A British teenager who had a fascination with satanism was sentenced to a minimum 20-year-prison term on Friday for the murder of his 14-year-old girlfriend.
Luke Mitchell, 16, was detained for life by trial judge Nimmo Smith who said the brutal killing may have been inspired by the work of Gothic rock star Marilyn Manson.
Jodi Jones, 14, was stripped, tied up and savagely stabbed to death in woods near her home in central Scotland in the summer of 2003, the court heard.
"Jodi regarded you with affection and trust, yet you inflicted a horrible death on her and mutilated her body", the judge told the High Court in Edinburgh Friday.
He was unable to dismiss Mitchell's fascination with satanism as "mere adolescent rebellion", the judge added.
Similarities between the injuries inflicted on Jodi and the gruesome "Black Dahlia" murder of 1940s Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short, painted by Manson, could not be ignored.
Judge Nimmo Smith said Mitchell carried out the killing as if "acting out a scene" in his mind.
Referring to evidence at the trial of the defendant's cannabis use, he warned: "I believe that in some instances at least it can seriously damage the mental processes of those who habitually consume drugs."
Mitchell, who has denied the murder, showed no emotion when sentence was passed. His defence lawyer said he would continue to fight to clear his client's name.
Both the mothers of the defendant and the victim were in court when sentenced was passed.