental
function" at the time of the killings and
convicted her of murder.
A consultant forensic psychiatrist, Dr Philip
Joseph, asserted that the couple's "intense
and toxic relationship" was the catalyst for
the killings.
Reverend Mike Chesher, from St Paul's
Church in Spalding, knew the victims well and
said they were hugely missed.
Ms Edwards helped him run a drama club
and the church choir, which Katie was part
of.
"The horror of it, the loss of it is going to stay
with this congregation for a long, long time",
According to Sky News correspondence.
"They were part of us and loved very much.
"It seems impossible to understand,
impossible because it comes completely out
the blue, completely out of the blue.
"For us it must make it harder because we
knew them so well. We feel bewilderment and
shock."
Kira Nicholls, headteacher of St Paul's
Primary school where Elizabeth was a dinner
lady, described her as "a warm and loving
person who would help anyone with
anything, with a big heart and a distinctive
laugh" and her daughter Katie as "a kind and
thoughtful pupil".
Speaking outside Nottingham Crown
Court, DCI Martin Holvey from the East
Midlands major crime unit said:
"These two
were 14 years of age when they planned
(and) committed these callous, senseless
and unprovoked attacks on Elizabeth and
Katie."
The pair will be sentenced on 10 November.
murdering a woman and her daughter while
they slept.
The bodies of 49-year-old Elizabeth
Edwards and 13-year-old Katie Edwards
were found at their home in Dawson Avenue
in Spalding, Lincolnshire, last April.
The convicted teenager's boyfriend, also 15,
admitted murder last week but neither can be
named for legal reasons.
The pair, who were 14 at the time, are one of
the youngest couples ever to be charged with
murder.
After the killings, the two teenage
sweethearts shared a bath, drank
alcohol and had sex, before watching
Twilight movies.
They had carried out the murders following
"rational, logical and cold" planning over
several days.
The boy killed Elizabeth Edwards first,
stabbing her in the throat while she was
sleeping and then smothering her.
In an interview with police, the girl said her
boyfriend had slowly opened the bedroom
door before attacking Ms Edwards.
"He walked into the room and he kind of
climbed onto the bed," she told officers.
"He was on top of her. He had a pillow over
her face.
"Then after about 10 minutes of him putting
his weight on her, she was dead."
The girl said she did not witness Katie's
murder in the next room but did hear her
mumble something as she was killed by the
boy.
The plan was mostly carried out "to the
letter", and included stabbing each victim
through the voice-box so they could not
scream for help.
The girl told detectives that she had "felt like
murdering for quite a while" and had
intended to take her own life after the
killings.
The teenager left a note saying "f*** you
world", and asking for her ashes to be
scattered at a special place.
In her police interview she said: "A gun would
have been easier but we don't have any
really in this country... the knife was a better
solution."
When asked by officers how her boyfriend
seemed afterwards, she said; "He seemed
fine. I don't know how he's feeling now but at
that moment in time he seemed fine."
When asked how she had felt, the girl said: "I
was OK with it. Just the fact that it happened
so quickly gave me peace of mind."
The bodies were discovered by police who
broke into the house about 36 hours after the
murders.
Eight sharp force injuries were found by a
pathologist on Elizabeth Edwards' body, of
which five were on her hands, suggesting
"she may have been trying to fend off her
killer".
Her daughter was found with two stab
wounds to her neck and a pillow over her
face.
A post-mortem examination concluded she
died from bleeding and "smothering".
Officers found the murder weapon, a 20cm
kitchen knife, discarded on a chest of
drawers in the 13-year-old's bedroom.
In court, the prosecution asserted that the
girl had "shown no hint of remorse".
A jury rejected the girl's argument that she
was suffering from "an abnormality of mental
function" at the time of the killings and
convicted her of murder.
A consultant forensic psychiatrist, Dr Philip
Joseph, asserted that the couple's "intense
and toxic relationship" was the catalyst for
the killings.
Reverend Mike Chesher, from St Paul's
Church in Spalding, knew the victims well and
said they were hugely missed.
Ms Edwards helped him run a drama club
and the church choir, which Katie was part
of.
"The horror of it, the loss of it is going to stay
with this congregation for a long, long time",
According to Sky News correspondence.
"They were part of us and loved very much.
"It seems impossible to understand,
impossible because it comes completely out
the blue, completely out of the blue.
"For us it must make it harder because we
knew them so well. We feel bewilderment and
shock."
Kira Nicholls, headteacher of St Paul's
Primary school where Elizabeth was a dinner
lady, described her as "a warm and loving
person who would help anyone with
anything, with a big heart and a distinctive
laugh" and her daughter Katie as "a kind and
thoughtful pupil".
Speaking outside Nottingham Crown
Court, DCI Martin Holvey from the East
Midlands major crime unit said:
"These two
were 14 years of age when they planned
(and) committed these callous, senseless
and unprovoked attacks on Elizabeth and
Katie."
The pair will be sentenced on 10 November.
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