Kim Edwards and Lucas Markham

14-year-old teenagers Kim Edwards and Lucas Markham were both in a school for difficult children. One day Kim walked into class as Lucas threw a chair, from that moment they were inseparable in their intense relationship.

Both were struggling with their home lives, they sought comfort in each other so when Kim's mother, Elizabeth, tried to split them up the couple came up with a plan to stop her.
The 14-year-old's came up with a scheme to murder Kim's mum, along with Kim's younger sister, Katie.

October 2015, Kim and Lucas had had enough of not being able to see each other as much as they wanted to, so they ran away. It took six days to find them camping in the forest of a nearby town north of Lincoln. Kim's mum Elizabeth, was furious and she banned Kim from ever seeing Lucas again.

March 2016, Kim took an overdose of painkillers to end her own life. Kim told the psychiatrist she had to see as a result, that her life had become “like a living walking hell,” because she could not see Lucas and hated her mother so much.

April 13th 2016, it had been a normal routine day in the Edwards house and that night everyone brushed their teeth and climbed into bed as normal.

Lucas walked the thirty minutes from his house to Kim’s, carrying a bag of kitchen knives he’d taken from his aunt’s home. He knocked on Kim’s window three times, a prearranged sign to let Kim know he was there and ready. Kim let Lucas in through the bathroom window.
Quietly, Lucas and Kim took out the knives and went into Elizabeth’s room where the mother was sleeping.
Lucas would later tell police, “I stabbed her in the neck where she was sleeping on her side and I smothered her face with a pillow.”
Elizabeth did not go easily, fighting and clawing at Lucas as he smothered her.

Kim said, “He was on top of her, with a pillow over her head. Even though her voice box was [stabbed], I thought I heard her say ‘get off me.’ Then after about 10 minutes of Lucas putting his weight on her, she was dead.”
Once the pair were done with Elizabeth, they had planned for Kim to stab Katie. But Kim had a panic attack after watching her mother die, so Lucas decided to do it himself.
Lucas told police, “I thought I stabbed her – but I’m not 100 percent sure – it was her or the mattress, and then I smothered her face with a pillow, too.”
Kim thought killing her sister was the kind thing to do, sparing her from going through “the heartbreak and just all the emotions and stuff” of dealing with losing her mother. Kim told police, “I thought it would have been better for my sister to die, too. I was not killing my sister out of anger, and I miss her, but I was excited about killing my mother and I was looking forward to it.”

The young couple then considered taking their own lives after the murders, but instead took a bath together, had sex and then ate ice cream while watching the Twilight series movies, a fact that would see them dubbed the ‘Twilight Killers’.

15th April 2016, After two days of being absent from school and not at home, Lucas’ aunt reported him missing to the police. She directed them to Kim’s house first. If he was anywhere, he was with her.

Police went to Kim’s house and had to force their way inside as the couple were unwilling to let them in. Police broke in the door and found the young couple calmly watching TV. Police asked Lucas, “What happened?” To which he replied, “Why don’t you go and look?”
Police found the days-old corpses in their beds, the smell overwhelming and blood everywhere.

During police interviews, both were without remorse, showing very little emotion over what they had done.

September 2016, at a court hearing Luke Markham pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but changed this to murder before trial. Edwards maintained her innocence.

10th October 2016, at Nottingham Crown Court Lucas Markam aged-15, pleased guilty to murder. Kim Edwards pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility,, this was rejected and a trial was set.

18th October 2016, Kim Edwards was found guilty of murder

10th November 2016, Both Lucas and Kim were found guilty of murder by a jury of seven men and five women. They were sentenced to 20-years  in prison. They hold the record as the youngest double murderers in the UK’s history.

2017, both had the sentences reduced from 20-years, to 17 and a half years.

9th June 2017, despite efforts to keep the identities secret a high court judge ruled the teenagers could be publicly named.

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