Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Cheating husband murdered wife and step-daughter who fought to save her
Monster jailed for life for frenzied stabbings
A PSYCHO has been jailed for life for stabbing to death his wife and 11-year-old step-daughter.
Christopher Boon, 28, attacked Laura Mortimer, 31, then started on her girl as she tried to protect her screaming mum.
Boon had refused to leave the family home after his wife found out he was having an affair and told him she wanted a divorce.
He murdered them by stabbing his wife 18 times and step-daughter
Ella Dalby 24 times as they fought for their lives in the night-time frenzy.
Prosecuting lawyer
Richard Smith QC told the court: “Having heard matters dramatically unfold in the kitchen,
Ella got out of her bed and bravely came to the help of her mother.
“Ella must have witnessed… the murderous attack on her mother before he also attacked his step-daughter.”
The judge Mrs Justice May described the double murder as “an act of selfish rage and cruelty”. She told Boon: “Your wanton savagery has blighted the lives of many for ever.”
Electrical engineer Boon and wedding planner Laura had been married for five years. She was told by the other woman about the affair this year, Bristol crown court heard. In the hours before the murders Laura was out with friends, telling them she had asked Boon to leave within two weeks and he “wasn’t happy” about it, the court was told.
After the killings in May, Boon confessed to his mum in a phone call.
His stepdad raised the alarm after going to the house in Gloucester.
Laura and Ella were lying next to each other in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor. Boon pleaded guilty to the murders and has been sentenced to a minimum of 29 years in jail.
The victims’ family have described Boon as a “cruel, brutal monster”.
Ella’s dad, Tom Dalby, said: “I am haunted by recurring nightmares of the horror that they must have suffered.”