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A teenage girl, who has a strong interest in serial killers, was watching her favorite movie “Sweeney Todd” with a teenage boy while they finalized a detailed plan for a violent murder.
The next day, Scarlett Jenkinson convinced Brianna Ghey, a transgender teenager, to meet her at a park in Culcheth, near Warrington. She had previously attempted to kill the 16-year-old with an overdose of ibuprofen, but was unsuccessful. In a violent attack on February 11th, Jenkinson and Eddie Ratcliffe stabbed Brianna 28 times with a hunting knife. Brianna was the first victim on their “kill list” which included at least five children.
The two individuals who committed the murder of Brianna were found guilty in December after a difficult four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. Recently, the judge revealed their identities before their sentencing on Friday.
Scarlett Jenkinson’s identity has been revealed by a judge prior to her sentencing.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans, who leads the crime division at Cheshire Police, spoke about the guilty verdicts and referred to the perpetrators as being “twisted” and having a desire to take lives. He also mentioned their apparent pleasure in committing the murder of Brianna. Evans described the killers as “arrogant,” believing they would not be apprehended. One of them, Jenkinson, allegedly made derogatory remarks about the local police force.
During the trial that started on November 27, it was revealed that the two young defendants, who have no previous criminal record and come from average backgrounds, were described as intelligent. It was difficult to comprehend how they could have committed such a disturbing crime.
In the months before their planned killing spree, Jenkinson, who displays characteristics of autism and ADHD, and Ratcliffe, who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and is unable to speak, immersed themselves in the most disturbing corners of the internet.
2007
On February 11, 2007, 16-year-old Brianna Ghey was stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife.
Deanna Heer, the prosecuting attorney for KC, stated that the electronic information obtained from the phones of the two individuals indicated that they were fixated on torture, murder, and death.
Jenkinson, who identified as a Satanist, testified that she had thoughts of murdering people from the age of 14. This started when she became interested in “dark materials”, including videos of real-life torture and murder in “red rooms” on the dark web.
In October, Jenkinson and Ratcliffe had a conversation about the murder of a third child, referred to as boy M, which was presented as evidence to the jury. Jenkinson asked, “If we were to kill boy M, would I be allowed to keep some items, like a few teeth and an eye?”
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According to the jury, authorities discovered a crumpled and handwritten plan to murder Brianna on the floor of Jenkinson’s bedroom.
Jenkinson stated that she owned a knife similar to the one used by the killer barber Sweeney Todd. She seemed to admire the character after watching the film of the same title a staggering 9,000 times.
The court was informed that Ratcliffe shared a picture of the weapon used in Brianna’s murder on New Year’s Day. The knife, which had a wooden handle and cost £13.50, was discovered in his bedroom with traces of Brianna’s blood and his own DNA on the handle. His internet search history from the end of last year revealed searches for different poisons such as VX nerve agents, sarin, and tabun.
In a prior month, Jenkinson informed Ratcliffe through WhatsApp that she was fixated on Brianna. Later, the police discovered a crumpled handwritten plan to harm Brianna on the floor of Jenkinson’s bedroom.
In her notebook, Jenkinson documented information about notorious murderer John Wayne Gacy.
According to the trial, the girl had a fascination with notorious murderers such as Jeffrey Dahmer.
After arresting Jenkinson, police searched her home and discovered a note dated “Saturday, February 11, 2023” with the name “Brianna Ghey” and the word “plan” written below it. There was also a smiley face and a heart drawn in the top right corner.
The note read: “Meet [Ratcliffe] at wooden posts 1pm. Walk down to library, bus stop. Wait until Brianna gets off bus, then the three of us walk to Linear Park. Go to the pipe/tunnel area. I say code word to [Ratcliffe]. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in stomach. [Ratcliffe] drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc.”
During the trial, it was revealed that Jenkinson had stored Ratcliffe’s phone number in her device as “Tesco John Wick”, alluding to the movie about a ruthless assassin portrayed by Keanu Reeves.
, was found in the suspect’s possession.
The weapon used to fatally stab Brianna was a 13cm hunting knife, which was discovered in the possession of the suspect.
Cheryl Mottram, the junior prosecutor, informed the jury that Jenkinson’s black Pukka notebook contained a list of different types of serial killers, such as mass murderers, psychopathic sexual sadists, and copycat killers. The notebook also included notes about John Wayne Gacy, known as the “Killer Clown”, who was a notorious serial killer in the US. Other pages in the notebook contained notes on Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez, and Harold Shipman.
After being blocked on a fraudulent Instagram profile by one of their intended victims, E, Jenkinson and Ratcliffe turned their focus to Brianna, who considered them to be her friends. Witnesses were informed that Jenkinson sent a message to Ratcliffe, stating “I want to witness sheer terror on her face and hear her screams of agony,” to which Ratcliffe responded, “Is that so? I simply wanted to see the size of its male genitalia.”
The court heard that the two individuals attempted to kill Brianna with ibuprofen gel tablets in January, but were unsuccessful. They then made the decision to fatally stab the 16-year-old in Linear Park on January 28. However, Brianna did not meet up with them on that day. Two weeks later, she did, and this is when their dark fantasies turned into a tragic reality.
The moment Jenkinson was arrested
The jury was informed that the nervous 16-year-old, who typically did not venture out alone, was riding the bus to meet Jenkinson. Before their encounter, she messaged her mother, Esther Ghey, and expressed her fear, saying, “I’m on the bus alone and I’m scared.” Jenkinson had instructed Brianna to purchase a one-way bus ticket instead of a round-trip ticket.
Brianna, Jenkinson and Ratcliffe all arrived at the park together. However, at 3:06pm, Brianna sent a message to Jenkinson asking where she was. Just seven minutes later, Kathryn Vize, a dog walker, made a panicked 999 call to report an attack and witnessed the attackers fleeing. This call was later played for the jurors.
After Brianna was killed, Jenkinson and Ratcliffe pretended they didn’t know anything about it, according to Ms. Heer. She also stated that they both came up with fake excuses that matched each other’s, but as more evidence was gathered, they eventually turned on each other and placed the blame on the other person.
Video from the doorbell camera captures Brianna departing her residence several hours prior to her fatal stabbing.
The following day, Jenkinson contacted Brianna and asked, “Hey, are you alright? There’s news about a teenage girl getting killed in Linear Park. Why did you leave us for a random guy from Manchester? That’s messed up.”
In the meantime, Ratcliffe was accessing the Crown Prosecution Service website online to research the consequences for providing or withholding information.
Jenkinson later expressed his admiration for Brianna on Snapchat, calling her an incredible friend and expressing disgust over the incident.
Source: independent.co.uk
