A British teenager who was inspired by “Dexter” to murder and dismember his girlfriend has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Steven Miles was 16 years old last January when he stabbed 17-year-old Elizabeth Thomas at his family’s home, and then went about the horrifying business of cutting off her limbs, placing them in plastic wrap, and storing them beneath his desk while covering the rest of Thomas’ body in a sheet.
His court-appointed attorney called Miles’ murder of Thomas “chilling, blood-curdling and sustained.”
The boy, who had been diagnosed as autistic, had told his family an alter-ego named “Ed” had ordered him to kill someone.
About an hour after he murdered Thomas and then used tools from his father’s tree surgery business to do the gruesome work of dismemberment, Miles confessed what he’d done to his sister and showed her.
During his sentencing hearing, it came out that Miles was obsessed with “Dexter,” the Showtime series about a police blood spatter expert who is secretly a serial killer.
Miles told his legal team that he had a “lot of similarities” to the character, and, as “Ed,” had referred to Thomas as his “project.”
The attorney told the court Miles had “pleaded guilty to a horrendous crime which is beyond belief because of its horrific nature.”
“This was a truly gruesome killing ripped from the pages of a hit TV script,” continued the lawyer. “The evidence points to the defendant trying to emulate the actions of the character Dexter, who he idolized. The case is a sad testament to the perils of how young people can become entrenched in modern TV blockbusters involving violence which shockingly led to a copycat killing in real life.”
Miles showed no emotion during sentencing.
He received 25 years in prison rather than a life sentence due to his status as a minor.
See a police official summarize the verdict in the video below.
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