Hell Hath No Fury ..................
Lover ‘killed rival with demonic savagery’
A businesswoman was incapacitated with a stun gun before being stabbed 40 times with “demonic savagery” by a love rival in a murder that was plotted for more than a year, a court was told.
The body of Sadie Hartley, 60, was found in a pool of blood in the hallway of her cottage in the village of Helmshore, Lancashire, in January this year.
The body of Sadie Hartley, 60, was found in a pool of blood in the hallway of her cottage in the village of Helmshore, Lancashire, in January this year.
July 6 2016, The Times
Sadie Hartley was attacked with a stun gun before being stabbed 40 times at the cottage in Lancashire that she shared with Ian JohnstonA businesswoman was incapacitated with a stun gun before being stabbed 40 times with “demonic savagery” by a love rival in a murder that was plotted for more than a year, a court was told.
The body of Sadie Hartley, 60, was found in a pool of blood in the hallway of her cottage in the village of Helmshore, Lancashire, in January this year.
Sarah Williams, 35, “ruthlessly and methodically” stalked Ms Hartley, her ex-boyfriend’s new partner, before launching the attack with a female accomplice, Preston crown court was told yesterday. Ms Hartley, a mother of two and a company director, was living with Ian Johnston, 57.
The attack that killed Sadie Hartley was a ‘premeditated, planned assassination of an innocent woman’ according to the prosecution
Mr Johnston, who ended his relationship with Ms Williams after she became “possessive and difficult”, was on a skiing holiday in Switzerland at the time of the killing, the court was told.
“Sarah Williams wanted that relationship back and set her mind to it,” John McDermott, QC, for the prosecution, said. “The obstacle was Sadie Hartley, and in the obsessive and jealous mind of Sarah Williams, Sadie Hartley had to go. A more cold-blooded plan you cannot imagine. It is chilling, we say, to realise that two women could become such determined killers.”
Ms Williams and Katrina Walsh, her co-defendant, are accused of a conspiracy in which they bought men’s size 10 boots, two GPS tracking devices, a stun gun, a cheap Renault Clio used on the night of the killing, binoculars, supposedly untraceable “burner” phones and SIM cards, and the kitchen knife used to kill Ms Hartley. The women, both from Chester, deny murder.
The pair are accused of taking a ferry from Hull to Rotterdam before travelling to Darmstadt in Germany in December 2014 to buy the stun gun.
During one of five “sinister reconnaissance” missions in the three weeks before Ms Hartley was murdered, Ms Walsh delivered a £3 bunch of chrysanthemums by hand to check that the victim was at home alone, it was claimed.
The flowers were delivered at about 8.30pm that night, and shortly afterwards, Ms Hartley texted Mr Johnston to say: “I [a] woman just this minute turned up at the door with a bunch of chrysanthemums but didn’t know who they were from? Xxx.”
He replied: “!!!!!!!????? Not me XXXX.”
Ms Hartley then wrote back: “She knew my name, that’s a bit worrying when I’m on my own. No label or anything on them an late at night! XXXX.”
Mr Johnston, who ended his relationship with Ms Williams after she became “possessive and difficult”, was on a skiing holiday in Switzerland at the time of the killing, the court was told.
“Sarah Williams wanted that relationship back and set her mind to it,” John McDermott, QC, for the prosecution, said. “The obstacle was Sadie Hartley, and in the obsessive and jealous mind of Sarah Williams, Sadie Hartley had to go. A more cold-blooded plan you cannot imagine. It is chilling, we say, to realise that two women could become such determined killers.”
Ms Williams and Katrina Walsh, her co-defendant, are accused of a conspiracy in which they bought men’s size 10 boots, two GPS tracking devices, a stun gun, a cheap Renault Clio used on the night of the killing, binoculars, supposedly untraceable “burner” phones and SIM cards, and the kitchen knife used to kill Ms Hartley. The women, both from Chester, deny murder.
The pair are accused of taking a ferry from Hull to Rotterdam before travelling to Darmstadt in Germany in December 2014 to buy the stun gun.
During one of five “sinister reconnaissance” missions in the three weeks before Ms Hartley was murdered, Ms Walsh delivered a £3 bunch of chrysanthemums by hand to check that the victim was at home alone, it was claimed.
