A schoolgirl accused of helping her boyfriend knife a dinner lady and her 13-year-old daughter to death later told police she had 'felt like murdering for quite a while'.
The teenager, aged 14 at the time, said the killings 'just sort of happened' despite it being alleged the couple planned them at a McDonald's restaurant the night before.
Jurors heard that in a police interview the girl told officers she had wanted to murder Elizabeth and Katie Edwards herself, but she was put off by the smell of their blood.
She added: 'A gun would have been easier but we don't have any really in this country... the knife was a better solution.'
A court heard she reached out to grab the hand of Ms Edwards, 49, as her teenage boyfriend held a pillow over the church-goer's face. He had stabbed the mother in the neck and there were blood splatters up the wall, jurors were told.
The bodies of 49-year-old dinner lady Elizabeth Edwards and her 13-year-old daughter Katie, (both pictured in 2014) were found at an address in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on April 15 this year
The dinner lady and her daughter Katie died 'within moments' of each other on April 13 after a boy crept into their rooms armed with an eight-inch kitchen knife and repeatedly stabbed them in the throat, it was said.
The girl, now 15, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. She said: 'If I was a lot stronger and a bit more mentally capable I would have murdered them.
'But I don't think I could myself take away all of their thoughts and dreams and memories. I don't think I could ever take that away from someone myself.'
The court heard the teenagers later fell asleep watching Twilight films together.
The girl added in interview: 'We took a bath so we would feel clean and refreshed and wouldn't smell of blood.
'I like Twilight and I said: "Why don't we watch it?" because I thought he might like it as well.
'He said I should eat something. I didn't really feel like it but I had ice cream and toasted tea cakes then we started watching the third Twilight film.
'I feel OK (about the murders). We made sure we were both definitely OK with it and he continuously asked me if I wanted to go through with it and I said "yes". I said the same to him. It just kind of happened.'
A court heard the couple planned to kill themselves with pills and the girl left a suicide note which read: 'F*** you, world. I want to be cremated and want our ashes scattered at our special place.'
The court heard Katie (left) was also smothered with a pillow and wrapped in a sheet because the girl 'did not like the smell of blood' that had splattered the walls. Ms Edwards is right
The pair - who were both 14 at the time and cannot be named for legal reasons - took a 20-minute bath together after the killings before binge-watching vampire romance film series Twilight, it was said.
The teenage boy has pleaded guilty to two counts of murder.
The girl - also 15 - has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to her 'mental condition at the time'.
The first witness for the defence was child psychiatrist Dr Indranit Chakrabarti.
He told the court that, in his opinion, the 'polite and softly-spoken' girl was suffering from an abnormality of the mind in the form of an adjustment disorder when he assessed her after the killings.
Dr Chakrabart said of the girl: 'She said she had now moved on and realised that (the other defendant) might not have been the right person for her.'
The disorder suffered by the girl was more likely than not to have impaired her ability to form rational judgments and to exercise self-control, the witness also said.
If I was a lot stronger and a bit more mentally capable I would have murdered them
Teenage girl defendant
On the night of the killings, a jury was told the girl walked in while the boy was on top of Ms Edwards, touched her hand and asked 'Is she dead?'
She later told detectives she heard the victims try to scream 'get off me' after having their vocal chords cut.
The 13-year-old victim mumbled the words: 'I can't...' in a 'scary voice' which was 'all croaky', the court heard.
The girl claimed she 'felt like murdering for quite a while' and knives were 'the best solution' because they could not get hold of a gun.
She told officers in an interview she had 'been a disaster from day one' and felt like 'an emotional train wreck'.
She said she did not have the 'mental or physical' strength to commit murder herself but was 'OK' with what happened.
The teenagers had planned the killings during regular walks along a riverbank and discussed in detail how they would target the victims' necks, jurors heard.
The plot started as a 'joke' but allegedly quickly 'escalated' when the teenagers realised they 'both wanted it'.
The girl was supposed to kill one of them but backed out at the last moment because she 'couldn't take their dreams away', a court heard.
Police discovered the bodies after forcing their way inside Ms Edwards' semi-detached home in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on April 15 - 36 hours after the killings - and the teenagers were later arrested.
Ms Edwards' older daughter, Mary, (pictured left with her partner) arrives at court for the first day of the murder trial, along with Ms Edward's partner Graham Green (right)
Peter Edwards, father of Katie Edwards, arrives at Nottingham Crown Court today
She appeared in the glass-panelled dock at Nottingham Crown Court wearing a grey cardigan, black leggings and spectacles flanked by a female security guard.
