The stepbrother of Becky Watts has been found guilty of murdering her during a sexually motivated kidnap plot.
Nathan
Matthews, 28, had admitted killing and dismembering the teenager but
claimed her death was an accident and he was only trying to scare her.
A
jury at Bristol Crown Court found him and his girlfriend Shauna Hoare
guilty of conspiring to kidnap Becky, partly for sexual reasons.
Hoare, 21, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.
Read more on the Becky Watts murder case:
Matthews, a former Territorial Army soldier, suffocated Becky at her home in Crown Hill, Bristol, on 19 February.
He
transferred her body in the boot of his car and drove it to the home he
shared with his girlfriend, less than two miles away, in Cotton Mill
Lane.
In the days that followed, while police were treating the
case as a missing person investigation, Matthews bought a circular power
saw, goggles, masks and cling film which he used to carve up and
package Becky's body.
The
trial heard the couple had shared texts, just weeks before Becky's
death, referring to kidnapping schoolgirls and teen-themed pornography
was found bookmarked on a phone which they shared.
In court,
Matthews confessed to watching pornography on a near-daily basis and the
jury learned that a video about the rape of a teenage girl was found on
a laptop at their home. Image copyrightAvon & Somerset Police
Image caption
Police who interviewed Matthews and Hoare found a
home filled with junk but the bathroom, where Becky's body was
dismembered, was spotless
The trial heard that this sexual interest in
teenagers, as well as a shared dislike of Becky, is what lay behind the
plot to kidnap her.
When Matthews and Hoare knew police would be
coming to their house on 24 February, as part of the missing person's
search, they made arrangements to move Becky's remains to a shed at a
friend's address, 80 metres away.
Two days later, forensics
officers found blood stains on doorframes upstairs at Becky's home,
among them was a fingerprint that would turn out to belong to Matthews.
After
their arrest on suspicion of murder, he admitted killing Becky, in what
he claimed was a bid to scare her that had gone "horribly wrong", and
revealed where her remains were being stored.
But Hoare denied any
knowledge of Becky's death and dismemberment, something the prosecution
said was "ridiculous", as she had been with Matthews when Becky died
and for most of the days that followed.
The jury took just over three hours to convict the pair, after hearing 21 days of evidence.
Hoare
was also convicted of perverting the course of justice and preventing a
lawful burial, charges Matthews, who gave his address as Hazelbury
Drive in Warmley, South Gloucestershire, had admitted.
As verdicts were returned, Becky's father Darren Galsworthy and his wife Anjie - Matthews' mother - sobbed.
Matthews and Hoare remained emotionless.
Media captionBecky's father and step-mother, Darren and Anjie Galsworthy described their ordeal as "hell on earth"
19 February, Crown Hill - Becky is suffocated in her bedroom
19 February, Cotton Mill Lane - Matthews and Hoare drive home to 14 Cotton Mill Lane with Becky's body in the boot of their car
20 February, B&Q - Matthews buy a circular saw,
face masks, gloves and goggles from B&Q in Horfield, Bristol. He
also buys two bottles of drain cleaner
21 February, Asda - Matthews and Hoare go to Asda in
Bedminster and buy black bags, rubble sacks, rubber gloves, bleach and
three rolls of cling film
22 February, 99p store - They buy rubble sacks, tape and a sponge at the 99p store before buying tape and cling film from Sainsbury's in Brislington
28 February, Southmead - Matthews' car is found outside Hoare's mother's house
3 March, Barton Court - Police find Becky's dismembered body in suitcases and a plastic box in a shed at Barton Court
Speaking outside court, Det Supt
Mike Courtiour said: "Matthews and Hoare concocted a heinous plan to
kidnap his stepsister Becky for reasons that they have failed to fully
disclose, other than she occasionally left items on the floor which
could have tripped up Nathan Matthews' mother.
"The body of
evidence however suggested a more sinister motive related to their
deep-seated hatred for Becky and their twisted sexual desires."
In
a statement delivered by a police officer, Becky's mother Tanya Watts
described her as "a beautiful, happy, funny, feisty, caring, loyal and
witty girl" and thanked police and the legal team.
Sam Galsworthy, Becky's uncle, said: "Finally, justice has been done for our beautiful Becky. "
"For
us as a family today is not the final chapter in this tragedy, but now
we can at least begin the challenge to rebuild our lives."
Two
other men - Donovan Demetrius, 29, and James Ireland, 23 - were
acquitted of a charge of assisting an offender, related to the moving
and storage of Becky's body parts.
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