Double murderer searched internet for ‘16 steps to kill someone and not get caught’
... then stabbed ex-girlfriend and her new partner in dawn attack
A SPURNED hotel worker searched online for ‘16 steps to kill someone and not get caught’ before murdering his ex-girlfriend and her new lover, a court heard.
Andrew Saunders killed fashion graduate Zoe Morgan, 21, and her partner Lee Simmons as they arrived for their morning shift at Matalan in Cardiff.
Riven by jealousy in the weeks before the murders, 21-year- old Saunders searched Google for ‘the easiest way to kill a person’, ‘ten people who got revenge on cheaters’ and ‘how long do murderers get in prison?’
Among dozens of other twisted search phrases, he looked for ‘how to get a gun illegally [in the] UK’, ‘three easy ways to make a bottle bomb (with pictures)’ and ‘how to slit someone’s neck’.
Mr Simmons, 33, had been dating coworker Miss Morgan for less than four months and the pair were said by friends to be in the ‘first flush of romance’. She had broken up with Saunders after he became ‘very controlling’ and bombarded her with expletive-ridden Facebook messages accusing her of cheating, Cardiff Crown Court heard.
He attacked the new couple at 5.50am on September 28 last year as they arrived at a branch of Matalan in the middle of Cardiff’s main shopping area.
In a graphic account of the killings, the court heard Saunders repeatedly stabbed Mr Simmons with an 8in knife before bellowing at Miss Morgan: ‘ I’m coming for you next.’
When she tried to run away he retrieved a 10in knife from his rucksack, chased her and stabbed her outside a branch of Boots.
Saunders then phoned his mother for 11 minutes at 5.58am before driving through the gates of his family’s £1million home in Castleton, near Cardiff, at sent saying: 6.10am.his father ‘ ThanksSeven a minutestextfor message,beinglater hea pathetic, useless father. Just killed two people. Cheers.’
His sister called 999, reporting that Saunders had arrived home with blood on him and a gun, saying that he had killed Miss Morgan and Mr Simmons.
When police arrested Saunders at the family home, he told them: ‘I’m sorry, you know sometimes you just snap […] Are they both dead?’ In custody, he asked again: ‘Are they both dead? I just want to know for peace of mind.’ A post-mortem examination found Mr Simmons and Miss Morgan had both suffered eight stab wounds. Saunders admitted the killings in December last year but is due to be sentenced today. The court heard Miss Morgan met warehouse employee Mr Simmons after they worked together during shifts at Matalan. Friends of Miss Morgan claim she had met Saunders at the University of South Wales, and had gone on one date with him before deciding to break off the relationship. Yet Saunders continued to ‘bother her’ and liked dozens of her posts on Facebook and photosharing website Instagram. He even boasted to colleagues at the Premier Inn where he worked that they were in a relationship which was ‘going great’. The court heard he sent her one message saying: ‘He don’t give a s*** about you whereas I always would forever.
‘This is so unfair so tell me where he lives and I’ll f****** torch his house. I love you still.’
Before the murders Saunders left a series of letters, including one which read: ‘I think Isis are the good guys most of the time and that’s pretty messed up. No one will forget me.’
The attack was caught on CCTV and seen by at least one witness. In the footage, Saunders can be seen stabbing Mr Simmons ‘repeatedly’, the court was told.
Police and paramedics arrived at the scene, the court heard, but Phillip Bennetts QC, prosecuting, said: ‘Sadly they could do little for them and they died from their injuries.’
‘I’m coming for you next’