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Spalding Murders: Youngest Killer Couple Ever Slays Mother And Daughter [Update]

By Dustin Kemp
Published on: 19:18 PST, Apr 17, 2016

A teen couple was arrested on Saturday for collaborating in the grisly murder of a Spalding, UK, lunch lady and her young daughter, and what is especially disturbing about the arrest, originally reported by The Daily Mail, is how incredibly young the killers were.

Nobody thought it too odd when, last week, shouting and sounds of smashing glass were heard from the Edwards house in Spalding, Lincolnshire. After all, 49-year-old Elizabeth Edwards was a single mother with two young daughters.

People did find it a bit strange, however, when two members of the Edwards Family, Elizabeth and 13-year-old Katie, went missing for almost a week. They worried up until the bodies of the two murder victims were found in the Spalding home on Friday afternoon, both stabbed.

Neighbors were immediately devastated by the murder because Elizabeth, who served lunch in a Spalding elementary school, was somewhat of a prominent public figure.

“She was quite well-known because she worked at a primary school and what has happened is just unbelievable,” said an unnamed source.

“Katie was lovely too, but very quiet.”

An investigation into the Spalding murders was commenced immediately and the two identified as culprits shocked everyone: a couple, both 14-years-old, one of the youngest couples ever to be convicted of murder.

“This type of crime is extremely rare and not something we often see,” a member of the Spalding police force told The Spalding Guardian.

Although the authorities cannot reveal the names of the murder suspects to the press because of their age, many Spalding residents were made aware who they were and spoke their minds about the underage criminals.

The boy, said one friend of the family, was known to be troubled and was likely the one most responsible for the double murder.

“It has been said [he] has anger issues,”she said.

Another Spalding source said the girl had also taken on a dark, secretive persona once she and the boy had begun dating that made her unpopular among Spalding residents.

“After meeting him she stopped speaking to people. If you spoke to her in the street she would just walk off. She became a rebellious, sullen teen.”

And after the horrible murder made even more horrible by the nature of the pair that had committed it, the social media response from friends and family, both in and out of Spalding, was tremendous.

A 14-year-old friend of the younger victim mourned the loss of her acquaintance of Facebook, for instance.

“I’ve known Katie since we were four … When I saw on Facebook [that she’d died] I didn’t believe it at first, I couldn’t think how it would be true, then I just sat there crying … she was always smiling, carefree and happy, and sees the best in people.”

Mike Chesher, a Reverend at the Spalding church where Elizabeth taught choir practice, also broadcast his condolences via the web.

“I don’t know how we’ll manage without her because she’s just brilliant – such a genuine, committed person of such integrity. It is such a horrible shock.”

And Graham Greene, Elizabeth’s partner who did not live with her, posted what may have been the most heart-wrenching message of all in relation to the Spalding murders.

“The lady meant the world to me. She was my rock and I was her ‘grumpy Graham.’ And Katie, so young, lots of good times in front of us. RIP Liz, you are always in my heart, never ever forget I love you to the moon and back.”

People who don’t know the victims but have been following the murder case were disgusted as well, and they too have been sharing their strong reactions on social media.

There has not yet been any mention of the couple’s reasoning for committing the murders, a question that has Spalding residents quite confused.

“Liz was a lovely lady. She was always happy and smiling and full of life. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt someone like that,” reported a neighbor.

Spalding authorities add that neither Elizabeth nor Katie had any apparent connection to either killer before the murders.

UPDATE (19 April, 12:00 AM EST): The murderous lovers were subjected to a hearing at Spalding’s Lincoln Crown Court today, but the hearing only lasted five minutes and only really consisted of the two murder suspects confirming their names, reports BBC. They have essentially been placed under house arrest until late June.

Check back for more details as the story develops.

[Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images]

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