The flowers were delivered at about 8.30pm that night, and shortly afterwards, Ms Hartley texted Mr Johnston to say: “I [a] woman just this minute turned up at the door with a bunch of chrysanthemums but didn’t know who they were from? Xxx.”
He replied: “!!!!!!!????? Not me XXXX.”
Ms Hartley then wrote back: “She knew my name, that’s a bit worrying when I’m on my own. No label or anything on them an late at night! XXXX.”
Katrina Walsh, left, and Sarah Williams have both denied the murder
Ms Walsh, 56, kept an “extraordinarily revealing” diary detailing the pair’s alleged plot to “remove the awful woman”. She also wrote of “taking the bint out”, and in one entry described it as “the perfect murder”.
Police used CCTV and automatic number plate recognition, along with cell-site analysis of the defendants’ phones and the GPS tracker to build a picture of the alleged reconnaissance before the murder on January 14.
At just after 8pm that day, Ms Hartley received a knock at her front door, Mr McDermott said. “What happened next is truly shocking,” he added. “Sarah Williams stood on the doorstep. As soon as the door was opened we suggest she lunged at Sadie Hartley with a stun gun. She pressed it against Sadie Hartley’s head and incapacitated her. Then with what can only be described as almost demonic savagery, she attacked her with a knife.
“She stabbed and slashed at this unfortunate woman; blow after blow, causing appalling and fatal injuries. It was a premeditated, planned assassination of an innocent woman.”
The trial continues.
Diary of evil
One of Katrina Walsh’s diary extracts, dated September 2014, read: “Sarah came round so got caught up in endless murder plots for Ian’s other half.”
Another, from June 2015, said: “We're also seriously talking of getting rid of her opponent. I agree is probably a good play . . . she does seem to be a totally evil bitch.”
In a later entry, Ms Walsh said she was “buzzing” after agreeing to help “remove the awful woman”.
After learning that her ex-husband, Kevin Walsh, did not want to be involved in the plot, she wrote: “Kev not going for the idea of being a hitman after all, scuppering that idea. Plan B will be needed.”
A further entry read: “I have no moral qualms, just a serious ‘don't let us get caught’ twinge.”
Of the alleged plan to buy a stun gun, she wrote: “So will get a trip to Germany out of this. Took ages to wind down, all the excitement of plotting the perfect murder!”
Ms Walsh, 56, kept an “extraordinarily revealing” diary detailing the pair’s alleged plot to “remove the awful woman”. She also wrote of “taking the bint out”, and in one entry described it as “the perfect murder”.
Police used CCTV and automatic number plate recognition, along with cell-site analysis of the defendants’ phones and the GPS tracker to build a picture of the alleged reconnaissance before the murder on January 14.
At just after 8pm that day, Ms Hartley received a knock at her front door, Mr McDermott said. “What happened next is truly shocking,” he added. “Sarah Williams stood on the doorstep. As soon as the door was opened we suggest she lunged at Sadie Hartley with a stun gun. She pressed it against Sadie Hartley’s head and incapacitated her. Then with what can only be described as almost demonic savagery, she attacked her with a knife.
“She stabbed and slashed at this unfortunate woman; blow after blow, causing appalling and fatal injuries. It was a premeditated, planned assassination of an innocent woman.”
The trial continues.
Diary of evil
One of Katrina Walsh’s diary extracts, dated September 2014, read: “Sarah came round so got caught up in endless murder plots for Ian’s other half.”
Another, from June 2015, said: “We're also seriously talking of getting rid of her opponent. I agree is probably a good play . . . she does seem to be a totally evil bitch.”
In a later entry, Ms Walsh said she was “buzzing” after agreeing to help “remove the awful woman”.
After learning that her ex-husband, Kevin Walsh, did not want to be involved in the plot, she wrote: “Kev not going for the idea of being a hitman after all, scuppering that idea. Plan B will be needed.”
A further entry read: “I have no moral qualms, just a serious ‘don't let us get caught’ twinge.”
Of the alleged plan to buy a stun gun, she wrote: “So will get a trip to Germany out of this. Took ages to wind down, all the excitement of plotting the perfect murder!”
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