On April 16, 1996, 48-year-old James Patterson Smith reported to his local police station in Manchester, England to report that he had "accidentally" killed his girlfriend during an argument when she drowned in the bathtub. When police reported to his home, they discovered his 17-year-old girlfriend's naked, dead body lying in a bedroom and her blood all throughout his home. It was clear this was no accident. Kelly Anne had met James when she was only 14-years-old and began a relationship with him, then 45-years old, unaware of his horrifically abusive past. The pathologist tasked with examining and autopsying her body concluded that she had over 150 separate wounds showing a month's worth of severe torture in the last weeks of her life. James had starved Kelly, denied her water, and tied her to furniture and a radiator by her hair or neck ligatures, even gouging out her eyes 5 days to 3 weeks before her death. This is one of the worst, most notorious torture murders in British history.

Sources

Murderpedia

All That's Interesting (2022)

Manchester Evening News (2015)

Ranker (2022)

Daily Mail (2023)

Mirror (2020)

Wikipedia

National Domestic Violence Hotline

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