A teenage boy murdered Lorna Woodnutt, a 51-year old woman, using a sledgehammer and a lump hammer and then proceeded to share images of the crime on social media – a chilling case that was acknowledged by the Central Criminal Court. The traumatic discovery of their aunt’s gruesome murder was termed the “worst nightmare” by her niece.
He had told officers that the video was shared with each contact on his Snapchat list, which contained over a hundred individuals. His objective was to pique the attention of the police. The footage was made available for half an hour, and was removed once the local police arrived, as per the courtroom narration.
During the sentencing hearing, it was revealed that the teenager, who remains anonymous due to his minor status, has been living with an autism spectrum disorder from as early as 18 months. Leading up to the murder, there had been worrying signs of escalating aggression and oppositional behaviour directed at schoolmates and staff.
Ms Woodnutt, who worked as a laboratory technician, was attacked while seated at her kitchen table, busy on her computer. She suffered fatal injuries to her head, face, and chest from the blunt force.
The boy faced the court for his sentencing hearing after submitting a guilty plea to the murder charges of Lorna Woodnutt, aged 51, which occurred in Farmland near Tullamore, Co Offaly on September 29, 2023. After the act, he had twice dialled 999 to report his crime.
As recounted in court, a Garda was led to the crime scene following a call triggered by the online video. There, the young offender acknowledged his crime by pointing towards the kitchen and admitted, “I did it”. During subsequent questioning, the boy confessed to law enforcement that he had been overtaken by rage from a disagreement with Ms Woodnutt. Expressing remorse over being imprisoned, he said, “I just walloped her, I’m at a loss for what took hold of me, it was just an accumulation of years”.
In a court hearing, the accused confessed to the police, “I assaulted her with all my strength, repeatedly around 20 or 30 times, even though it’s not in my nature to act this way.” The minor admitted aggressively attacking Ms Woodnutt with a hammer, overpowering her in the process.
Further inspection of the youngster’s mobile phone unveiled search history related to hammer assaults, the capabilities of the police force to track mobile devices, and characteristics of psychopaths.
Jessica Woodnutt, the niece of the victim, presented a touching statement to the court detailing the horrifying moment she learned of her aunt’s brutal demise. She likened the video evidence she had received to something of a terroristic nature.
Disconcertingly, she expressed her fears that this video could be carelessly circulated on social media, while her aunt lay unattended in her residence. Jessica spoke of her conversation with the guards who were quite guarded with their information over the phone, revealing only that they were looking into a situation at the moment but could’t disclose any more information. This vague information was sufficient to confirm to Jessica that she was actually living, what could only be defined as, her worst nightmare.