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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Rachael Revesz

Man's pictures of murdered girlfriend were on Facebook for 36 hours before being taken down

A man’s gruesome pictures of his murdered girlfriend were posted onto her Facebook wall and left on the site for 36 hours before they were removed.

Alleged murderer Kenneth Alan Amyx, 45, told authorities that he and his girlfriend, 43-year-old Jennifer Streit-Spears, had talked about a suicide pact for months.

They were drinking together at an apartment in Plano, Texas, when they reportedly agreed to stab each other until they died, according to police documents as reported by the New York Times.

Ms Streit-Spears, his girlfriend of four months, “chickened out”, said Mr Amyx, and he had to “finish her off”, read the document.

The pictures included Ms Streit-Spears, in the nude with her throat cut, and one selfie of Mr Amyx, his face covered in blood, with the caption: “Pray for us”.

Mr Amyx, who was also wanted by police for child abuse crimes, called his father shortly after the stabbing and said: “This is Ken. I love you. We’ve cut our throats,” and told him the address of the apartment.

Jennifer Streit-Spears (Facebook)

The pictures of her dead body were posted onto social media for the victim’s friends and family to see, although her page was private and did not allow access for the public.

Ms Streit-Spears’ mother phoned police around 10am on Sunday morning after seeing the pictures on Facebook and receiving them via text from Mr Amyx.

She asked Facebook to remove the pictures but they stayed on the site for 36 hours.

“We remove graphic images when they are shared to celebrate violence,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in a statement, adding that the picture was not immediately removed as it was not clear at first what it depicted and it had been posted on Ms Streit-Spear’s wall by another user.

“As soon as it was clear what the facts were behind this photograph, we removed it.”

Ms Streit-Spears' Facebook wall is now an "in remembrance" page.

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