A killer who repeatedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend and attempted to behead her in a drug-induced “fierce and smoking rage” has been jailed for 18 years.
Adam Butt launched the ‘cruel and premeditated’ attack on American Mary Wells on the night of January 16, 2021, with fatal stab wounds to her neck and torso.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard Butt unsuccessfully tried to behead his girlfriend and later told friends he had “just killed a demon”.
Butt had met 21-year-old Mrs Wells online and lived with her in Colchester after Mary traveled to the UK for six months to be with him and do some travel.
But their relationship soured with Butt telling friends that Mrs. Wells “nagged” him to seek therapy when his mental state deteriorated due to heavy drugs and alcohol abuse.
The prosecutor stated on the day of the murder, Butt traveled to Gatwick Airport, where he decided he should behead Mrs. Wells and use the apple of her eye as a ticket to get through a “portal.”
Mary had flown thousands of miles from the US to meet Butt after the couple met online and it’s clear they were sharing a flat at the time as Mary enjoyed exploring the UK. She would return to the US three weeks after her death.
Adam Butt has been locked up in a mental hospital after stabbing his American girlfriend Mary Wells to death last year in a brutal and premeditated attack on their flat in Colchester
Prosecutor Mark Milleken-Smith revealed that Butt’s victim was said to have been conscious during the early stages of the “frantic” stabbing, which also saw her straining her throat and being beaten with a barbell.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard Wells’ five-foot-tall tried to fight back but “would have been no match for Butt at all.”
At an inquest last year, a coroner ruled that Mary died of penetrating wounds to the neck and trunk.
When police entered the home shortly after 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 17, they found Mary’s body on the floor at the foot of the couple’s bed with her head bent forward, the court heard Friday.
Butt was said to have used two knives to inflict stab wounds to his victim’s chest, abdomen and neck before unsuccessfully attempting to remove her head.
Paramedics were called, but Mrs. Wells could not be rescued and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Butt, 23, sat in a chair in the corner of the room with his head down, surrounded by blood on the wall. He would later admit to manslaughter with diminished responsibility later in August last year.
The University of Essex, Colchester student, showed no emotion when he was sentenced to 18 years in a secure hospital and told Friday he would spend the rest of his life on license.
Mary Wells, 21, was found stabbed to death in a house in Colchester, Essex, in January 2021
The court heard Butt’s friends describe in detail how he had become unrecognizable and “manic” as his mental state rapidly deteriorated towards the end of November 2020.
Investigators were told that the 23-year-old smoked cannabis and took acid and MDMA, with some claiming they had never seen him sober.
Mr Milliken-Smith told the court: “Friends say he had changed beyond recognition in January 2021. They begged him to go to therapy.’
He said Butt started having “aggressive outbursts,” often due to the mixture of drink and drugs, which made Wells fearful of arguing.
The court heard Butt once told her, “I can easily kill you now” while armed with a fragment of a broken mirror.
Tom Price, softening, argued that it was “pretty clear” that Butt, who Wells had met on an online dating site, was going through a psychotic episode that began in November 2020.
Evidence presented to the court strongly suggested that the defendant’s mental decline was the result of heavy drug and alcohol abuse, with Butt previously telling a friend that he was “stuck in a loop of never-ending acid trips.”
Prosecutors stated on the day of the murder, Butt had traveled to Gatwick Airport, where he decided he should behead Wells and use the apple of her eye as a ticket to get through a “portal.”
It was his constant delusions that led him to believe that women were “evil,” which led to Mary’s tragic death, when Butt launched the unprovoked attack on her at their Colchester home that night.
A text he sent to a friend after the attack said he had just “killed a demon,” the court heard, and he later told prison staff, “You don’t know what it’s like to kill your girlfriend, I’m a sample’.
Paramedics were called to the property but tragically they were unable to save Mrs. Wells’ life
Judge Christopher Morgan concluded: ‘If you are taking drugs voluntarily and it triggers a psychotic episode, then it shows that you have the ability to kill another human being.
“This was a particularly brutal attack on a young woman. She must have been terrified,” he added.
Mary was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and lived in Dallastown, Philadelphia, where she graduated from high school.
Mary’s family, who lives in the United States, then paid tribute, calling Mary a “smart” woman after she graduated from Dallastown High School, adding: “She wanted to excel in life and will be loved and missed by all .’
A tribute shared on a fundraising page after her death to get her body back to the US read: ‘Mary was so kind and selfless, she would give someone the shirt off her back. Mary was quiet and didn’t ask much.
“She wasn’t the kind of person who likes to fight or argue. She was very shy.
“Mary had a rough few years. She lost her mother to health problems and lost her grandmother, who took care of her after her mother died two years ago.’
Detective Sergeant Michael Ferguson, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said:
“My thoughts and condolences are very much with Mary’s family at this time.
“This was a tragic incident that claimed the life of a young woman who had everything to look forward to and who should have been able to experience everything that life had to offer for many years to come.”
Adam Butt was convicted under section 45A of the Mental Health Act 1983.