(note the 'scorned woman' nonsense this predator uses, just like most of our cyberpaths! - EOPC)A stalker was jailed for life yesterday for murdering a mother with a bolt gun used to slaughter livestock.
Fitness instructor Mary Griffiths, 38, had been due to meet police earlier that evening but her appointment to discuss the harassment had been put off until the following morning.
The divorced mother of three was asleep when slaughterman John McFarlane smashed through the back door of her home with an axe.
Mary Griffiths was shot by slaughterman John McFarlane with a bolt gun in front of her children after she called him 'delusional' on Facebook
He turned off the power at the fuse box before rushing to Mrs Griffiths's bedroom and attacking her as one of her daughters slept beside her.
The Old Bailey heard he punched her repeatedly, tried to strangle her and shot her in the shoulder with the bolt gun as she screamed for help.
McFarlane, 40, who blamed Mrs Griffiths for 'ripping out his heart' after she rejected his advances, dragged her downstairs while her daughters Jessica, 13, and Hannah, ten, tried to fight him off.
A neighbour saw him continue his attack in the street, where he pinned her to the ground and shot her twice in the chest just before 3am on May 6.
Maxwell McDonald, who witnessed the murder from his window, described the shooting as being 'clinical, deliberate, like an execution'.
McFarlane also hit Jessica around the head with the weapon, which he used at work to stun cattle.
Neighbours tried in vain to revive Mrs Griffiths, but she was later declared dead in hospital.
The court was told McFarlane fled to a friend's home around a mile away in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
He sent texts to friends, saying he had taught Dublin-born Mrs Griffiths a lesson for ' ripping out his heart and stamping on it'.
Police later found him bleeding heavily after he slit his wrists in the garden of the house.
McFarlane admitted murder and was jailed for life with a recommendation that he serve at least 20 years before being considered for parole.
Mr Justice Bean told him he had deliberately armed himself with the stun gun after deciding to kill Mrs Griffiths.
He said he would have ordered a minimum 30 years had it not been for McFarlane's early guilty plea and evidence he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time.
In a text message sent to a colleague before the killing, McFarlane wrote: 'Yes JB (McFarlane) is off on a revenge mission to teach people a lesson who stamp on your heart.
'I will spare the mother, not the beautiful girls. They like me will die. Hasta la vista baby.'
He followed it with another saying: 'This is what rejection does, it ***** you up. All I needed was a cuddle and to be loved.'
His choice of weapon echoes that of the psychopath killer in the Coen Brothers' 2007 film No Country for Old Men.
The court heard Mrs Griffiths met McFarlane at martial arts classes. They became parttime instructors, teaching in Bury St Edmunds and nearby Newmarket.
Mrs Griffiths, who divorced her husband in 2007, regarded McFarlane as a friend.
But when she started a new relationship, he began telephoning and texting her constantly, prompting her to ask him to 'back off'.
McFarlane then began ignoring her at the gym and around that time she had a tire on her car slashed, although she did not know who was responsible.
When Mrs Griffiths's relationship failed, they became friendly again.
On hearing Mrs Griffiths had broken up with her boyfriend on April 23, McFarlane left his wife.
He moved to a friend's home, but then stayed two nights at Mrs Griffiths's home, sleeping on the sofa.
Mr Harvey said he had upset Mrs Griffiths during his stay by going into her bedroom, but she made it clear his advances were not welcome.
McFarlane later posted a message on Facebook, falsely claiming he had been having an affair with her.
Hours before the attack, she called police to report harassment, and an appointment was made but postponed until the next day.
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