AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me. The following is a sensitive article.
Edited to remove the word 'sufferer' in regards to Aspergers)
Melissa Mathiesen
A TEEN with Asperger's Syndrome became fixated with a fellow Aspie and strangled her to death in an attempt to drag her to his room and rape her, a court heard was told.
Jason Conroy, who allegedly committed the murder at the South West care home Alexandra House, appeared at Bristol Crown Court charged with murdering Melissa Mathiesen.
The court heard the facts of the case are undisputed, but a jury has to decide whether it was murder or the defence's case that it is manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
Adam Vaitilingam QC, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court: "Just under a year ago, in October 2014, Jason Conroy went uninvited into the bedroom of a young woman called Melissa Mathiesen where she lay sleeping.
"He attacked her in her bed, causing her to wake and fight for her life, scratching him on his neck and drawing blood.
"But he was much stronger than Melissa and managed to overpower her, strangling her until she died."
Conroy, 19, now of Savoy Road in Knowle, denies murdering Melissa on October 16 last year.
Conroy listened to the prosecutor's opening, with the aid of a court intermediary.
Mr Vaitilingam said Melissa, 18, and Conroy had been at the care home for over a month before the killing.
He said: "The defendant had a history of disturbed behaviour, including the use of violence and sexually inappropriate behaviour.
"One of the most significant was a serious assault in 2013 on a woman."
The court heard that in 2011 Conroy, then aged 14, was placed at a residential school in Shropshire catering for young people with complex mental health conditions.
In May 2013, when Conroy was 17, he exposed himself to a woman teacher before placing his arm around her throat, causing her to pass out.
Staff found thumb prints on her neck indicative of Conroy grabbing her from behind and strangling her using both hands, the court heard.
Later that day Conroy said to a staff member he had been trying to kill her.
In September 2013 he was seen by Dr Hilary Grant, a consultant child and adolescent forensic psychiatrist, and admitted the assault.
He said he had been having "sexual thoughts" about the teacher, knew he wasn't allowed to have sex with her, but if she was dead she would no longer be staff and no rules would be broken.
Mr Vaitilingam said: "It was a very lucky escape.
"But it was a chilling precursor of what was to happen to Melissa Mathiesen just sixteen months later, when the defendant strangled her to death.
"He has admitted to strangling her, and he was to tell psychiatrists later that his intention in strangling her was so that he could take her back to his room and have sex with her."
Melissa had told staff she did not want to be around Conroy.
She told one support worker: "He makes me feel really uncomfortable. It feels like he's lurking behind corners in the corridors and whenever I turn round, he's around."
The court heard Melissa also told support worker Diane Turner, who noticed Conroy was standing close by: "I'm feeling really scared. It feels like he's stalking me."
When support worker Elaine Coleman went off shift she told two remaining support workers to be extra vigilant when Melissa and Conroy went to their rooms to bed, and check their doors were locked.
Mr Vaitilingam said: "Regrettably, and tragically, no-one did make those all-important checks.
"Melissa went up to her room at around 9.30pm, after the X Factor had finished on TV.
"A number of support workers say that she was always careless about locking her door and would rarely do it."
Around 10.30pm Conroy was seen to be looking from his open room and was told to shut and lock the door, the jury was told.
About an hour later support workers heard a loud bang like a door slamming and investigated.
Mr Vaitilingam said: "Clare Williams went into Jason's room and saw that the light was on but he was not in.
"She went on and found Melissa lying on her back on the landing.
"She could see very red marks around her neck and says that Melissa appeared to be dead.
"At this point Jason appeared at the top of the staircase on the second floor.
"Adam Chesters (support worker) asked him what he was doing up there and he said that Melissa had fallen. He seemed shaky and nervous.
"He went to his room and Adam and Clare started to perform CPR on Melissa, before Clare went downstairs and asked Alice Berry to phone for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived shortly after."
Conroy briefly hung off the roof of the building, saying he wanted to kill himself.
He said police were going to come and shoot him because that is what happens to people that murder people, the court heard.
He told police simply: "I am responsible."
Forensic examination of Melissa recovered Conroy's DNA profile on her fingernails, showing how she scratched him that night
A post-mortem concluded Melissa's cause of death was a shortage of oxygen to the brain associated with an out of hospital cardiac arrest – highly suggestive of neck compression.
When Yvonne Hin, general manager of Alexandra House, spent some time alone with Conroy, he confessed he had repeated what he had done two years before at the school.
He said he had been in his bedroom, thinking about "it", went to her room and she tried to fight him off but couldn't.
Mr Vaitilingam told the court: "He said that he tried to lift her but he couldn't, so he dragged her.
"He said that he was intending to take her to his bedroom and that he wanted to use her for something.
"He said that while he was dragging her one of the fire doors banged shut because he was dragging her. He said that he then dropper her where she was because the noise had alerted the staff.
"He said that he ran to his bedroom and from there he went out onto the roof. He said that he was shouting out and then he jumped off."
Psychiatrists agree Conroy was suffering from a recognised mental condition at the time, with significant learning disability and a low IQ.
One psychiatrist also believes he suffers from deviant sexual interests, with behaviour that ranges from inappropriate to hostile and stalking, and fantasies that include strangulation and rape.
The case continues.
