True crime-obsessed mother Shaye Groves faces life in prison after being convicted of murdering her on-off boyfriend in crazed knife attack as he slept

Shaye Groves, 27, previously claimed she killed her partner in self-defense, that she had grabbed the dagger by mistake during a heated row

Prosecutors said Groves lying in bed with Fitzgerald who was asleep, going through his messages saw he’d been talking to a 13 year old girl

She put a dagger to the throat of the sleeping Fitzgerald, waking him up and a fight ensued, prosecutors said

Pathologist’s report revealed Mr Fitzgerald was stabbed 17 times to the front of the chest, twice to other chest areas and three to times to the neck

He died from ‘multiple perforations of heart and lungs’ and ‘catastrophic blood loss’

British mother-of-two Shaye Groves, 27, who was described as ‘Manipulative and jealous’, now faces life in prison after flying into a rage and stabbing her boyfriend Frankie Fitzgerald 22 times while he slept, after seeing that he had messaged a teenager.
The Court heard that Shaye Groves slit 25-year-old Frankie Fitzgerald’s throat before plunging the blade into his chest 17 times at her home in Havant, Hampshire.
The five-week trial heard that the pair shared a mutual interest in BDSM and a camera was set up in the defendant’s bedroom at her home in Havant, Hampshire, to record them having sex.
The true crime-obsessed mother who had framed pictures of serial killers on her walls smiled as she was convicted of murdering her on-off boyfriend, Frankie Fitzgerald, in a crazed knife attack.
On the walls in her homes Groves had framed pictures of serial killers crying blood including Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, Moors Murderer Myra Hindley and incestuous serial killer Rose West on her walls – collected books about gangsters, including the notorious prisoner Charles Bronson, and watched true crime documentaries.

Jurors heard that Groves, who rang a friend ‘giggling’ after killing Fitzgerald and showed his body saying ‘I’ve done him’, had previously threatened to make his life ‘a misery’ by leaking videos of alleged sexual abuse which were later proven to be bogus.
When Fitzgerald died, Groves tried to cover her tracks with a ‘false alibi’ by calling her friend.
After deliberating for nearly 18 hours, the jury at the Winchester Crown Court found Groves guilty of murder on Friday.
Wearing a denim jacket with a large pentagram emblazoned on the back, and with tattoos visible on her face, Groves smiled as she was taken down to the cells after the unanimous verdict.
Sentencing for Shaye Groves, of Havant, Hampshire, has been scheduled for next week.

During the trial, jurors heard ‘pagan’ Groves bought a Celtic dagger, later used to stab Fitzgerald, for her ‘rituals’ and that it ‘strengthened spiritual connections’.
As well as posters of killers such as Rose West and Ted Bundy, Groves had a coffin-shaped bookcase and four ‘decorative’ knives – with depictions of film villains Chuckie, Jigsaw and Pennywise on – which she and Fitzgerald used for ‘knife play’ in the bedroom.
She was such a horror movie fan she gave roommate Lauren White the nickname of Chucky – a vicious serial killer from the Child’s Play slasher film franchise.
A friend of Groves’ said the two had ‘joked’ about her boyfriend, Fitzgerald, ending up ‘on the wall’ as there was ‘space for him’.

Prosecutor Steven Perian, told the court: ‘Their [Groves and Fitzgerald], sex life involved bondage, dominance submission and masochism – BDSM.
‘It is likely she was obsessed with Frankie Fitzgerald because of his performance in the bedroom.
‘The prosecution case is the defendant is a manipulative, possessive and jealous woman.
‘The killing is very likely to have been a crime of passion driven by her jealousy.’
Afterwards Groves video-called her friend, Vikki Baitup, ‘giggling’ and ‘admitted’ the killing.
Telling jurors about the call, Perian continued: ‘The defendant went to the bedroom three times and showed the body of Frankie Fitzgerald covered in a duvet.
‘She said they were lying in bed together and Frankie Fitzgerald was asleep.
‘The defendant was going through his messages and saw he had been talking to a 13 year old girl and while Mr Fitzgerald was asleep, she put a dagger in his throat waking him up.
‘He moved and they started fighting.’

‘While the defendant was on the video chat, she could be seen cleaning the bookcase with blood on it. She showed a book and showed blood spots,’ Perian told the court.
‘Ms Baitup recalls at some point during the video chat, hearing Ms White say ‘I’m going to crack’.
‘The defendant told Ms White, ‘You can’t crack you’re an accomplice, you put the bin bags under his body’.’
The court heard Groves had sent a message to Baitup to create a ‘false alibi’ in order to ‘cover her a***’ where she claimed Fitzgerald had ‘walked out’ on her and that it was ‘over’ between the two of them.
On the phone call with Baitup, Groves explained her logic, saying Fitzgerald had been ‘suicidal anyway’ and that ‘it was alright, they’ll just assume he has gone off and committed suicide’.

‘When asked what she was going to do with the body, the defendant replied ‘it’s alright, we are going to bury it in the back garden”, the prosecutor told the court.
A pathologist’s report revealed Mr Fitzgerald was stabbed 17 times to the front of the chest, twice to other chest areas and three to times to the neck – resulting in his death after ‘multiple perforations of heart and lungs’ and ‘catastrophic blood loss’.
Footage from officers who arrived at the scene was played to the court, who reported an ‘incredibly strong’ smell of bleach in the bedroom.
Groves could be heard saying: ‘He tried to attack me, it’s not the first time, I’ve got video footage of him raping me and beating me.’
The couple had a camera set up in the bedroom which captured them having sex – the recordings of which Groves was said to use to blackmail lovers and claimed Fitzgerald had been abusing her.
However, Perian highlighted a recording that showed the activity was ‘consensual’ because they had spoken about their ‘safe word’ ‘red light’.
The court heard ‘cunning and astute’ Groves had spoken with friends about getting Fitzgerald ‘down a dark alley’ and ‘get away’ with murder and had been violent towards White, only calming down when she ‘saw a bit of blood’.

Perian said: ‘The defendant had many gangster books, like Charles Bronson and has serial killer pictures in frames on her wall and watches murder documentaries.
‘The Crown say by reading about and watching these she was familiar with: a crime scene, how to create a false narrative and how to create a false alibi.’
Addressing Groves’ claims of self-defense, Perian said: ‘If the killing was in self defense, why go about setting such an elaborate false alibi for yourself? Why didn’t she call the police immediately? Why did she clean up the crime scene? Why did she move the body?
‘It was a cunning ploy – nothing was affecting her mind at that time.’
Giving evidence Groves said she had the serial killer posters because she thought they looked ‘pretty cool’ and had attacked Fitzgerald because she thought he was going to ‘strangle me to death’ after she saw he had been messaging a teenager and he attacked her.