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11th Nov 2015

Nathan Matthews Found Guilty Of Murdering His Stepsister Becky Watts

Her remains were found in a garden shed.

Megan Cassidy

Nathan Matthews, the stepbrother of 16-year-old Becky Watts, has been found guilty of her murder.

The 28-year-old was accused of murdering the Bristol teen in a sexually motivated kidnap while his girlfriend, 21-year-old Shauna Hoare, was cleared of the murder but charged with manslaughter.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court heard that Nathan suffocated his stepsister when attempting to kidnap her from her semi-detached home in Crown Hill, Bristol on February 19th of this year.

He had arrived at the house with a “kidnap kit” complete with stun guns and handcuffs, before suffocating her in her bedroom and stabbing her in the abdomen fifteen times after her death.

The jury heard that he then dragged her body into the boot of his Vauxhall Zafira and drove it to the house he shared with Shauna less than two miles away, where he dismembered the body with a circular saw, packed the remains in plastic and preservative and hid them in a garden shed, where they were found on March 13th.

His partner Shauna was acquitted of the murder after telling the courts that she too was a victim of physical and psychological abuse from Matthews during their relationship.

The pair were also convicted of conspiracy to kidnap Becky, perverting the course of justice and preventing a lawful burial and will be sentenced on Thursday or Friday of this week.