SOURCE: http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/...-s-care-home/story-27862871-detail/story.html
Edited to remove the word 'sufferer' in regards to Aspergers)
Melissa Mathiesen
A TEEN with Asperger's Syndrome became fixated with a fellow Aspie and strangled her to death in an attempt to drag her to his room and rape her, a court heard was told.
Jason Conroy, who allegedly committed the murder at the South West care home Alexandra House, appeared at Bristol Crown Court charged with murdering Melissa Mathiesen.
The court heard the facts of the case are undisputed, but a jury has to decide whether it was murder or the defence's case that it is manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
Adam Vaitilingam QC, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court: "Just under a year ago, in October 2014, Jason Conroy went uninvited into the bedroom of a young woman called Melissa Mathiesen where she lay sleeping.
"He attacked her in her bed, causing her to wake and fight for her life, scratching him on his neck and drawing blood.
"But he was much stronger than Melissa and managed to overpower her, strangling her until she died."
Conroy, 19, now of Savoy Road in Knowle, denies murdering Melissa on October 16 last year.
Conroy listened to the prosecutor's opening, with the aid of a court intermediary.
Mr Vaitilingam said Melissa, 18, and Conroy had been at the care home for over a month before the killing.
He said: "The defendant had a history of disturbed behaviour, including the use of violence and sexually inappropriate behaviour.
"One of the most significant was a serious assault in 2013 on a woman."
The court heard that in 2011 Conroy, then aged 14, was placed at a residential school in Shropshire catering for young people with complex mental health conditions.
In May 2013, when Conroy was 17, he exposed himself to a woman teacher before placing his arm around her throat, causing her to pass out.
Staff found thumb prints on her neck indicative of Conroy grabbing her from behind and strangling her using both hands, the court heard.
Later that day Conroy said to a staff member he had been trying to kill her.
In September 2013 he was seen by Dr Hilary Grant, a consultant child and adolescent forensic psychiatrist, and admitted the assault.
He said he had been having "sexual thoughts" about the teacher, knew he wasn't allowed to have sex with her, but if she was dead she would no longer be staff and no rules would be broken.
Mr Vaitilingam said: "It was a very lucky escape.
"But it was a chilling precursor of what was to happen to Melissa Mathiesen just sixteen months later, when the defendant strangled her to death.
"He has admitted to strangling her, and he was to tell psychiatrists later that his intention in strangling her was so that he could take her back to his room and have sex with her."
Melissa had told staff she did not want to be around Conroy.
She told one support worker: "He makes me feel really uncomfortable. It feels like he's lurking behind corners in the corridors and whenever I turn round, he's around."
The court heard Melissa also told support worker Diane Turner, who noticed Conroy was standing close by: "I'm feeling really scared. It feels like he's stalking me."
When support worker Elaine Coleman went off shift she told two remaining support workers to be extra vigilant when Melissa and Conroy went to their rooms to bed, and check their doors were locked.
Mr Vaitilingam said: "Regrettably, and tragically, no-one did make those all-important checks.
"Melissa went up to her room at around 9.30pm, after the X Factor had finished on TV.
"A number of support workers say that she was always careless about locking her door and would rarely do it."
Around 10.30pm Conroy was seen to be looking from his open room and was told to shut and lock the door, the jury was told.
About an hour later support workers heard a loud bang like a door slamming and investigated.
Mr Vaitilingam said: "Clare Williams went into Jason's room and saw that the light was on but he was not in.
"She went on and found Melissa lying on her back on the landing.
"She could see very red marks around her neck and says that Melissa appeared to be dead.
"At this point Jason appeared at the top of the staircase on the second floor.
"Adam Chesters (support worker) asked him what he was doing up there and he said that Melissa had fallen. He seemed shaky and nervous.
"He went to his room and Adam and Clare started to perform CPR on Melissa, before Clare went downstairs and asked Alice Berry to phone for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived shortly after."
Conroy briefly hung off the roof of the building, saying he wanted to kill himself.
He said police were going to come and shoot him because that is what happens to people that murder people, the court heard.
He told police simply: "I am responsible."
Forensic examination of Melissa recovered Conroy's DNA profile on her fingernails, showing how she scratched him that night
A post-mortem concluded Melissa's cause of death was a shortage of oxygen to the brain associated with an out of hospital cardiac arrest – highly suggestive of neck compression.
When Yvonne Hin, general manager of Alexandra House, spent some time alone with Conroy, he confessed he had repeated what he had done two years before at the school.
He said he had been in his bedroom, thinking about "it", went to her room and she tried to fight him off but couldn't.
Mr Vaitilingam told the court: "He said that he tried to lift her but he couldn't, so he dragged her.
"He said that he was intending to take her to his bedroom and that he wanted to use her for something.
"He said that while he was dragging her one of the fire doors banged shut because he was dragging her. He said that he then dropper her where she was because the noise had alerted the staff.
"He said that he ran to his bedroom and from there he went out onto the roof. He said that he was shouting out and then he jumped off."
Psychiatrists agree Conroy was suffering from a recognised mental condition at the time, with significant learning disability and a low IQ.
One psychiatrist also believes he suffers from deviant sexual interests, with behaviour that ranges from inappropriate to hostile and stalking, and fantasies that include strangulation and rape.
The case continues.
SOURCE: http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/...-s-care-home/story-27862871-detail/story.html
