Murder victim's sister condemns bolt gun killer
- 00:02:42
- ITN
Murder victim's sister condemns bolt gun killer
An abbatoir worker who murdered a mother-of-three with a bolt gun in front of her daughters has been jailed for life. John McFarlane was told he must serve at least 20 years in jail for the "clinical" murder of 38-year-old Mary Griffiths. McFarlane, a loner who had become obsessed with the victim, was taking revenge after she posted a message on Facebook saying he was "delusional" if he thought they would ever have a relationship. Hours before the murder in May this year, Ms Griffiths had contacted police to voice her fears that the 40-year-old, a former friend, was stalking her. Later that night he shut down the lights of her home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, then smashed the back door in with an axe as she and her daughters slept. McFarlane dragged Ms Griffiths from her bedroom, beat her and tried to strangle her in front of her children. Ms Griffith's 13-year-old daughter shouted: "Don't do it, stop it," as McFarlane shot her mother with a bolt gun used to stun livestock. A neighbour described the killing as "clinical, deliberate, and like an execution" and said McFarlane, who worked as a slaughterman at the Denham estate, also knocked the teenager to the ground with the weapon. Outside the Old Bailey, the victim's sister Louise Scannell said Ms Griffiths was "the most beautiful person I have ever known" and described McFarlane as the "devil incarnate".
ITN | November 13, 2009
