Who is Shaye Groves? British woman guilty of killing Portsmouth boyfriend Frankie Fitzgerald at Botley Drive, Leigh Park in Havant

Shaye Groves was on Friday found guilty of murdering her Portsmouth boyfriend Frankie Fitzgerald by stabbing him in the chest and neck. The 27-year-old British woman had portraits of serial killers on her bedroom walls.

Also read | Who was Brianna Ghey? 16-year-old trans girl stabbed, murdered in Warrington Park

Groves was convicted of killing the 22-year-old Fitzgerald in her own home at Botley Drive, Leigh Park in Havant in July 2022. Prosecutors said she stabbed him after he allegedly spoke with a 13-year-old girl on Facebook. However, the 27-year-old pled not guilty to the murder charge, claiming self-defense.

When asked if she had the capability to do harm by the prosecution, she replied “No, I’m a self-harmer so I harm myself before I hurt others.”

“I don’t get violent…I have snapped but it is not an everyday thing,” The News reported.

Groves attacked her victim on July 17 of last year out of jealousy after learning the victim had been texting a 13-year-old girl on Facebook, the prosecution’s Steven Perian KC told the jury, as per BBC.

“The killing of Frankie Fitzgerald is very likely to be a crime of passion driven by her jealousy,” the barrister said.

Also read | Who is Taylor Schabusinesses? Murder suspect accused beheading boyfriend, attacks own lawyer in court

According to the testimony, Groves informed authorities on patrol that Fitzgerald had attempted to attack her. 

Perian claimed that Groves presented herself to a friend as a victim of sexual assault using information learned from documentaries. 

She provided the friend with modified videos of the two having sex, but the prosecution insisted that the film demonstrated was genuine and that everything was consensual. The duo had a shared interest in BDSM, the jury was told, and they were seen having sex on video in the defendant’s bedroom at her house in Havant, Hampshire.

“Their sex life involved bondage, dominance, submission and masochism – in short form, BDSM,” Perian said according to Mirror UK. “It is very likely she was obsessed with Frankie Fitzgerald because of his performance in the bedroom.”

The Prosecution claims that the defendant was familiar with crime scenes, how to fabricate a story, and how to fabricate an alibi because she read about murders and watched murder programmes, Perian continued.

“She deliberately set up a false narrative of being abused by Frankie Fitzgerald, a false alibi she sent to Vicky Baitup and was cleaning the crime scene having watched these documentaries,” he said as reported by BBC.

Vikki Baitup stated during her testimony that the alleged killer called her while “giggling away” after the attack. She revealed that Groves said, “I’ve done him,” while pointing the camera at Fitzgerald’s body, according to The Daily Mail.

She then called the police, who showed up at Groves’ house and discovered a “very strong” bleach odour in the bedroom.

According to post-mortem examinations, Fitzgerald had 17 stab wounds to his chest that were sustained when he was dying from a knife wound to his neck, causing “catastrophic blood loss.”