Chilling moment lodger confesses to murdering landlady

A lodger chillingly confessed he had planned to murder his landlady for a 'few weeks' before suffocated her to death with a pillow and dismembering her body.

Video shows Scott Paterson nonchalantly admitting to police he had killed Annette Smith at their shared home in Stotfold, Bedfordshire, and claiming he thought he could 'get away with it' by disposing of her body.

The 45-year-old trained butcher, who was heavily in debt and had secretly been selling his victim's jewellery, callously took her life on November 8, last year.

He then carved up her body and stuffed it into a suitcase, before leaving her remains in a storage unit where they remained for months as he used Moonpig cards and her emails to trick family and friends into thinking she was still alive.

But he was hauled in by police after a private investigator found personal belongings including her mobile phone at her house, and confessed to murdering her in a harrowing interview with officers.

Today he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years after admitting to murder, with Ms Smith's family saying they would 'never forgive' the 'evil' killer. 

Now Bedfordshire Police has released footage showing the moment the killer admitted to officers he had taken her life, saying it 'just felt like what I should do'.

In a police interview, the lodger can be seen answering 'yes' when asked if he is responsible for Ms Smith's death, adding: 'I suffocated her in her bed with a pillow.'

He then explains that he killed her on November 8 the previous year, saying: 'It happened in the evening at night, after Annette had fallen asleep.

'I put the pillow over her face until she stopped breathing and left her in bed for the night.'

The murderer then chillingly reveals his reasoning for committing the heinous crime, telling officers: 'I just wanted to get out of the situation, and as I say in hindsight there are obviously better ways to have done that, but it just felt... I don't know... I sort of snapped I suppose. It just felt like what I should do.'

Paterson claimed he had thought about killing Ms Smith for a 'little while beforehand - maybe a few weeks'.

READ MORE

BREAKING NEWS
Lodger who murdered and dismembered his landlady, 74, jailed for 20 years

He then described the moment he went through with the act, saying: 'I did for a split second [think about stopping] when I realised what I was doing was wrong but then I kind of thought... I just decided to carry on.'

He added that he had dismembered her body and tried to hide it because 'I thought if there wasn't a body I'd get away with it'.

Jailing Paterson for life with a minimum 20-year-term, Mr Justice Murray said: 'You told her friends and family an elaborate lie.

'Because of your lies, the police concluded there was not sufficient evidence at that time to say she was genuinely missing.'

Ms Smith's stepson, Jason Smith, said after the hearing: 'She was one of the kindest and most caring people. I can't understand why anyone would want to harm her.

'I have to try very hard not to think about what he did to her. He seemed a nice, friendly guy but he was a murderer. I'll never forgive him.'

A cousin of the victim added: 'Paterson took her away from us in such a cruel way. We are going through pain every single day – endlessly worrying about what she went through.'

Paterson – who had completed a butchery course while working at a farm shop – and Ms Smith became friends in 2010 when he was working in a local restaurant. 

He moved into her spare room when he split up from his girlfriend in 2012 after being invited by Ms Smith to live lived there rent-free.

Although it started as a temporary arrangement, they began hosting dinner parties and going to the theatre together. 

Paterson became Ms Smith’s carer when she suffered a mini-stroke in 2018 which left her without the use of her right arm.

The arrangement continued despite her estranged husband Peter Smith becoming 'concerned that having Scott Paterson there wasn't a good thing for her' and the house – a modern housing estate in the grounds of a former Victorian asylum - was not being looked after properly. 

Ms Smith was last seen by friends in November last year, Luton Crown Court heard, and Paterson told neighbours she had gone to live with a friend. 

After killing her on November 8 last year, he rolled her body in a rug and placed it in cupboard under the stairs.

Following the estate agent’s visit on November 14, he cut up the body and placed it in a black suitcase.

He also used her email account to start sending messages and gifts to her loved ones to deter them from checking on her.

But suspicions were raised as some messages 'didn't ring true', as they were signed off with 'multiple kisses'.

Mr Smith, reported her missing on January 10 but 'wasn't satisfied with the police response' and hired a private investigator who found her passport, phone and other items at her house.

Bedfordshire Police launched a high-risk missing persons enquiry on April 8 and arrested Paterson on April 30 after they found there had been no activity on her bank account and her clothing was also at the house. They made the grisly discovery of her remains at the storage locker days later.

Paterson told officers he had suffocated her with a pillow on November 8 and hid her body in the house – although he moved her after an estate agent visited the property the following week.

The killer, who admitted murder, claimed the demands of caring for the pensioner had caused him to 'snap'.

But investigations revealed he had entered into an individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) after racking up £30,000 in debt and had sold £5,000 worth of his landlady's jewellery before and after her death.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Murray said: 'You had been contemplating killing Annette Smith before you had finally killed her.

'This shows you had been thinking about and planning her death for some time.'

Detective Chief Inspector Katie Douglas, who led the investigation, said after the hearing: 'While in a position of trust, Paterson cruelly took advantage of Annette's vulnerabilities which culminated in him not only ending her life but taking abhorrent and deceptive steps to conceal his crimes.

'This was compounded by his efforts to make a financial gain by selling Annette's belongings.

'There is nothing that will ease the impact this will have had on those that knew Annette but the hope is that today's sentencing provides some solace to her family and friends and puts an end to what has no doubt been an horrific ordeal for her loved ones.'

Bedfordshire Police said the Independent Office for Police Conduct had not been informed of the case as the initial complaint went no further than a call handler, who had been 'dealt with internally' by way of enhanced training.