Model's killer to hear minimum term (From Sutton Guardian)

Model's killer to hear minimum term

3:59am Tuesday 22nd May 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

A violent boyfriend who strangled his aspiring model girlfriend in a jealous rage is to hear the minimum term he will serve before he can be released.

Wealthy jeweller's son Elliot Turner, 20, was found guilty on Monday by a jury at Winchester Crown Court of murdering 17-year-old Emily Longley in his bed after going "absolutely nuts" in a culmination of a month of anger and upset over his suspicions she was "twisting his heart" by seeing other men.

He said he acted in self defence when Emily attacked him and he grabbed her by the throat for five or six seconds, and then woke up to find her dead in his bed.

His parents Leigh, 54, and Anita, 51, also face jail terms after being found guilty of helping to cover up the crime by destroying a confession letter from their son and taking away vital evidence after the killing at their home in Bournemouth in May last year.

They will be sentenced later after being convicted of perverting the course of justice after the five-week trial. Turner admitted the same charge during the trial.

Emily's father Mark Longley called Turner evil and said he hoped he would suffer every day in prison for killing Emily, who came over from New Zealand to study at college eight months before her murder.

Turner had a history of obsession with women and soon showed signs of jealousy towards Emily after they met in December 2010. The short, volatile relationship quickly descended into violent arguments, with Turner threatening to kill his girlfriend on an almost daily basis.

The prosecution said Turner used a pillow to smother Emily and then strangled her using a sleeper hold after she went back to his house to talk things over following a violent argument that night.

Turner, who was jailed for life for the murder, will be told Mrs Justice Dobbs's decision on his minimum term.