'Bucket list' killer Jemma Lilley gets 28 years for murder
A woman who had an "obsession" with serial killers and had murder on her "bucket list" has been jailed for killing a teenager.
Jemma Lilley, previously of Stamford, Lincolnshire, garrotted, stabbed and buried Aaron Pajich at her home in Perth, Australia.
The 26-year-old was convicted alongside housemate Trudi Lenon at the Supreme Court of Western Australia in November.
The pair have been sentenced to life with a minimum jail term of 28 years.
During a four-week trial, prosecutor James McTaggart told the court Lilley was so "full of herself and euphoric" after the killing she could not help boasting to a work colleague.
Jurors were told Lilley, who had a troubled childhood, had emigrated to Australia in 2010.
She developed what prosecutors described as a long-term fascination with horror films, murder and serial killers.
Lilley idolised horror film character Freddy Krueger, and had previously told a friend she wanted to kill before she turned 25.
The supermarket shelf-stacker had also penned a book about a serial killer named SOS - a nickname she used during online exchanges with accomplice Lenon.
The pair met through a friend and became close, eventually moving in together about two months before the killing.
Both women exchanged homicidal fantasies which gradually intensified until they lured Mr Pajich to his death.
In the weeks before, they bought various supplies, including a circular saw and 100 litres of hydrochloric acid.
Lilley's stepmother Nina said she had "always had an obsession with serial killers" but this had been "a way of venting her frustration of what happened when she was a child".
Speaking to The Times after the conviction, Ms Lilley, 48, said: "The book was a big problem with me. At the beginning I was 'fair enough you want to write a horror story', but I didn't like the contents of it."
Mr Pajich was lured to his death on 13 June 2016 and buried in a shallow grave covered with concrete and tiles, with both defendants blaming each other for the killing.
Lenon, 43, told the court Lilley approached the teenager from behind as he installed games on her computer, garroted him until the wire broke then stabbed him three times.
Aaron's mother Sharon Pajich said Lilley and Lenon were "disgusting animals" who should never be released.
The pair were sentenced on Wednesday.