A TRANSGENDER woman and her 21-year-old boyfriend who practised their twisted torture on a "fetish" Barbie doll before murdering their friend have been jailed for life.
Harrowing images of the naked doll, which had been gagged and bound, were released following the sentencing of evil Kayleigh Woods, 23, who was born a boy, and Jack Williams.
The twisted pair bound Bethany Hill's wrists with duct tape before slashing her throat for a "sadistic" thrill before slitting her jugular vein for their own "perverted pleasure".
Tragic Bethany was found drenched in her own blood in the bathroom of the Stratford-Upon-Avon home she shared with the couple on February 3 last year.
Woods and Williams were both caged for life with a minimum of 26 years at Warwick Crown Court today after being found guilty of murder.
A jury convicted the pair after less than two days following a three-week trial.
Sentencing the pair, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones said: "Kayleigh Woods and Jack Williams you have both been found guilty of murdering a young woman, Bethany Hill, who was vulnerable and needed help.
"The circumstances of the killing demonstrates a complicated, emotional chemistry.
"There is the possibility that the motivation for this killing may have had a sexual aspect.
"The evidence that supports that is the doll, the duct tape and the complicated relationship between the defendants and the deceased.
"I'm unable to say which of the defendants was a controlling force, if there was a controlling force.
"The evidence compels me to this being a sadistic killing."
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During the trial, jurors heard that the evil couple had a naked Barbie doll, which had been gagged and bound with tape with its hair coloured in to resemble Bethany's.
After the sentencing, police released a picture of a naked Barbie doll which had been gagged and bound with tape with its hair coloured in to resemble Miss Hills
During the trial jurors were told the doll belonged to Woods and was found in a box she had given to her grandmother Kathleen Brain to keep in her attic.
Giving evidence, Mrs Brain said Woods told her Williams had put the marks and gaffer tape strips on the doll's wrists and feet.
The couple killed their friend sometime between 1am and 6am before trying to cover their tracks by saying she had drank bleach and committed suicide.
Prosecutor Stephen Linehan QC said the "sadistic killing" may have been carried out for "perverted pleasure".
He told the court Bethany's body was discovered after Woods dialled 999 telling the operator: "Well, my best friend is dead in my flat."
Mr Linehan told jurors: "What she was saying was that her friend had killed herself while she was out of the flat and that she had returned to find blood everywhere, and that she had cleaned up the flat before making that telephone call.
"All of these things were lies. Bethany Hill had not died as a result of cutting herself - she had been brutally, brutally murdered."
Woods' lies unravelled after officers found she had broken and thrown away her sim card card before throwing her phone down a drain.
She also attempted to dispose of her victim's mobile by placing it in a sanitary towel bin in the toilets of a police station after she had been taken there.
Bethany Hill had not died as a result of cutting herself - she had been brutally, brutally murdered
Prosecutor Stephen Linehan QCDuring the trial, the court heard Woods - who was born a boy called Kyle Lockwood - had met Bethany at Stratford College and they soon became best friends.
Woods was then introduced to dad-of-one Williams and had a sexual relationship with him, despite still having male genitals.
Before the brutal murder, the court heard Bethany had also moved into the flat using the bedroom, while Woods and Williams slept in the sitting room.
Bethany was said to have a "volatile" relationship with Woods.
Jurors were also told that at one stage before her death, Bethany was planning to get pregnant with a baby fathered by Woods.
After the case, Detective Inspector Neal Candelent, from Warwickshire Police, said: "Bethany's murder was a cold-blooded killing of an entirely innocent young woman in the prime of her life, for which Woods and Williams have shown no remorse.
"We may never fully know what happened in the hours leading up to her death, but we know that Bethany was held against her will before being brutally murdered.
"I would like to pay tribute to Bethany's family. Throughout the initial investigation and in the weeks and months since, they have shown immense dignity and courage.
"I hope that they will be able to take comfort from the fact Woods and Williams will be behind bars and will not be able to cause harm to another family."
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