In the UK, a teen girl and her boyfriend killed her own mother and sister while they were sleeping.
Kim Edwards, 15, and boyfriend Lucas Markham carried out the brutal murder of Elizabeth Edwards, 49, and her daughter Katie as they slept at their house in Spalding, Lincolnshire on April in 2017.
The teen couple had sex, took a shower, and watched four Twilight vampire movies after they murdered Elizabeth and Katie.
The identities of the suspects could not be revealed at first during their trial at Nottingham crown court because of their age, but restrictions on naming them were lifted by three judges namely Brian Leveson, Justice Blake, and Justice Lewis at the court of appeal in London.
Britain’s youngest murderers, Kim and Lucas were both originally given 20-year minimum terms but had them reduced by the judges to 17-and-a-half years each.
“In the circumstances of this case, notwithstanding that the appellants are only 15 years of age, we have no doubt that the lifting of reporting restrictions is in accordance with the law, pursues a legitimate aim, and is a reasonable and proportionate measure, properly balancing the welfare of the appellants against the article 10 rights of the press and the interests of the public,” Leveson said.
Judge Leveson announced that, as a result of the court’s decision, “the names of these two young people are now capable of being reported”, which allows reporting of the “full facts and circumstances” of the case.
According to court documents, the defendants were given life sentences for the murder, which were planned in a McDonald’s.
Prosecutor Peter Joyce told during Kim’s trial that her sister and mother were brutally stabbed a total of 10 times in a “cold, calculated and callous” at their home in Dawson Avenue.
Prosecutor Joyce told the jury that Lucas walked for around 30 minutes along Spalding’s Coronation Channel to reach Edward’s home before knocking three times on a bedroom window as a signal that he had arrived.
Kim then opened a bathroom window to allow Lucas to climb into the house from the roof of a shed, and gave him advice on moving quietly around the property, the prosecutor said.
“The murders of Elizabeth and Katie Edwards were horrific and brutal and the whole country shared a sense of shock that two juveniles, who were only 14 years old at the time, could have carried out such a horrendous act,” Det Supt Martin Holvey of Lincolnshire police said.point 338 |
“I’m sure that sense of disbelief and horror will be deepened now it is known that it was Elizabeth’s own daughter who was responsible for plotting with her boyfriend to carry out the murders.point 165 | ”point 168 | 1
“Evidence heard in court that was previously restricted can now be reported,” Holvey said. “These include details about the behavior and actions of Kim Edwards and Lucas Markham afterward, which was chilling.”
“They remained downstairs in the house, watching TV and eating food, whilst the bodies were upstairs,” Holvey continued. “They showed no remorse at all when they were eventually found by officers and during their police interviews.”
“These new revelations about the case will undoubtedly focus attention on Spalding once again and I would like to repeat sentiments I have made earlier, thanking the community for their cooperation throughout the case and paying tribute to the courage of Elizabeth and Katie’s family,” Holvey added. “They have endured a terrible ordeal and faced the additional anguish of knowing that this horrific crime was committed by a family member.”