Sadie Hartley Wikipedia, Wiki, Murder of, Injuries, Who Killed, Killer, House, Partner, Why Was Sadie Hartley Murdered
Sadie Hartley Wikipedia, Wiki, Murder of, Injuries, Who Killed, Killer, House, Partner, Why Was Sadie Hartley Murdered -: For the premeditated “barbaric savagery” murder of a businesswoman, two women have been sentenced to life in prison.
Together with her companion Katrina Walsh, 56, Sarah Williams, 35, was on trial for the January murder of Sadie Hartley. Williams, who intended to restart an affair with Hartley’s longtime lover, former firefighter Ian Johnston, repeatedly stabbed and stunned Hartley, a 60-year-old communications director.
Walsh will serve at least 25 years, while Williams was given a minimum term of 30 years. The jury deliberated for seven hours and nine minutes before finding the defendant guilty.
Why Was Sadie Hartley Murdered?
The two ladies, both from Chester, killed Hartley for their own “amusement,” according to Justice Turner. Sarah Williams, you planned the murder of a lady whose only crime was to love the guy you sought for yourself over the course of nearly 18 months, he said. But let no one imagine that this was a crime motivated by passion. It was a crime motivated by obsession, haughtiness, and brutality, but most importantly, it was a crime motivated by pure evil. And throughout those 18 months of planning, you discovered Katrina Walsh to be both a kindred spirit and a willing partner.
With more than 40 stab wounds, Hartley, who had opened the door for Williams, was found in a pool of blood in her home’s hallway.
Williams was “jealous and obsessive” and wanted Hartley out of the way, and his target of desire was Johnston, 57, who was away on a skiing trip at the time.
The jury heard details of explicit texts exchanged between Williams, a travel agency, and Johnston just days before Hartley was killed during the seven-week trial at Preston Crown Court. According to testimony given to the jury, Williams hired her friend Walsh, a riding instructor, to carry out the “perfect murder”.
The prosecution’s John McDermott QC said to the jury that Walsh’s meticulous notebook, which chronicled the pair’s 18-month plan to murder Hartley in a scheme resembling “the stuff of spy novels,” had been found by police.
The jury was informed that the two had gone to Germany in December of last year to purchase the stun gun and that Walsh had sent flowers to Hartley’s house exactly one week before as a practice run for their murderous scheme.
Williams, who the court heard was a “kept woman” who was financially supported by her affluent “sugar daddy” boyfriend, married David Hardwick, 75. She was claimed to have fallen head over heels for Johnston after their 2012 encounter at Manchester’s Chill Factore indoor ski resort.
Following the dissolution of their brief romance, Johnston started a new life with Hartley, and the two of them moved in together in Helmshore, Lancashire. But the court heard that Johnston and Williams continued to communicate sexually graphic texts and images even up until a few days before the murder.
Williams’ “possessive and difficult” behavior caused Johnston to abandon their relationship, but the court heard that she persisted in her “delusional hope of a dream life with her ideal man” and spent 17 months planning Hartley’s murder with Walsh.
Walsh told police Williams would go to any lengths to be with him, even installing tracker devices on his car to follow his movements. Johnston has denied he “led her on,” claiming the jury the relationship was “just sex.”
After being stabbed and slashed 40 times, Hartley was discovered dead in her home’s hallway on January 14, the day following her daughter’s engagement. In her collar, a stun gun barb was discovered.
Williams quickly closed her eyes as the unanimous guilty verdicts were announced before gathering herself as Johnston and Charlotte Hartley, Johnston’s daughter, started crying. As the jury announced that Walsh had received a second guilty conviction, there was a gasp from the audience.
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