A KILLER who repeatedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death in a “fierce and fuming rage” after their relationship soured has been sentenced to 18 years in a secure hospital.
Adam Butt launched the “premeditated, unprovoked, cowardly and furious attack” on US national Mary Wells at their shared home in Laing Road, Colchester overnight on January 16 last year.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard five-feet tall Mary, who was travelling in the UK, attempted to fight back but “would have been no match at all for Butt”.
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The brutal attack carried out with two knives saw 21-year-old Mary suffer stab wounds to her chest, abdomen and neck, while an unsuccessful attempt was made to decapitate her.
Mark Milleken-Smith, prosecuting, revealed Butt’s victim would have been conscious during the early stages of the “frenzied” stabbing, during which she also suffered compression to her throat and was struck with a dumbbell.
When the police entered the house shortly after 5.30am on January 17, they found Mary's body on the floor at the foot of the couple’s bed with her head slumped forward, the court heard on Friday.
Butt, 23, was said to be sat in a chair in the corner of the room with his head down surrounded by blood on the wall. He would later admit manslaughter with diminished responsibility in August last year.
Butt, of Laing Road, Colchester, showed no emotion as he was sentenced to 18 years in a secure hospital and told he would spend the remainder of his life on licence, on Friday.
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He will serve a minimum term of ten years in the secure unit before a decision is made by the parole board.
Tom Price, mitigating, argued it was “quite clear” Butt, a student at the University of Essex who had met Mary on an online dating site, was going through a psychotic episode which began in November 2020.
But evidence delivered to the court strongly suggested the defendant’s mental decline resulted from heavy drug and alcohol abuse, with Butt previously telling a friend he was “stuck in a loop of never-ending acid trips”.
Mr Milleken-Smith added Wells had expressed “exhaustion and frustration” about her relationship with Butt, stating it had become toxic.
It was a sentiment Butt agreed with, however he believed the relationship had soured due to Wells “nagging” him to seek therapy.
The prosecutor stated on the day of the killing, Butt travelled to Gatwick Airport where he decided he needed to decapitate Wells and use her eyeball as a ticket to get through a "portal”.
It was his continued delusions which caused him to believe women were “evil” which lead to Mary's tragic death, as Butt launched the unprovoked attack on her.
A text he sent to a friend following Mary's death said he had just “killed a demon”, the court heard, and he later told prison staff: “You don’t know what it’s like to kill your girlfriend, I’m a monster”.
Judge Christopher Morgan concluded: “When you voluntarily consume drugs and it triggers a psychotic episode, this shows you have the capacity to kill another human being.
“This was a particularly brutal attack on a young woman. She must’ve been thoroughly terrified,” he added.
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