'Twilight' Killers Identities Revealed After Documentary Shows Youngest Double Murderers

The identities of a teenage couple, dubbed the “Twilight Killers,” who murdered two people were revealed, according to The Sun June 9. Lucas Markham and his girlfriend Kim Edwards, both 14 at the time, took a bath, had sex and watched “Twilight” after murdering Edwards’ mother and sister in April 2016. The murders occurred in Spalding, U.K.

Markham pleaded guilty to murder. Edwards pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but not to murder. They were both found guilty of murder at the end of their 8-day trial.

A judge allowed their identities to be revealed in June after a documentary about the incident aired Monday on Channel 5. The documentary featured Markham speaking about the act he and his girlfriend committed.

Read: Who Is Rachelle Bond? 'Baby Doe' Bella's Mother To Be Sentenced In Daughter's Murder

“I went into her mum’s room and stabbed her in the neck while she was asleep on her side and smothered her face with a pillow,” he told the police at the time. “After I knew she had gone, I went into Katie’s room — which is the same room as Kim’s — and I thought I stabbed her, but I’m not a hundred percent sure if it was her or the mattress and then I smothered her face with a pillow.”

The teens murdered Edwards’ family members because they thought Elizabeth Edwards wanted them to break up. Justice Haddon-Cove sentenced the two to a minimum of 17 years at Nottingham Crown Court, as reported by news.com.au. In November 2016, they were originally sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison, but an appeal reduced the time. According to Haddon-Cove, the couple had a “toxic” relationship, which caused them to behave in a “grotesque” manner.

Dr. Indranit Chakrabarti told the court that Edwards’ adjustment disorder caused her to be “unable to make any rational judgment.”

According to Psychology Today, almost half of teenage girls 14-17 who murder their mothers, committing matricide, have an accomplice — either a friend or a boyfriend. The average age for girls to commit matricide is between 14-17, said Kathleen Heide, a professor at the University of South Florida who has researched matricide. The reasons for matricide are largely unknown, as Heide said, “boys outnumbered girls seven-to-one in the killing of mothers.” Another unusual factor in Edwards’ case was that only about 17 percent of people who committed parricide, the act of murdering a parent, were under the age of 18.

The two are Britain’s youngest double murderers.

Prior to the murders, Markham asked Edwards if she definitely wanted to go through with the act. She told the police that the plan had originally been a joke, but it escalated. She described how she gave Markham a backpack with a black t-shirt and four knives in it.

Read: What Is Uxoricide? A Look At 'Romantic Ideology' After New Dehli Man Kills Wife

“I was okay with it. My mum does not have to deal with me anymore being suicidal, and she does not have to wake up worrying every morning to see if I’m still alive,” she said. “My sister does not have to go through all the heartbreak and like just all the emotional stuff.”

The couple has not been in contact since their trial.