'Sadistic and macabre' murderer strangled girlfriend to death before dressing her in designer clothes and stabbing her
11 November 2022, 07:56
A murderer strangled his girlfriend to death, dressed her in designer clothes, wrote on her body in felt tip and stabbed her in a "sadistic and macabre" murder.
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Robert Massey, of Haydock in Merseyside, was given a life sentence with a minimum of 28 years after pleading guilty to the murder of his girlfriend Jacqueline Forest.
He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of two men that he believed Ms Forest had been unfaithful with.
Massey had lived with Ms Forest at her home on Piele Road and they had been in a relationship since summer 2020.
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He was previously banned for four weeks from going to her house in August after assaulting Ms Forest, 49.
Massey went to her home brandishing an iron bar and tried to kick down her front door. He stole Ms Forest's bank card and poured vodka over her, threatening to light it on fire.
Despite this, they got back together. On August 30, Massey, 43, started looking through her phone while she was in the shower and saw messages from two men - one of whom was his best friend - that made him think she was cheating on him.
Massey admitted to police that he "saw red" and began straddling her on the bed before punching and strangling her "until she went floppy".
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He then put her in designer clothes, a watch, shoes and sunglasses - and even put a handbag on her arm.
Explaining his actions, he told police that he realised he had "ruined her beautiful face and decided to put some nice things on her because she always used to look pretty."
He then found a pregnancy test nearby and began stabbing her in the womb with a kitchen knife.
Massey wrote in green pen on her body "my best mate" next to one stab wound, "slag" and "baby".
It was later found that Ms Forest was not pregnant.
Massey then went on a drink and drugs spree using Ms Forest's card, withdrawing £500 from a cash machine and buying £400 of cocaine.
The murderer later lured one of the men Ms Forest had been talking to, Anthony Murphy, to the house and showed him her body, shouting "look what you've f*cking caused ".
Massey stabbed Murphy three times in the back and twice in the neck before the victim ran away to ask for help. He was rushed to the hospital, having lost 20% of his blood, and was only discharged after a week.
Massey then went to the workplace of the other man, Graham Roberts, attacking him with scissors in the right arm, chest and ear before the victim jumped into a passing car.
In the meantime, police had found the body of Ms Forest and arrested Massey. He pleaded guilty to murder, two counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article in a public place.
Detective Chief Inspector Allison Woods said: “This was a truly shocking and brutal assault which led to the tragic death of Jacqueline Forest in her own home.
“Nobody can begin to understand the impact the circumstances and fact of her sudden death has had on her family and friends.
“Nothing can bring Jacqueline back but I hope that the prison sentence Massey must now serve will give them a sense of justice and allow them to finally move on with their lives.
“Merseyside Police continues to do everything it can to tackle all violence against women and girls and we will do everything in our power to support victims, target perpetrators and reduce violence by ensuring victims of domestic abuse feel believed and supported when they report offending to us.
“Domestic abuse is a complex issue and can take many forms. It can be psychological, financial, sexual, emotional and physical and we want to raise awareness of the support that is available to anyone who is or has experienced domestic abuse or has been affected by it so that nobody else has to suffer or silence or go through what they have been through.
“We work closely with local domestic support organisations, local authorities, safeguarding teams and charities to ensure that services and ongoing support are available, including access to refuges.
“We have a number of specialist departments within the police to investigate these crimes but it’s important that we all work together to support survivors and collectively work to prevent these crimes occurring in the first place by raising awareness.”
