Tristan Roberts, 18, posted a number of chilling messages about killing his mum Angela Shellis and likened himself to the television character Dexter and The American Psycho before carrying out his threats, a court heard
A teenager obsessed with fictional serial killers recorded himself over more than four hours murdering his own mother with a hammer.
Tristan Roberts, 18, had posted a number of chilling messages about killing his mum Angela Shellis and likened himself to the television character Dexter and The American Psycho before carrying out his threats, a court heard.
He was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday and described by the judge as ‘revelling’ in the terrifying control he exerted over his own mother and told he would serve a minimum term of 22 and a half years. The court heard Roberts, who lived alone with his victim after his brother had returned to university, had a twisted fascination with serial killers and had posted on Discord app that she would ‘vanish off the face of the earth’ and he would make it ‘brutal.”
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
He also posted misogynistic messages about ‘hating’ and ‘not trusting’ women. Despite his mother doing everything to get him help for his autism and ADHD, he wrote that he wanted to kill her out of ‘revenge, justice and vengence.”
The sustained and brutal attack began at the family home in Prestatyn around 11pm on 23 October last year when Angela, 45, was struck with a hammer and strangled during a four hour ordeal. Roberts recorded himself stating: “This is the moment – we are doing it – we are going to hit her with a sledgehammer.”
At around 3.30am on 24 October, he walked her to a nearby nature reserve and continued to record himself as she screamed and pleaded for her life before she fell silent when he delivered a fatal hammer blow to her head.
After the murder, he records himself stating: ‘oh god that was terrifying – that felt so crazy’ before complaining his hand was painful and he thought he had broken it. He then added: “I just killed her” before adding “Job’s done.”
Once back home he again posted on Discord under the username ‘tonight’s the night’ “boasting” about the murder. He wrote: “Just had the craziest day ever – beat the shit out of her. Took her to the forest. She kept chatting shit so smashed her skull in so hard with sledgehammer I couldn’t see her face anymore.
“Took her by ankles and took her into deep forest.”
Before his arrest later that day, Roberts even messaged his own brother Ethan Roberts from his mother’s phone that she was ok when concern was raised no-one had heard from her.
Jailing him at Mold Crown Court today, His Honour Judge Rowlands said it was a “truly awful way for anyone to die, made all the more dreadful by the fact that her attacker was her own son, someone who, it is clear, she both cared for and worried about in the weeks leading up to her death.”
He told Roberts: “This fortunately, is an extremely unusual case, inasmuch as it is clear to me that you both looked forward to inflicting pain and ultimately death upon your mother and that, in recording what you did on a dictaphone over several hours, you enjoyed what you were doing, exercising control over you mother in her last hours, no doubt revelling in what you did as you attacked her, ignoring her pleas for you to stop and to obtain assistance.
“She must have been truly terrified in these the last minutes of her life.”
The judge described the victim as a “much-loved mother and sibling and a respected teacher with much of her life still ahead of her.
“Tragically, her concerns were well-founded as you’d planned to kill her, posting messages on the Discord app on social media to that effect, blaming your mother for your perceived problems. You messaged that you had a hatred of women and felt abandoned, betrayed and bullied by your mother, saying that you were going to kill her for ‘revenge, justice and vengeance’.
“In the weeks leading up to her death you bought a number of weapons online together with protective clothing and spent several hours on the internet researching methods of how to kill, the use of weapons, how to remove traces of blood and DNA, and how to dispose of a body.
“Plainly, no sentence I can pass will adequately reflect either their loss or the value of Ms Shellis’ life.”
During yesterday’s hearing. Prosecutor Andrew Thomas KC said there was extensive pre planning lasting several weeks before the attack and he said the defendant recorded everything on a digital audio device from the initial assault to the fatal blows at the end which were described as “too distressing to play” and may have been kept by the killer as a “trophy.”
The court heard in the recording he was putting on an American accent, which was thought to again be part of his roleplaying.
Mr Thomas said around four heavy blows are heard and the victim’s voice wasn’t heard after the first. The impact shattered the left side of her skull and she died as a result of catastrophic brain injury. He then dragged his mum’s body about 100m and abandoned her in undergrowth where she was found by a walker later that morning.
Mr Roberts added: “He referred to hatred of women as a motive – and wrote he felt abandoned, betrayed and bullied and blamed his mother. He said he was going to kill her for ‘revenge, justice and vengence’ so he could move forward in this life.”
Ethan Richards, the victim’s other son, said in a victim impact statement: “My family will never be whole again. Not a day goes by I question why. All my mum ever did was love Tristan. She put up with way more than any other person would have. She would do anything for him.”
He added: “I don’t want to see him again or want anything to do with him. But I feel clearly he is not mentally well.
“I can not explain why he did it without being unwell. He can not ever be in public if he doesn’t start taking responsibility for what he did to mum and the wider family. I don’t know how he could do this to anyone – let alone the one person who did anything for him. She still loved him and tried to include him with everything.”
Angela’s sister Sarah Gunther added: “Angela showed you love and care. I just wish if you didn’t want to live under the same roof, this could have been resolved in so many other ways.
“The family has been broken and every day we are reminded what you have taken with us. I hope in time you will come to understand the full consequences of your actions and the pain and devastation you have caused. She will be sadly missed by so many and will never be forgotten. I want her to be remembered as a mum who never gave up.
“I feel this was a tragedy that could have been avoided.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login