“Meet [Y] at wooden posts 1pm. Walk down to library … bus stop. Wait until Brianna gets off bus then the 3 of us walk to linear park. Go to the pipe/tunnel area. I say code word to [Y]. He stabs her in the back as I stab her in the stomach. [Y] drags the body into the area. We both cover up the area with logs etc.”
They carried out that plan exactly.
Det Ch Supt Mike Evans of Cheshire Police said it became clear early on in the investigation that the pair believed they wouldn’t be found out – their “arrogance” was startling. “Their downfall has been their confidence or arrogance around the fact that they thought they could take another human life and then thought there would be no comeuppance.”
One message shows girl X reassuring boy Y he wouldn’t be caught as the police in their area were useless. On the day after they murdered Brianna, she posted a tribute to her “amazing friend” on Snapchat. “Brianna was one of the best people I have ever met and such an amazing friend it’s so f—— sickening what got done to her.”
But was it callous arrogance or a sign of genuine delusion – a symptom of trauma, perhaps, or undiagnosed autism? The court heard girl X had traits of autism and ADHD; boy Y had been diagnosed with selective mutism. Both were given those assessments after their arrest.
“People who have autism can still differentiate between right and wrong, they can still feel guilt,” says Dr Dara Mojtahedi, an expert in forensic and criminal psychology at the University of Bolton. “They fit the signs of individuals who are sadistic.”
When considering sentencing, the extent to which the murder they carried out was planned should be taken into account, says Dr Ava Green, lecturer in forensic psychology at City, University of London.
“What was particularly striking for me was how much detail and planning the murder took before it actually happened. That suggests there was a sadistic, malicious intent – a very meticulous plan to murder this girl in the most heinous way possible. […] They were so delusional that not only did they murder, they thought they were going to get away with it.”
They were planning more attacks too – when police searched their homes they uncovered a kill list. When sentencing in February, that “sadistic urge to kill” should be considered, says Green, along with “the ruminations, the arrogance, the blame-shifting tactics”.
