A British man decided to get revenge on his cheating ex-girlfriend by using the largest knife he could find. Andrew Burke, 31, was upset at 28-year-old Cassie Hayes for having an affair with 29-year-old Laura Williams. Burke used to date Williams, and until recently, also dated Hayes. Incensed over this bizarre love triangle, Burke used a knife to slit Hayes' throat while she was at her job in Southport. According to Fox News, Hayes perished at a nearby hospital.
The Guardian reports that this cold-blooded attack occurred in front of customers at the travel agent store that Hayes worked at.
A court in Liverpool has found Burke guilty of the murder, sentencing him to a minimum of twenty-six years in prison. The judge in the case, David Aubrey, lambasted the criminal from the bench, accusing him of committing a "cowardly act of revenge designed to kill..."
The court in the trial found that the origins of the case stretched all the way back to January 2017, when Burke began verbally threatening Hayes over the phone. In these threats, the convicted murderer frequently said that he would either kill Burke or himself. For these crimes, Burke was also convicted of making malicious communications.
The day after
The murder occurred just one day after Burke was found guilty of harassing Laura Williams, his former girlfriend.
At the time, Williams was dating Hayes following her break-up with Burke. According to the police involved in the case, Burke called his sister the day before the crime, saying: "I'll turn left and go home, or turn right, go to Wilkinsons, buy the biggest knife I can find, go to Southport and slit Cassie's throat."
When police apprehended Burke at the Tui Travel store on January 13th, he admitted his guilt and told them that following his harassment case, "It was either kill me or kill her." Burke's murder weapon was a 12 cm (4.7 inch) knife.
One of Hayes' co-workers also said that Burke apologized out loud prior to attacking Hayes. Prosecuting attorney Gordon Cole also said that Burke apologized to the traumatized customers in the store, telling them that Hayes deserved it for ruining his life.
A monster
The Hayes family did not buy any of Burke's apologies. At the trial, Nadine Hayes, the deceased's sister, blamed Burke for taking away her "world." Mother Tracey Hayes demanded that Burke "rot in hell" for the crime, and she loudly condemned him as an "evil monster."
