Marcus Osbourne jailed for life for murdering his ex and her new lover and mutilating his body days after being released

A MONSTER who murdered his ex and mutilated her new boyfriend's body has been jailed for life.

Katie Higton, 27, was "ferociously and mercilessly" murdered alongside Steven Harnett, 25, inside her home in Huddersfield in May last year.

Katie Higton was murdered at her home last yearCredit: PA

Her new partner Steven Harnett was also killedCredit: Ben Lack

Katie's ex Marcus Osbourne has today been locked up for life over the double killingsCredit: MEN Media

Her ex Marcus Osbourne, 35, brutally attacked the pair - leaving Katie with 99 injuries.

He then attacked her new lover, leaving his body mutilated and covered in 24 wounds.

The killer has today been thrown behind bars for life, after last year admitting to two counts of murder.

He had also pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment and rape of another woman on the same evening.

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One family member yelled "I hope you rot in hell" as Osbourne was taken away.

At the time of the killing, Osbourne said: "Romeo and Juliet can die together."

It was heard that he had been released from prison just days before committing the violent crimes.

Osbourne was jailed in 2013 for four years and ten months after he broke a previous girlfriend’s jaw in three places when she ended their relationship.

He was caged again for 16 weeks in 2015 after attacking another girlfriend, again when she split-up with him.

Osbourne told that woman she would "end up in a box" if she finished with him.

Both Katie and partner Steven were knifed to death during the horror attack, which came just hours after a cinema date.

She had shared a smiling selfie on her Snapchat just 12 hours before police found her dead in her own home.

Katie's former brother-in-law told how his sibling dated the mum for seven years and was the dad of her oldest two children.

He said the children were "in the property when the incident took place".

Katie was previously in a relationship with Osbourne after they met at the gym where he worked in 2018.

One pal claimed the controlling personal trainer cut her off from her male friends and rifled through her social media.

A week before the murders, he sent a chilling message to the friend warning him not to speak to Katie anymore.

In the days before the murders, Katie told West Yorkshire Police Osborne had told her "he would slit her throat if she said what he had done," and that "if she ever got a boyfriend he would kill them both".

West Yorkshire Police said previously it had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) following prior contact with the "parties involved".

The IOPC said: "This is due to the fact officers had contact with both victims, and a man who has since been arrested on suspicion of murder, in the days prior to this tragic incident.

"We will now assess the available information to determine what further action may be required."

Speaking today, Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC said: "The defendant committed a premeditated and brutal double murder motivated by sexual jealousy, a desire to exercise control over Katie Higton, an unwillingness to accept her decision to leave him and her freedom to form a relationship with another man."

Osbourne also raped a woman in the house when he killed Katie and Steven.

The judge, Mrs Justice Lambert, imposed 10-year concurrent sentences for the rape and false imprisonment of the other woman in the house.

She told Osborne: "There are no mitigating factors in your case other than your guilty plea. There is no psychiatric or other evidence placed before me to explain or help me understand your actions.

"This is a case of such exceptional seriousness that even a very long minimum term would not be a just punishment. What you did that night was horrific."

The judge said the killings were "sexual in nature" and driven by Osborne's "pathological jealousy".

She told Osborne: "They were driven by your sexual jealousy arising from Katie's decision to start a new relationship with Steven.