The 'one-in-a-million' denied a glowing future

At the clip she was brutally murdered by her boyfriend, Megan Newborough's household said her beingness had appeared to beryllium taking off.

The fashionable and outgoing young pistillate was portion of a loving and close-knit family, she was highly regarded successful her vocation and she was preparing to prime up the keys to her caller home, having secured a mortgage.

Colleagues astatine the Ibstock Brick Factory, successful Leicestershire, wherever she worked successful quality resources, described her arsenic "a one-in-a-million benignant of person".

"Even connected atrocious days she was ne'er without a smile," said chap quality resources idiosyncratic Lucy Weighall.

"She had a mode of ne'er looking astatine the atrocious broadside of people. She would ever find the positives."

She was known arsenic caring and responsible, a keen dancer and a canine lover, being peculiarly devoted to her favored canine Frank.

But, to the astonishment of galore of those who knew her, Megan became progressive successful an improbable narration with a shy, introverted workfellow - a laboratory technician by the sanction of Ross McCullam.

Megan was six days abbreviated of her 24th day erstwhile - connected the nighttime of Friday 6 August, 2021 - McCullam, 30, invited her to his household location astatine Windsor Close, Coalville, choosing a clip erstwhile his parents were out.

There helium strangled her, earlier slashing her pharynx 14 times with a room knife, successful what the prosecution suggested was an effort to behead her.

Following a six-week trial, it took a assemblage astatine Leicester Crown Court conscionable 90 minutes to convict McCullam of Megan's murder. He was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years successful situation connected Friday.

How did the narration travel to specified a shocking and brutal end?

Before the trial, McCullam had admitted Megan's manslaughter.

His mentation of events was rapidly discounted by the jury.

Judge Philip Head said helium could not beryllium definite McCullam had not invented the maltreatment telling him, astatine sentencing: "I americium definite you person tried to manipulate intelligence wellness grounds to debar condemnation for murder."

He praised Megan's household for their dignity, sitting done each infinitesimal of the proceedings and listening to details helium described arsenic "beyond bearing".

He said Megan had had a "glowing future" telling McCullam: "It was her dreadful misfortune to go progressive successful a narration with you."

In addition, McCullam's ain household gave grounds against him during the trial.

His parent Linda said helium was a loner, who had near schoolhouse astatine 16 with nary qualifications and had struggled to clasp down jobs.

The proceedings heard McCullam had mostly kept to his filthy, litter-strewn chamber erstwhile his parent and begetter Gary were astatine home.

There helium would portion ample volumes of coke, smoke, play video games and ticker pornography.

McCullam, according to his parents, had made precise small effort to find a girlfriend.

They said they were stunned erstwhile helium revealed helium was successful a narration "with a miss called Meg" from work.

They said they hoped the narration mightiness beryllium bully for their son.

Megan's parents, Anthony and Elaine, said, during the trial, they had not been unduly acrophobic astir the relationship.

Their girl had described McCullam arsenic "a gentleman".

Mr Newborough said: "The mode she spoke astir Ross, it was arsenic if she had a twinkle successful her eye.

"She was rather taken with him."

Megan had not told them astir her caller narration successful excessively overmuch item and they said they had not wanted to property her for information.

On the nighttime she died, Megan had told her parents she would beryllium location by 23:00 BST.

Footage from a doorbell camera shows her leaving location for the precise past time.

WhatsApp messages and GPS information shows Megan arriving astatine McCullam's location astatine conscionable aft 20:00.

At immoderate constituent successful the adjacent 50 minutes, helium murdered her.

What happened adjacent was that McCullam embarked upon an elaborate bid of lies and actions to effort to screen up what helium had done.

He cleaned up the humor successful the surviving country - aboriginal telling his parents a damp spot connected the carpet was wherever helium had spilled a portion - past bundled Megan's assemblage into the rider broadside of her ain Citroen C3.

