A MAN WHO killed a mother of three in Suffolk, England, with a bolt gun in front of her daughters after becoming obsessed with her was jailed for life yesterday.
John McFarlane (40), a slaughterer, was told he must serve at least 20 years in jail for the “clinical” murder of Mary Griffiths (38).
McFarlane was taking revenge after Ms Griffiths posted a message on Facebook saying he was “delusional” if he thought they would ever have a relationship together.
Hours before the murder in May, Ms Griffiths, whose family comes from Ireland, contacted the police to voice her fears that the McFarlane, a former friend, was stalking her.
Later that night, he smashed through the back door of her home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, with an axe, as she and her daughters slept.
He shut down the house lights before charging up the stairs and burst in on her just as she turned on the bedroom lamp.
McFarlane dragged Ms Griffiths from the room, where she had been sleeping with her 10- year-old daughter, before beating and trying to strangle her.
The mother screamed for help as she was attacked and managed to get outside, where her 13- year-old daughter shouted “don’t do it, stop it”, as McFarlane shot her.
A neighbour described what he saw as “clinical, deliberate and like an execution” and how he also knocked the teenager to the ground with the weapon.
McFarlane later texted a friend to say he had done it to teach her a lesson – before slashing his arms in an apparent suicide attempt.
He pleaded guilty to murder at Ipswich Crown Court last week and was sentenced yesterday at the Old Bailey.
Following his plea McFarlane again tried to take his own life and remains on 24-hour suicide watch, the court was told.
Mr Justice Bean told him: “Three generations of Mary Griffiths’s family have suffered a tragic and devastating loss.
“Her children have been deprived of a loving and caring mother. Her parents have had to endure the appalling experience of attending the funeral of their own daughter.”
An investigation into Suffolk Police’s handling of the case has been launched by the Independent Police Complaints Commission. – (PA/Reuters)