Marcus Osborne (right), 35, murdered mum-of-four Katie Higton (left), 27, and her new boyfriend Steven Harnett, 25 (Picture: Yorkshire Live/MEN Media)
A man has been sentenced to a rare whole life order for the murder of his ex-partner and her new boyfriend.
Marcus Osborne, 35, murdered mum-of-four Katie Higton, 27, and her new boyfriend Steven Harnett, 25.
The couple were found dead at a home in Huddersfield in May.
Ms Higton suffered 99 injuries and Mr Harnett suffered 24 wounds including mutilated genitals.
Osborne said: ‘Romeo and Juliet can die together now’ after the brutal double killing.
Leeds Crown Court heard Osborne, 35, lay in wait for Ms Higton and launched a brutal attack on her as soon as she came through the door of the house they once shared.
Osborne then used Ms Higton’s phone to pretend to be her and lure Mr Harnett, 25, to the house.
Four children were in the house during the murders.
He then raped another woman, who he had held captive in the house overnight, at knifepoint.
Osbourne pleaded guilty to the murders last year, as well as the false imprisonment and rape of another woman.
Mrs Justice Lambert said Ms Higton’s murder was a ‘merciless and sustained attack on a woman who was completely defenceless’.
She said during the attack, which started ‘before (Ms Higton) even got through the front door’, Osborne was heard saying: ‘I warned you I was going to kill you … this is your fault this is happening.’
The judge said the woman who was held captive in the house described Osborne washing himself between killings, laughing and jeering, later even inviting a neighbour into the living room to see the bodies ‘as if you were proud of what you had done’.
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