A serial killer-obsessed woman has been found guilty of the murder of her on-off boyfriend who she stabbed to death after using tips from true crime documentaries to plan her alibi.
Shaye Groves, 27, was convicted at Winchester crown court of slitting the throat of Frankie Fitzgerald, 25, before stabbing him 17 times in the chest at her home in Havant, Hampshire, in July last year after trying to portray herself as his victim.
The five-week trial heard that Groves had framed pictures of serial killers on her walls, collected books about gangsters, including the notorious prisoner Charles Bronson, and watched true crime documentaries.
Steven Perian KC, prosecuting, told the jury that Groves acted out of jealousy after she found that her victim had been messaging a 13-year-old girl on Facebook.
He said: “The killing of Frankie Fitzgerald is very likely to be a crime of passion driven by her jealousy.”
Perian said Groves used her knowledge from true crime shows to portray herself to her friend Vicky Baitup as a victim of Fitzgerald’s sexual violence.
She sent the friend videos of the pair having sex edited to appear as rape but the prosecution say the original footage showed it was consensual sex.
Perian added: “Where would the defendant have got the insight from to plan the details of the attack and to make it look like she was the victim of an assault?
“The defendant has many gangster books like Charles Bronson in her bookcase. She has serial killer pictures all in frames on her wall and she watches murder documentaries.
“The crown say that the defendant – by reading about and watching murder documentaries – she was familiar with crime scenes, how to create a false narrative and how to set up a false alibi.
“She deliberately set up a false narrative of being abused by Frankie Fitzgerald, a false alibi she sent to Vicky Baitup and was cleaning the crime scene having watched these documentaries.”
After conviction, the jury was told that Groves had been dealing cannabis.
Judge Kerr adjourned the case for sentencing on Wednesday 22 February. He told the jurors: “It remains for me to thank you from the court for the dedication and work you have done on this case.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-serial-killers-guilty-of-murdering-boyfriend (Archive)
