Jemma Lilley has been convicted of luring a boy with autism into her home and killing him for the thrill of it.
According to The Independent, the 26-year-old British woman, who admitted to murdering 18-year-old Aaron Pajich in her Perth, Australia, home before burying him in a shallow grave, said she had murder on her “bucket list” of things to accomplish before the age of 25.
Prosecutor James McTaggart told the court that Lilley described feeling “full of herself and euphoric” after the murder. She reportedly boasted about her crime to a work colleague.
The publication reported that Lilley, convicted with her housemate Trudi Lenon, had written a serial killer book called “SOS.” She had taken on the persona of her main character, according to The Independent.
Lilley’s step-mother told The Times U.K. she took issue with the novel. She claimed that Lilley was obsessed with serial killers.
“The book was a big problem with me. At the beginning I was, ‘Fair enough you want to write a horror story,’ but I didn’t like the contents of it,” Nina Lilley said.
“She had always had an obsession with serial killers but she said it was a way of venting her frustration of what happened when she was a child.”
The Independent reported that Pajich was lured to his death on June 13, 2016.
Lenon alleged that Lilley approached the teen from behind while he installed games on her computer and strangled him with a wire until it broke. She then reportedly stabbed the boy three times.
Prosecutors said several incriminating messages from Lilley were sent to Lenon about the killing in which she said she was feeling things she’d “not felt before,” according to The Independent.
Lilley attempted to blame Lenon for the crime, reports say
Both women made trips to a local store to buy cleaning products and concrete in the days leading up to Pajich’s murder.
They also purchased hydrochloric acid, which they’re believed to have bought with the intention of using it to dispose of the boy’s body.
According to reports, prosecutors suspect Lilley selected Pajich as her victim because she thought he’d be an easy target. She noted that he was thin, vulnerable and extremely trusting.
He was also known to spend a lot of time walking by himself.
Pajich’s mother called Lenon and Lilley “disgusting animals” after the guilty verdict was handed down in court on Thursday.
“He was my precious little boy, he was my first-born…he was full of life,” she said.
“They deserve everything they get for what they’ve done, they’ve taken an innocent boy from his loved ones.”
According to reports from the courtroom, despite the trial lasting five long weeks, the jury reached a decision to convict the pair after less than three hours.
