Jealous ex stabbed lovers
A DUMPED boyfriend murdered his ex and her new love in a jealous rage as they arrived for work at a Matalan store.
After the horrific knife attack Andrew Saunders texted his dad, saying: “Thanks for being a pathetic, useless father. Just killed two people. Cheers.”
Saunders plotted the killing of Zoe Morgan and her colleague Lee Simmons by searching online for “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught”.
Zoe had ended her two-year relationship with “controlling” Saunders after he accused her of cheating on him.
He sent her a message, saying: “You’re definitely chatting to someone else. I will kill whoever it is.”
Zoe’s dad Mark told police she had once run into the family home saying Saunders had grabbed her neck during an argument in his car.
On the first day of the killer’s sentencing hearing, Cardiff Crown Court heard he viewed a video called “10 people who got revenge on cheaters”.
Hotel worker Saunders, 21, then searched online for “16 steps to kill someone and not get caught”, “How long do murderers get in prison?”, “How to get a gun illegally UK” and “Three easy ways to make a bottle bomb (with pictures)”.
He ambushed Zoe and Lee as they arrived together at a Matalan in Cardiff just before 6am on September 28 last year.
The killer attacked Lee with an 8in knife before plunging a 10in blade into Zoe.
Phillip Bennetts, prosecuting, described the horrific details of the murders to the court.
He said: “He stabbed him in the chest with the knife. Mr Simmons was saying: ‘Stop, stop, stop.’
“Zoe Morgan tried to pull the defendant off Mr Simmons.
“But he turned to her to say: ‘Get the f*** off me you f***ing c ***. I’m coming to you next bitch.’”
CCTV footage showed Zoe trying to escape by running to a Boots store where Saunders caught up with her and punched her “full force” before stabbing her.
Mr Bennetts added: “He carried on stabbing Miss Morgan in the back when she was lying on the floor. He repeatedly stabbed her.”
Winston Roddick, defending, said Saunders was in “emotional and mental turmoil” before the murder.
Lee, 33, and fashion graduate Zoe, 21, had been seeing each other for less than four months as a romance blossomed at work. He lovingly called her “My Tinkerbell”.
Saunders, of Castleton, near Cardiff, was arrested within an hour of the murder at the £1million home he shares with mum Karen, 55, and sister Anna, 19. A blood-covered knife was found in the kitchen.
He admitted murder and is due to be sentenced today.