She kept her head bowed as transcripts of her first two police interviews - carried out under caution at Grantham Police Station on April 16 - were read to the court.
The girl told police: 'He went into her (Elizabeth's) room, she was lying on her side and he stabbed her through the neck.
'I heard her kick out and gurgling.
'I went into the room to see what was going on because I heard noises and I wanted to check he was OK.
'He was on top of her with a pillow over her head. I think I heard her say "get off me". There was blood on her and on the bed, there were four blood spatters on the wall and he told me to shut the door. All I could see was her shoulder and arms. She was struggling.
'She reached out her hand so I grabbed it and kind of held it. As I realised it was her hand I instantly drew my hand back and got into a cradle position.
Following the deaths relatives of the victims paid tribute on social media sites - with a teenage friend of Katie describing her as being 'like a sister' and Ms Edwards as a second mother
'I sat on the floor next to the door and said to myself: "Breathe", as I was about to have a panic attack. My legs were shaking.
'Then I walked back and forth and said: "It's going to be OK, keep calm. It's going to be over soon".'
'After about ten minutes of putting his weight on her she was dead. She had kind of gone limp and wasn't struggling anymore but she was still making gurgling sounds. I think I said: "Is she dead?"
'It was a blur, it happened really quickly. He checked her pulse then he took off his shoes so he wouldn't make a noise and went into the other bedroom.
'I didn't want to see anymore so I went in the bathroom. I saw him go into her (Katie's) room with the knife and think I heard her say "get off me" and "I can't" but she couldn't say the word "breathe".
Ms Edwards' daughter Mary Cottingham (pictured), 27, wrote on Facebook at the time of the killings: 'I'm still in shock, can't believe they are gone. I love them so much'
'He used his full body weight and covered her face with a pillow. When he came out he had blood on his face and hands and on his jumper.'
The court heard the teenagers later fell asleep watching Twilight films together.
The girl added in interview: 'We took a bath so we would feel clean and refreshed and wouldn't smell of blood.
'I like Twilight and I said: "Why don't we watch it?" because I thought he might like it as well.
'He said I should eat something. I didn't really feel like it but I had ice cream and toasted tea cakes then we started watching the third Twilight film.
'I feel OK (about the murders). We made sure we were both definitely OK with it and he continuously asked me if I wanted to go through with it and I said "yes". I said the same to him. It just kind of happened.
'If I was a lot stronger and a bit more mentally capable I would have murdered them.
'But I don't think I could myself take away all of their thoughts and dreams and memories. I don't think I could ever take that away from someone myself.'
The jury previously heard the pair had been plotting the 'cold, calculating and callous' murders for several days and went over their plan at a McDonald's restaurant the night before the killings.
They agreed to stab them through the throat to damage their voice boxes so they would be unable to scream for help.
Mr Joyce said the boy pinned Ms Edwards down on the bed 'by kneeling astride her' and 'almost completely cut through her windpipe'. She was found lying on her blood-soaked mattress and there were 'spatters' on the wall and floor.
Katie was discovered in her bed and had been covered with a sheet because the girl 'did not like the smell' of her blood.
Tributes to the two victims have been left at the scene. Ms Edwards, described as 'happy and smiling' by parents at the primary school where she worked
She had two stab wounds to her neck which a pathologist said had been inflicted with 'severe force'.
Officers found the blood-stained murder weapon on a table in the 13-year-old's room and a backpack containing three smaller knives in the bathroom.
Following the tragedy, the victims' relatives paid tribute on social media - with a teenage friend of Katie describing her as being 'like a sister' and Ms Edwards as a second mother.
The popular dinner lady - known as Liz - was described as 'happy and smiling' by parents at St Paul's Community Primary School and Nursery where she worked.
Her eldest daughter Mary Cottingham, 27, wrote on Facebook at the time: 'I'm still in shock, can't believe they are gone. I love them so much, I need my mum.
'Gone too soon but will never be forgotten. I love you both.'
Katie's father, Peter Edwards, 43 - who was separated from her mother - said: 'The loved ones around us will keep us strong every step of the way.'
Ms Edwards' partner, Graham Green, wrote on his Facebook page: 'My babe has gone but you will always be in my heart forever and ever and ever.'
Speaking at the time of the deaths, Reverend Mike Chesher of St Paul's Parish Church - where Ms Edwards ran a choir and drama classes - said: 'I don't know how we'll manage without her because she's just brilliant - such a genuine, committed person of such integrity.
'It is such a horrible shock.'
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