Handwritten notes referencing famous serial killers were found in the bedroom of one of Brianna Ghey's alleged killers, a court heard.
The 16-year-old transgender student was stabbed 28 times in a savage attack in Culcheth Linear Park in Warrington on February 11 this year. Two defendants, aged 16 - referred to only as Girl X and Boy Y - both deny murder. The trial was told yesterday police found notes referring to the likes of Harold Shipman and Jeffrey Dahmer in Girl X's room.
Girl X is alleged to have said in one text exchange with her co-accused they could give Brianna a cocaine overdose but stabbing her "would be more fun" and allegedly sent him a picture of a handwritten note headed, “Saturday 11th February 2023. Victim: Brianna Ghey”.
Prosecutor Deanna Heer told Manchester Crown Court during the first day of the trial on Monday, Girl X "it seems" was "intrigued" by Brianna. "I’m obsessed over someone I know but don’t have feelings for them," she is alleged to have said in messages in December 2022. However, Ms Heer said by mid January, Girl X's fascination with Brianna had turned darker.
She is alleged to have questioned whether someone can die from eating ibuprofen gel. Ms Deer said the defendant said: "You know that girl I mentioned, Brianna, I’m still tryna kill her and the easiest way is pill overdose plus people already know she is depressed and s*** so nobody would get sus but for some reason she has a high tolerance like I gave her some today that should have been enough to kill her."
Ms Heer continued: “Until this point in the chronology, although the defendants had spoken to one another about wanting to torture or kill, there is no evidence that they in fact had acted upon their words. However, when Girl X told Boy Y that she had given Brianna an overdose of ibuprofen tablets, it seems that she wasn’t making it up."
The court heard Girl X claimed to Boy Y she had already killed two people but there is "no evidence" to back it up. She added: "It seems she invented these stories to impress Boy Y and to encourage him to believe that she was capable of killing someone without being caught."
She went on to add: "By the 26th of January 2023 they had compiled a list of four people they wanted to kill in addition to Brianna.” The court heard they allegedly made plans to kill Boy E first but then moved their attentions to Brianna, to which Boy Y said 'yeah, it’ll be easier and I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl'. The court heard how the pair then allegedly discussed how to kill her, with Girl X saying 'we need a plan'."
Ms Heer said the pair allegedly arranged to meet up with Brianna at Culcheth Linear Park on January 28, where they would stab her to death in the woods. However, at the last minute, Brianna opted out of the meeting. They were eventually able to rearrange for February 11, and Girl X allegedly managed to lure the victim out with the promise of taking drugs, the court heard.
The prosecutor said during the proceedings on Tuesday: “As you would expect, the police searched the defendant’s homes and in particular their bedrooms. From Girl X’s bedroom, they recovered clothing which resembled the clothes that she was wearing on the CCTV footage of the 11th of February. They also found a Chef Aid kitchen knife.”
This knife was recovered from a box on top of the wardrobe. “Although you can see blood on the blade there, that’s not Brianna’s blood. Nevertheless, it was a knife in her possession and one she had taken a picture of. A picture of this knife was found in her phone.” Ms Heer clarifies that it was Girl X’s blood found on the knife.
She continued: “In addition, in Girl X’s room, they found a number of handwritten notes, including the note Girl X had photographed and sent to Boy Y, which outlined the plan to kill Brianna. There was another plan to kill found in Girl X’s room."
“It reads 'Give them alcohol with sleeping pills, slit throat, dismember body, place pieces in bin bags' - and indeed a roll of bin bags was in fact found in her room - 'bury bags 7 feet underground, bones including, bury at' and then 'get her to go to linear park, go to the bridge I usually go to, someone jumps out and restrains her. Plan B. I kill her'.
“There were also notes about serial killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez and Harold Shipman.” A list with Boy Y’s name as the title was also found in one notebook. The prosecutor added: “She gives various adjectives, presumably describing Boy Y. One of the adjectives she uses, trustworthy.”
The trial continues.