Woman 'inspired by Netflix's Don't F**k With Cats had fetish for strangulation'

13 February 2024 , 18:48

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Woman 'inspired by Netflix's Don't F**k With Cats had fetish for strangulation'

A woman on trial charged with murdering a man and pushing his body into a lake had a 'fascination' with violence highlighted by 'disturbing' images found on her phone, a court heard today.

Scarlett Blake denies murdering Jorge Carreno. She is is accused of strangling him in Oxford in the early hours of July 25, 2021. Oxford Crown Court earlier heard how three months before the killing, Blake had filmed herself dissecting a cat, removing its eyes and skin, and putting it in a blender.

The jury also heard the music playing in the 20-minute video was True Faith by New Order, a song that also featured in the 2019 documentary ‘Don't F**K with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer' about murdered Luka Magnotta. The court heard how a series of disturbing images had been found on the defendant's phone, including a knife, gun, rope and tape, captioned 'first date with me'.

There is also an image shown to the court of a bed with the words 'bruise my oesophagus' spelt up with red petals. Recovered from her phone was also a series of cartoons and screenshots focusing on sexual gratification through strangulation.

Scarlet Blake outside court (Vagner Vidal/Hyde News & Pictures Ltd)

Disturbing images were found on Blake's phone that suggests she has a 'fascination' with violence (Thames Valley Police / SWNS)

These have now been released by the police after being shown to the jury alongside CCTV showing Blake's movements on the night that Jorge Carreno died. The defendant has denied murder but has admitted to spending time with Mr Carreno, 30, that night.

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Blake, 25, has admitted to seeing Mr Carreno, a Spanish man who worked at the BMW Plant in Cowley, hours before his death but denies having any involvement. During the trial, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the jury that Blake has a 'fascination' with violence and harm as well as receiving 'sexual gratification' from strangulation.

Pictures were shown to the jury which were recovered from Blake's phone when her home in Marston was searched in August last year. There is no suggestion that most of the images were made by Blake, but were rather saved onto her phone.

Images of weapons including a knife and rope were found on Blake's phone (Thames Valley Police / SWNS)

One exception is a photo of a homemade wire garrote which appears to have been made with piano wire and two metal columns. Ms Morgan KC told the jury that Blake's financial records showed she bought piano wire earlier in the year.

Blake has denied murder but the jury heard yesterday she has pleaded guilty to ‘destroying’ a cat and has also admitted seeing the 'murder victim' on the night of his death. In the agreed facts, it was revealed that Blake does ‘not dispute’ that she saw Mr Carreno hours before his death.

Scarlett Blake denies murdering Jorge Carreno but says she did see him hours before the killing (Thames Valley Police / SWNS)

Police released CCTV footage of a figure seen with Mr Carreno in Radcliffe Square in Oxford before he died but no one came forward to police appeals to identify the 'mystery figure'. The agreed fact read: 'There is no dispute that Ms Blake was in the company of Mr Carreno from 4am at Radcliffe Camera until 4.27am at the entrance of the Marston Cycle Path.'

The cat plea was also in the agreed facts. Earlier in the trial, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the jury that Blake has a fascination with violence and harm and one ‘obvious manifestation' of these interests was a video of Blake dissecting the animal. Ms Morgan said: "On March 21, 2021, a cat went missing from a family home. It went missing from a family home that happened to be on the same street as the defendant's address.

30-year-old Jorge Carreno was killed in July 2021 in Oxford city centre (Thames Valley Police / SWNS)

"It was a loved family cat having been adopted by a family from a rescue centre. The defendant's actions towards this cat showed planning, in particular the purchasing of equipment necessary to do what she wanted to do to this cat, and a fixation with what it would feel like to cause harm to a living thing."

A cat crate and food were used to catch the animal. Ms Morgan said Blake then set up a live stream of her harming the cat. The video was 20 minutes long and Blake, according to Ms Morgan, said: "Here we go my little friend, oh boy you smell like s***, I can't wait [indistinguishable]...to put you through the blender." According to a vet, the cat would have been in pain for about three minutes before it was dissected with a scalpel.

Jorge Carreno was killed at a popular bathing spot in Oxford city centre - Parsons Pleasure (Thames Valley Police / SWNS)

The song 'Truth Faith' by New Order was playing in the video. It was said that Blake was inspired by the Netflix documentary 'Don't F*** With Cats' where murdered Luke Magnotta killed a man with the same song in the background.

Magnotta played the song in an 11-minute video in which he stabbed university student Jun Lin to death in Montreal, Canada, in 2012. The Netflix show, which is one of the streaming service’s most-watched documentaries, focuses on amateur internet sleuths who launched a manhunt for Magnotta after he filmed himself killing two kittens.

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The documentary was mentioned during the trial after the jury was shown stills and audio from Blake’s alleged video in which she is said to have opened up the cat's chest and exposed its external organs.

Lucy Skoulding