True crime fan accused of murdering boyfriend had photos of serial killers on wall
A true crime fan accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death said she kept pictures of serial killers on her bedroom wall because they were ‘pretty cool’.
Shaye Groves, 27, used a dagger she kept under her pillow in a ‘passionate’ attack on Frankie Fitzgerald, 25, a jury heard.
She allegedly rang a friend ‘giggling’ after killing her lover before making a ‘false alibi’ for herself inspired by tips from true crime TV documentaries, the court heard.
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Such was her interest in murderers Groves had framed portraits of notorious serial killers including Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer on her bedroom wall alongside ‘decorative’ daggers and a coffin-shaped bookshelf.
One of her friends told Winchester Crown Court the pair of them had ‘joked’ about Mr Fitzgerald ending up ‘on the wall’ as there was ‘space for him’.
(Image: Facebook)
Groves denies murdering the dad and claims she was acting in self-defence when she stabbed him 22 times at her home in Havant, Hants, on July 17 last year.
Asked about her choice of wall decorations, the tearful mum-of-one said she ‘got them from an artist on Etsy’.
“They’re not photos – they are art,” she said. “I thought they looked pretty cool and it’s different.”
She said she was ‘also a massive Disney fan’ but she ‘wanted my bedroom to be completely different and to shock people’.
“The knives were on my wall for decorative purposes,” she added.
Asked why she had a coffin-shaped bookshelf she said: “It was my humour.
(Image: Hampshire Police)
“If I die in my bed, roll me over and put me in a coffin.
“That’s what I used to say.”
Groves said her sense of humour was ‘dark, twisted, and unpleasant’ to the rest of society.
“I get a lot of unpleasant thoughts which I make light of,” she added.
The self-described pagan said she bought the Celtic dagger used in the stabbing for her “rituals” and that it “strengthened spiritual connections”.
(Image: Facebook)
“Celtic is big in paganism so I thought it would go nice with my rituals,” she said.
“I kept it under my pillow, one, because it’s a good thing to do because it brings spiritual connection together and, two, for protection.
“I felt safer having it easily accessible, especially as the months went on.”
The court heard how weeks before his death Mr Fitzgerald had joked she was going to stab him with the knife.
Groves continued: “There was one occasion where he asked if I was going to stab him but it was in a playful tone.”
She said Mr Fitzgerald had developed a cocaine habit and ‘would often get really aggressive’ when he was high.
The trial continues.
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