Unmasked killer who stabbed schoolgirl to death is her jealous ex-boyfriend Logan MacPhail

For 45 minutes he followed Holly, her friend and another boy, an unnamed teenager, through the streets of Hexham. He then ambushed her and dragged her into an alley next to a pizzeria where he launched the deadly assault.

He inflicted 36 wounds on Holly – stabbing her 12 times, cutting her 19 times and causing five “defensive” wounds. The teenager she was with was also stabbed when he tried to defend her by grabbing MacPhail in a headlock.

Hours before the ambush, Holly had sent a message to her friend about MacPhail. She texted, “Apparently Logan is going to meet me outside of school.” So he’s stalking me at this point. He’ll follow me until I talk to him.

David Brooke KC told jurors about MacPhail’s obsession with Holly, an account which has not been able to be reported until now. He said: “The evidence is that Logan MacPhail was deeply unhappy that Holly Newton had broken up with him. We say Logan MacPhail deliberately went to Hexham to find her.

“We say he followed Holly and (her friend) around town, looking for an opportunity to talk to her alone because he was jealous of the new boy Holly was with.

“Holly may well have been ‘horrible’ to Logan MacPhail outside the pizzeria, but that was because she didn’t want to see him. He wouldn’t accept that the relationship with Holly Newton was over.

MacPhail attended Cedar College in Gateshead, a school described as catering for people with autism and special educational needs.

He met Holly through Army cadets, and the two are believed to have been a couple for around 18 months. A friend of Holly’s told police her relationship with MacPhail was “toxic”.

“She said they argued frequently.”

Mr Brooke told jurors: “She said they would argue frequently. However, Holly liked that Logan MacPhail spent his money on her. The two had broken up the previous Saturday and Logan MacPhail had been contacting his friend ever since. It seems he had a hard time accepting the breakup.

MacPhail began trying to find out where Holly was and who she was with from her friends.

The night before the murder he traveled 40 miles to Haltwhistle, Northumberland, where he was found hiding outside the house she shared with her mother.

Mr Brooke said: “At around 10.40pm that evening PC Deacon was informed of an incident regarding a missing man from his home, reported by his mother.

“Logan MacPhail had apparently gone out at 6pm saying he was going to a store. The officer was informed that the man was a 16-year-old with autism and was feeling “depressed” due to a recent breakup with his girlfriend.

He was found by police near Holly’s family home at 1am. He told police that Ms. Trussler would not let him in and that he had only gone there to ask for his PlayStation.

He returned home and murdered Holly the next day, January 27 last year, after she had finished school in Hexham and gone to the shops. Police planned to speak with Holly and her mother at 4 p.m. that day about her stalker.

However, Holly begged to go out after school and the meeting was rescheduled for 8 p.m., a decision that Ms Trussler said would haunt her forever. She said Holly “begged” her to go into town that day instead of meeting the police, adding: “Ultimately, (it was) the biggest mistake of my life. »

“Great public concern”

In his judgment, Justice Hilliard revealed why he decided to allow MacPhail’s appointment. He said: “The accused has been convicted of serious crimes, which are causing local and national concern.

“The accused went to the victim’s home against her will and then followed her after she left her school at the end of the day.

“However, at present the public is unaware of a key factor in this case, namely the nature of the relationship between the accused and his victim.

“They were in a relationship, but she didn’t want that to continue. This was not reported, rightly so, for fear that it might identify him, but it is impossible to have a complete and correct understanding of the matter and why the accused behaved as he did. he did it without knowing this factor.

“The identity of the accused must also already be known within the various communities where he and the victim lived and attended school. Public opinion is very concerned about murders committed by young people who carry knives in public places and about violence against women and girls.

“Legitimate debate is facilitated by knowing who committed such offenses, their circumstances and all the details of the offenses in question. »