Shaye Groves, a 27-year-old British woman who had portraits of serial killers on her bedroom walls, was found guilty of brutally murdering her boyfriend by stabbing him in the chest and neck.
She was convicted Friday of killing 22-year-old Frankie Fitzgerald in her own home in July 2022, with prosecutors arguing she flew into a jealous rage after she discovered Fitzgerald had allegedly been speaking with a 13-year-old girl over Facebook.
She claimed self defense, pleading not guilty to the murder charge, but the evidence against her convinced the jury that wasn’t the case.
During the five-week trial (via Daily Mail), prosecutors said Groves made a video call to friend Vicky Baitup after the murder, showing his bloody body and telling her, “I’ve done him.” Baitup said that, during the call, Groves admitted she woke him up with a knife to his throat after finding the Facebook messages. “I just lost it. I just lost it. I picked up my dagger and stabbed him in the neck,” Groves reportedly told her friend, while she was seen cleaning up blood around the room.
Groves, however, also sent another message to Baitup claiming Fitzgerald had “walked out” on her, in an apparent attempt to create an alibi. Baitup — who claimed Groves said she planned to bury Fitzgerald in the garden — is the one who called police.
When they arrived, her story changed, as she told authorities, “He tried to attack me, it’s not the first time, I’ve got video footage of him raping me and beating me.” Prosecutors, however, said bedroom footage of the pair was only edited to appear as rape, but was actually consensual and included “safe words.”
“The Crown say that the defendant – by reading about and watching murder documentaries – she was familiar with crime scenes, how to create a false narrative and how to set up a false alibi,” said the prosecution during the trial, per BBC.
“She deliberately set up a false narrative of being abused by Frankie Fitzgerald, a false alibi she sent to Vicky Baitup and was cleaning the crime scene having watched these documentaries,” they added.
Groves said she had portraits of serial killers including Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez and Myra Hindley hung around her home because she thought they looked “pretty cool.” She also claimed she attacked the victim because she believed he would “strangle me to death” after she allegedly discovered the messages to the 13-year-old girl.
Following the verdict, Frankie Fitzgerald’s family released a statement.
“As a parent you never expect to outlive your children, you will do anything in your power to protect them. Frankie was our baby, the youngest of five children he can never be replaced,” they said. “He was a kind and beautiful person and sadly leaves two children behind that will never get to know their daddy. We thank the jury for their verdict today. To our Frankie, we love and miss you more than anything in this world. Your shining light will always be our hearts.”
Groves will be sentenced next Wednesday, February 22.
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