He drove to a distant spot astatine Charley Road adjacent Woodhouse Eaves, wherever helium threw Megan's assemblage implicit a chromatic partition into undergrowth.

By this point, McCullam had already texted Megan's telephone to archer her she was astonishing and had near a voicemail telling her helium loved her, and helium had had "a amusive time", earlier hurling it into bushes by the roadside adjacent his home.

The seemingly tender messages were a acold outcry from galore McCullam had sent to Megan successful the days starring up to her death, which prosecutors said became progressively inappropriate, crude and distorted, outlining his intersexual fantasies.

CCTV shows McCullam past driving to a car parkland astatine Loughborough College, wherever helium had erstwhile studied.

Here helium abandoned the car and discarded some his and Megan's bloodstained apparel successful adjacent bins.

After that, helium hailed a cab to instrumentality him home.

Police investigation of his consequent net browsing shows him searching for pornography, notorious serial killers including Peter Sutcliffe and details of high-security prisons.

Meanwhile, astatine Megan's location successful Nuneaton, Warwickshire, her household were becoming alarmed by her nonaccomplishment to instrumentality home.

The pursuing day, they reported her missing and organised a search.

They and parties of friends started driving astir Loughborough successful hunt of her car aft constabulary told them it had been picked up by ANPR cameras the nighttime earlier erstwhile McCullam was astatine the wheel.

Megan's member John utilized a telephone tracking app to find her iPhone to the spot wherever McCullam had thrown it. He was capable to nonstop constabulary officers to the country wherever they discovered it successful a bush.

At this point, officers began treating Megan arsenic the unfortunate of a superior transgression alternatively than arsenic a missing person.

Meanwhile, McCullam was continuing to feign interest implicit her disappearance.

But constabulary viewed him arsenic the premier suspect.

The nighttime aft the execution - Saturday 7 August - helium was retired drinking erstwhile they arrived to hunt his home.

McCullam's dada rang him to archer him the constabulary were searching for Megan and wanted to talk to him.

McCullam initially told an serviceman connected the telephone that Megan had been harmless and good the nighttime earlier erstwhile she had near him and that helium had been trying to interaction her.

But aboriginal that night, officers returned to McCullam's location and arrested him.

At this point, McCullam revealed to them Megan was dead.

He told the constabulary wherever they could find her assemblage and her car.

Officers said the spot McCullam had chosen to fell Megan's assemblage was truthful distant that, had helium not disclosed the location, she whitethorn not person been recovered for months.

What bash constabulary consciousness was the existent information for McCullam's crime?

Detectives said they had ne'er believed McCullam's PTSD defence which helium began to rotation astir instantly aft his arrest.

Det Insp Jenni Heggs of Leicestershire Police, who led the investigation, said McCullam was "a monster" whose transgression had been calculated.

"I genuinely believe, having investigated this from the offset, that Ross enjoyed sidesplitting Megan," she said.

"I deliberation it excited him and I genuinely judge helium had the imaginable to termination again.

"His actions afterwards surely didn't amusement immoderate remorse.

"That defence is thing we person ne'er bought into oregon believed and thankfully the assemblage person seen done that too.

"He's a unsafe idiosyncratic who had the imaginable to termination again.

"He is simply a monster. He is simply a wolf successful sheep's covering and the streets are safer without McCullam."

She added that the probe had served to archer Megan's friends and household what they already knew astir her - that she had tried to assistance her boyfriend, arsenic she had truthful galore others successful her life.

Police said McCullam had besides told her helium had been abused arsenic a child.

Megan's messages amusement however she urged him to question assistance and talk to his family.

Prosecutors said she showed him thing but "gentle assurance".

"Megan has travel crossed done the probe arsenic a warm, lovely, caring idiosyncratic who wanted thing but the champion for Ross and to assistance him with immoderate of his demons," Det Insp Heggs said.

"It indispensable person been perfectly horrendous for Megan's household to perceive the intimate, graphic item of however Ross killed their daughter.

"My presumption is that helium was perfectly successful power of what helium was doing."