Shaye Grove: Jeffrey Dahmer-obsessed woman jailed for at least 23 years for murdering lover

A serial killer-obsessed woman will spend at least 23 years in prison, after she was jailed for life for the violent murder of her on-off boyfriend.

Shaye Groves had framed pictures of notorious murderers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer on her bedroom wall, and concocted her alibi based on true crime documentaries. The 27-year-old was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 23 years in prison at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday, for the murder of Frankie Fitzgerald, 25. She slit his throat before stabbing him 17 times in the chest in July last year, after trying to portray herself as his victim.

Groves was found guilty of the murder last week, after a five-week trial heard that the pair shared a mutual interest in BDSM and a camera was set up in the defendant’s bedroom at her home in Havant, Hampshire, to record them having sex. She had framed pictures of serial killers on her walls, collected books about gangsters, including the notorious prisoner Charles Bronson, and watched true crime documentaries.

She appeared in court on Wednesday wearing a jacket with a pentagram drawn on the back of it, and remained expressionless in the dock as she received her sentence. In his sentencing remarks, Justice Kerr told Groves: “You have robbed Frankie’s family and loved ones of their son and their brother, and his two children of their father.”

He added that Groves had ended Mr Fitzgerald’s life in his mid-20s, and that she had “blighted” the lives of his family “for decades to come”. But he described the murder as a “crime of passion”.

“You loved the man you killed, and you killed the man you loved... You are not a cold-blooded murderer, a crime of passion is not committed in cold blood,” he said.

The court was previously told the mother-of-one owned four decorative knives - with depictions of film villains such as Saw’s Jigsaw on them - which she and Mr Fitzgerald used for “knife play” in the bedroom. Steven Perian KC, prosecuting, told the jury that Groves acted out of jealousy after she found that her victim had been messaging a 13-year-old girl on Facebook.

He said: “Their sex life involved bondage, dominance, submission and masochism – in short form, BDSM. It is very likely she was obsessed with Frankie Fitzgerald because of his performance in the bedroom. The killing of Frankie Fitzgerald is very likely to be a crime of passion driven by her jealousy.”

Perian said that Groves used her knowledge from true crime shows to portray herself to friend, Vicky Baitup, as a victim of Mr Fitzgerald’s sexual violence. She sent the friend videos of the pair having sex edited to appear as rape but the prosecution say the original footage showed that it was consensual sex.

She also showed Ms Baitup the victim’s dead body on a video call, which was wrapped up in a duvet and lying on bin bags. She also showed her friend a photo of the knife wound.

Mr Perian added: “Where would the defendant have got the insight from to plan the details of the attack and to make it look like she was the victim of an assault? The defendant has many gangster books like Charles Bronson in her bookcase.

“She has serial killer pictures all in frames on her wall and she watches murder documentaries. The Crown say that the defendant – by reading about and watching murder documentaries – she was familiar with crime scenes, how to create a false narrative and how to set up a false alibi.

“She deliberately set up a false narrative of being abused by Frankie Fitzgerald, a false alibi she sent to Vicky Baitup and was cleaning the crime scene having watched these documentaries.”

Following conviction, the jury was told that Groves had been dealing cannabis.

He told the jurors: “It remains for me to thank you from the court for the dedication and work you have done on this case.”