20 December 2023 , 18:10
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Brianna Ghey’s killers had drawn up a detailed plan to murder her with code words, written notes and sick WhatsApp messages.
A boy and a girl have been found guilty of the "frenzied" murder of 16-year-old Brianna. She was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back after being lured to Linear Park, Culcheth, a village near Warrington, Cheshire, on the afternoon of February 11.
The pair, identified only as Girl X and Boy Y, both now aged 16 but 15 at the time, had denied murder and each blamed the other for the killing of the transgender teenager, described as "horrific" by detectives. After arresting the pair, police found the handwritten note in girl X's bedroom and hundreds of messages between the pair, including the plans to kill Brianna and others.
The 'crumpled' handwritten note detailing a 'plan to kill' Brianna (MEN Media)Outside court, Detective Chief Superintendent Mike Evans, head of crime at Cheshire Police, said: "If you can imagine if you download an iPhone, you get about 11,000 pages. So, trying to go through that it wasn't a case of all sudden, 'Bang. Here's these five text messages'. It was a slow (process), almost a slow reveal. I do accept now, looking at it, you sort of go, 'Wow'. There's not many murders where you get from planning to execution almost documented, word for word."
Both killers had a fascination for violence, murder and torture the trial heard, with Girl X enjoying watching "snuff" and killing videos on the dark web. Girl X also compiled notes on serial killers, including Richard Ramirez, known as the Night Stalker, and the notorious cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer.
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The knife used in the attack on Brianna (PA)The pair drew up a "kill list" of four other children before settling on Brianna as the target, Girl X sharing with Boy Y a handwritten plan of how to carry out the murder. Police discovered a handwritten note detailing a “plan to kill” Brianna in the bedroom of Girl X more than a month after her death - the note is believed to have been sent from Girl X's phone to Boy Y on February 3.
Officers found the 'crumpled' piece of paper on the floor during a search of Girl X's bedroom on March 17, jurors heard on the ninth day of the murder trial. The note was headed: "Saturday 11th February 2023. Victim: Brianna Ghey.” It read: "Meet Boy Y at wooden posts 1pm. Walk down to library…bus stop. Wait until Brianna gets off bus then the 3 of us walk to Linear Park.
"Go to the pipe/tunnel area. I say code word to Boy Y. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in the stomach. Boy Y drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc." During the same search on March 17, officers found a note in a draw headlined 'plan'. It continued: "Give them alcohol with sleeping pills.
Brianna was killed in a Warrington park (MEN Media)"Slit throat. I kill her. Dismember body. Place pieces in bin bags, bury bags 7ft underground, bones including. Get her to go to Linear park, go to the hidden spot near the bridge I usually go to. Someone jumps out and restrains her (plan B). I kill her." Girl X said in one text exchange with her co-accused they could give Brianna a cocaine overdose but stabbing her "would be more fun" and sent him a picture of the handwritten note headed, “Saturday 11th February 2023. Victim: Brianna Ghey”.
In other messages, Girl X said she was "excited as f*** for 11 February", the court was told. This was "clearly" a plan to kill Brianna, Prosecutor Deanna Heer told the jury. Alleged messages read out in court between Boy Y and Girl X contained a number chilling and vile themes, including repeated reference to violence and murder, and at one point Girl X described being "obsessed" with Brianna.
Det Chief Supt Evans, added after the guilty verdicts: "I'm not sure fun is the word, but I think they killed her because they wanted to prove that they could, or that sort of thirst for killing. I don't think there was any motive behind it so possibly, fun? Enjoyment is the right word."