Hulking body builder Ari Abdullah knifed nursery nurse Samantha Anderson 14 times in a Newcastle tower block after she ended their intense relationship.
Samantha did not stand a chance when the Iraqi factory worker lashed out with a kitchen knife in 2006.
After stabbing her 14 times, Abdullah doused Samantha’s body in petrol.
The 29-year-old victim had only returned to the West End flat they used to share to pick up some post.
Abdullah admitted murder at Newcastle Crown Court and was jailed for life in 2007.
But after giving credit for his guilty plea and hearing mitigation about his childhood in Iraq, Judge John Milford set the sentence at just 11 years.
Samantha grew up in Cramlington with her mum, dad and siblings Gary, Dawn and Jacqueline. At 18, she decided she wanted to work with children, and went on to get a job at the Buffer Bear Nursery, near Newcastle Central Station.
Samantha met Abdullah in 2003 at the now-closed Buffalo Joes bar, on Gateshead Quayside. After a whirlwind romance, the couple got engaged and moved into a flat at Vallum Court in Newcastle’s West End.
In July 2006, the relationship ended after Abdullah became violent. Samantha returned to her family home and Abdullah was cautioned for an assault against her.
But a twist of fate led her back to the flat she had shared with Abdullah, on October 30, 2006, and it cost her her life. Samantha told her family she was going to pick up her post – but she failed to return home.
After knifing Samantha to death, Abdullah, who had a bottle of whisky before his attack, risked catastrophe in the tower block when he doused her body with petrol.
But he never lit the fuel and was found slumped beside Samantha’s body.
Find out more about the Knife Angel here.
