The well-spoken monster
FROM the outside, Aaron Campbell’s family life did not appear to provide any hint of the murderous darkness which lurked within the teenager.
Well-spoken, articulate, intelligent and sociable, the son of an oil engineer father seemed destined to fulfil his dreams of becoming an engineer and designing computer games.
He had achieved five ‘A’s in his school exams, excelling in maths and physics. English, however, provided a rare blip on the 16-yearold’s academic roster. He only managed a ‘D’ in the subject.
Born on the mainland, Campbell relocated to the Isle of Bute with his mother, who has family there.
In an ironic twist, she believed it would be an ideal place for her son to spend his adolescence.
His mother said: “I wanted him to grow up in a safe place, a peaceful environment, and get a good education, My son was going to be an engineer. He wanted to design games.”
Speaking of the moment her son was arrested, she recalled: “He just looked up from his computer and said: ‘Oh. You want me to go with you?’ And he went off.”
The suspect was transferred to the mainland and taken to Govan police station in Glasgow.
It was only once here that Campbell betrayed any emotion.
The mother recalled: “That was when he was crying. He said to me: ‘I don’t know why this is happening to me, mum. I’m doing really well at school, all my friends, I’m in a relationship. I’m in a happy place at the moment. Why is this happening to me?’”
Campbell was an avid computer games player but listening to his friends, it may have been that they started to take over his life.
Chillingly, one game that he used to enjoy saw Campbell playing a character who features in a TV report about the killing of a six-year-old girl.
Another aspect to the case was revealed when police experts examined his computer and phone and discovered a “near-obsession” with a horror character called the “Slender Man”.
The mythical creation is said to live in woods somewhere in rural America where he stalks and eventually snatches children away.
Other incredibly violent games were among Campbell’s favourites and friends have revealed that he had been watching their like for many years.
Yesterday, another potential insight into the killer’s state of mind emerged on the Isle of Bute.
Friends claimed Campbell had killed, skinned and then buried two cats when he was aged just 13-years-old old.