Most of us have seen enough crime shows and read enough news stories in our lives to know that, when it comes to a crime as serious as murder, the last thing the perpetrator is willing to do is confess. In a recent case in the UK, however, the complete opposite happened.
Ian Robertson, a 33-year-old man from Merseyside, committed a horrific act on January 19th this year after getting into a violent altercation with his friend, Robert Sempey. In a brutal attack, Robertson stabbed 38-year-old Sempey in his throat, head, and body, ultimately resulting in his death.
Nobody knew about the murder until later on, after Robertson's boss, Anthony Millward, reported the matter to police. Millward might never have found out either, had it not been for the 33-year-old's strangely blase confession.
The truth unfolded when Robertson didn't come to work the day after the incident, prompting Millward to ask in a WhatsApp message: "Is everything OK mate? Alex said that you wasn’t in work today because of a family emergency? X"
Robertson, in response - rather than feigning an illness or continuing the "family emergency" lie - simply responded: "If you want the truth mate, I murdered someone in my house last night so now need to fix it. XXXX"
The murderer then went on to explain that he'd dumped Sempey's body in his garden, and made a crude attempt of covering it up with a couple of broken doors. As further proof, he sent his boss a picture of the body. This, of course, urged Millward to take the matter to police, who immediately went to arrest the man.
Horrifyingly, upon discovering the crime scene, law enforcement officers also discovered that Robertson's girlfriend - 30-year-old Kirsty Jervis - was involved, too, and had been trying to clean up the bloody scene before anyone could find out what happened.
What's more, when the investigation was underway, Robertson was discovered to have recorded his friend's final moments on his phone.
Yesterday, both Robertson and Jervis were sentenced for their roles in the murder. Robertson was given a life sentence, with no possibility of parole for at least 21 years. Jervis, meanwhile, was handed two years and eight months for the crime of assisting an offender.
In an emotional statement read to the court, Sempey's sister, Michelle, wrote that her brother "was a funny, loving father, brother and uncle. We were all that close that when we hadn’t heard from him by the Saturday myself and Mandie (Sempey’s other sister) knew something bad had happened to him, we could feel it."
She continued: "The day we found out what had happened destroyed my family – the Three Amigos became two. I had to explain to my four children that their wonderful, loving uncle had been murdered and was never coming home ... I don’t think my family will ever be able to get over this and move on".
Sarah Gray, the Mersey-Cheshire CPS senior prosecutor, described the murder as "one of the most disturbing" she had ever seen.
She said:
"Both Robertson and Jervis pleaded guilty to the offences, sparing Mr. Sempey’s relatives and the jury from having to hear the dreadful recording of his last moments.
"The reason why Robertson killed Mr. Sempey has not been established. At one point, the men seemed to be getting along well but that deteriorated."
Sempey is survived by his daughter.
