Porn-obsessed lab technician, 30, who strangled a co-worker to death and slit her throat after dating her for less than a month, is jailed for 23 years for her murder.
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A ‘sadistic murderer’ lab technician who strangled to death this colleague’s girlfriend at her parents’ home before slitting her throat and dumping her body on a country road was jailed for life today with a minimum sentence of 23 years .
Police body camera footage played at Leicester Crown Court showed the moment Ross McCullam told police where he had dumped the body of 23-year-old Megan Newborough on August 6, 2021.
McCullam, 30, previously fabricated an elaborate cover-up of the murder, telling investigating officers he had “no idea” where his colleague was and even sending texts and voicemails to his phone feigning concern over his disappearance.
He admitted to manslaughter, claiming he killed Megan when he went into a “blind rage” triggered by undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder caused by unreported child sexual abuse, but the jury unanimously convicted him of murder in just over one hour and half.
Ross McCullum (left), who has been convicted of murdering his work colleague Megan Newborough (right), with whom he had just started a relationship.
The killer was undone by his own lies, including earlier telling detectives during a police interview that, not content with strangling her, he waited on his own for up to 10 minutes before reaching for a carving knife and slitting her throat.
McCullam, who took ADHD medication, claimed he only used a knife because he was afraid that people, including Megan, had been “upset” and “angry” at him for strangling her.
But jurors heard how the girl had “leaked clues” to the truth by defensive wounds and marks on her body inflicted at McCullam’s parents’ home, where he attacked.
There were signs that Ms Newborough had desperately fought to defend herself from McCullam in the drawing room.
“She was covered in wounds, from her shin to the crown of her head,” Cammegh said.
There were grip marks on both shoulders and on her left arm, likely inflicted when McCullam tried to “silence” her, and suggesting a “long, ruthless, sustained fight”.
His FitBit had also been torn off in the attack and was later recovered from under a nearby television.
McCullam, who was in the dock to listen to the jury, nodded twice as the foreman read the verdict. Pictured is Miss Newborough
Megan Newborough had just started dating Ross McCullam when he killed her.
John Cammegh KC, the prosecutor, told the jury that the savage attack showed that McCullam was a “sadistic killer” who had acted with “ruthless” intent.
The lab technician likely murdered Mrs Newborough, of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, shortly after she arrived at around 8:08pm, but no later than 8:49pm on 6 August.
Footage captured with her parents’ Ring doorbell camera showed the last time she was seen alive, as she was walking to her car.
McCullam’s attempts to cover up his ruthless murder of Megan included a ruthless half-minute voicemail left on her phone just three hours later, in which he laughed and professed an alleged love for her.