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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jason Evans & Joseph Wilkes

Murderer asks police for pen then writes chilling confession of girlfriend's killing

This is the chilling moment a vicious killer asks for a pen so he can describe in extraordinary detail how he stabbed and slashed a 22-year-old woman to death.

Jason Shaun Farrell had only been arrested for the brutal slaying of Sammy-Lee Lodwig hours before.

But over five excruciating pages, the 49-year-old knifeman spent an hour writing about his own life - and how it led him to take that of another.

He wrote freely about he "tied up" 22-year-old Sammy-Lee Lodwig before "repeatedly stabbing her in the face and throat."

After tracking the killer down, police took him to hospital as he appeared to be under the influence of drugs.

Jason Shaun Farrell looked at police and asked for a pen and paper - before writing a full confession to the killing (CPS)

He later told a jury that, while he was lying in the hospital bed, he experienced "flashbacks" to what he had just done.

It was then, reports WalesOnline , that he asked police for a pen and paper and sat down to try to make sense of the horror he had just committed.

Over five pages Farrell wrote about his background, his time in prison, his drug-taking, his relationship with Miss Lodwig's mother, the suicide of a former partner and the events leading up to the killing.

The body of Miss Lodwig was found in Farrell's flat in the Mount Pleasant area of Swansea in April this year. She had suffered multiple slash and stab wounds to her face, throat, and chest.

The killer took an hour to write the five-page letter (CPS)

But when police and paramedics arrived on the scene, Farrell was nowhere to be found.

In the hours that followed the killing he was tracked down to the flat of a friend on nearby Mansel Street, and armed officers moved in to arrest him.

After a stand-off at the address - which had seen Farrell standing in the kitchen of the flat holding a knife to his throat - the suspect was arrested.

Officers also seized a bag of bloody clothing at the address which Farrell had previously worn before showering and changing.

Police were concerned the defendant was under the influence of substances, and he was later taken to Morriston Hospital. It was there he wrote his chilling confession.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to manslaughter - but denied murder.

It was an extraordinary document (CPS)

During his trial at Swansea Crown Court, he told the jury the the "flashbacks" made him want to try to write everything down to make sense of what happened on April 23.

He wrote that on the day of the "murder" he had had been arguing with Miss Lodwig and that she would not let matters rest.

He wrote: "Next thing I had her tied up and told her I'd had enough and I was going to kill her. I did by repeatedly stabbing her in the face and throat."

The writing of the confession was captured on a body-worn camera on one of the South Wales Police officers who was guarding him.

Farrell slashed and stabbed 22-year-old victim Sammy-Lee Lodwig with a kitchen knife (CPS)

The court heard how forensic evidence from Farrell's flat supported the version of events as set out in the confession.

Miss Lodwig had suffered multiple slash and stab wounds to her face and neck, there was a blood-stained kitchen knife by the bed, blood splatter on the walls, and blood and enzymes from saliva from the victim on two dressing gown belts found nearby.

The trial heard evidence from expert witness Claire Morse who said: "In my opinion the nature and distribution of blood staining indicated Miss Lodwig was assaulted whilst on the bed, where there was at least one blow in her wet blood. She had laid in the bed for some time after she started to bleed."

The trial also heard from pathologist Stephen Leadbeater who told the court that among the injuries suffered by the the victim were stab wounds to the neck which cut major arteries, and stab wounds to the chest which penetrated her lungs.

Asked by his barrister in court why he had written the document in hospital, Farrell described it as a "release".

He said: "I was confused… needed to get things down… I needed to work it out... I was horrified. Shocked. I just didn't understand it… I couldn't understand it… that I had killed someone. It doesn't go away… I knew that girl."

Farrell was convicted of murdering Sammy-Lee Lodwig, and of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on his neighbour Christopher Maher in an attack the previous week.

He will be sentenced on Friday, November 1.

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