A mother whose daughter was stabbed 75 times in a frenzied attack by her stalker ex-boyfriend has revealed she is still haunted by the killer’s chilling words to police in which he warned ‘there’s more to come’.
Joshua Stimpson, from Wouldham, was jailed for life for the vicious murder of Molly McLaren in Chatham, Kent in 2017. He knifed her after following her to the gym, 12 days after she ended their seven-month relationship.
Molly, 23, had told friends she was ‘always looking over her shoulder’ after growing increasingly worried about Joshua following her and posting menacing messages on social media.
In tonight’s ITV2 documentary, The Murder of Molly McLaren: Social Media Murders, her mother Joanne becomes emotional as she recalls going to the police with her daughter to report Joshua’s disturbing behaviour.
A mother (pictured) whose daughter was stabbed 75 times in a frenzied attack by her stalker ex-boyfriend has revealed she is still haunted by the killer’s chilling words to police in which he warned ‘there’s more to come’
Joshua Stimpson, from Wouldham, was jailed for life for the vicious murder of Molly McLaren (pictured together) in Chatham, Kent in 2017
Stimpson, who was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 26 years behind bars, had posted menacing messages about Molly on Facebook before he attacked her at a retail park.
Molly had twice contacted police about her ex’s behaviour, the second time less than a week before her death, but he ignored officers’ warnings to leave her alone.
Recalling the moment they contacted the police, Joanne says: ‘I came home and I said to Molly, right we’re going to take this one step further.
‘We’ll go to the police. They took us both into a room, Molly told them all about it and they said: “Right, we need to speak to Josh.”
‘They made the phone call. He was very cool, very calm, very collective, in fact came across quite cold, and the police told him that he must stop what he was doing, if he didn’t stop, they would have to come and arrest him.
‘And he just kept saying, repeating, “I’ve done nothing wrong, I’ve done nothing wrong, and if you think I have, there’s more to come”, and those words still haunt me now.’
Stimpson stabbed Molly (pictured together) after following her to the gym, 12 days after she ended their seven-month relationship
Joanne and Doug McLaren, left, were left devastated when their daughter Molly was murdered by Stimpson
Stimpson and Molly had been in a seven-month relationship since late 2016 after meeting on Tinder, but she ended it about two weeks before the fatal attack.
After they split, Stimpson began to post things about her online and follow her on nights out.
Molly confronted Stimpson after he followed her to the gym on June 29 2017 and tried to work out in the same room. She left the fitness club when her mother urged her to come home.
But Stimpson followed her into the car park and repeatedly stabbed her as she tried to drive off. CCTV showed him being arrested, covered in blood, after a passer-by bravely tried to stop the attack.
Molly was attacked in the driver’s seat of her Citroen as she tried to leave the area
Stimpson purchased a knife from Asda days before the frenzied attack on his ex-girlfriend, in which he stabbed her 75 times
Molly suffered at least 75 knife wounds and her throat was completely cut, Maidstone Crown Court heard.
Just minutes before the attack, she had messaged her friends telling them she was ‘looking over her shoulder all the time’ because of her obsessive ex.
Stimpson denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming he had a ‘borderline personality disorder’ after his parents split up when he was young.
Consultant Dr Shahid Majid said Stimpson had a ‘hypersensitivity to any rejection’ after his parents separated and, when his relationship with Miss McLaren ended, he switched to trying to ‘control, frighten and harm her’.
A jury rejected Stimpson’s (pictured) claims of diminished responsibility due to bipolar disorder and convicted him of murder in February 2018
But prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC argued that Stimpson had ‘carefully considered the execution of Molly’ and his actions before her death showed he was ‘following her movements, waiting for the moment that he has chosen to kill her’.
Two previous girlfriends of Stimpson told how he stalked them after they split from him.
Alexandra Dale said he would follow her and take pictures of her, asking why she was wearing certain clothes. He also sent her a photo of her back garden and threatened to drown her on holiday.
Another of his ex-girlfriends, Leah Hubbard, said he spat drink all over her in a nightclub after they split, then waited outside for hours for her to leave.
A jury rejected Stimpson’s claims of diminished responsibility due to bipolar disorder and convicted him of murder in February 2018.
The Murder of Molly McLaren: Social Media Murders, tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITV Hub
From meeting on Tinder to murder: How Joshua Stimpson grew obsessed with Molly McLaren after couple split
July 2016 – Molly McLaren, from Cobham in Kent, and Joshua Stimpson, from nearby Wouldham, meet on Tinder and start talking.
November – The pair meet in person for the first time.
March 2017 – They spend time apart after Ms McLaren decides she wants to end their relationship.
Stimpson was pictured buying a knife as he planned the horrific knife attack
June 17 – Ms McLaren tells Stimpson their relationship is over during a night out in Maidstone.
June 19 – A relative tells Ms McLaren Stimpson has been posting derogatory messages about her on Facebook claiming she has been taking drugs.
June 20 – Ms McLaren applies for a job as a receptionist at Nuffield Gym in Medway Valley Park.
June 21 – Ms McLaren tells a friend in a WhatsApp message that she is scared of Stimpson.
June 22 – Ms McLaren and her mother Joanne go to North Kent Police Station to report the messages. An officer calls Stimpson in their presence and tells him to stop or risk prosecution.
June 27 – Stimpson joins the same gym where Ms McLaren applied to work.
– He is spoken to for a second time by police when the messages continue.
– At 5pm he buys a Sabatier paring knife from Asda in Chatham. He buys a Saxon pickaxe from the nearby Homebase 24 minutes later.
June 28 – Ms McLaren posts a selfie on Instagram about her plans for a night out before going to the Ship and Trades pub in Chatham. Stimpson is spotted staring at her and her friends from the smoking area.
Stimpson followed Miss McLaren to a pub after she posted this picture on Instagram saying where she was going
June 29 – 10.06am. Ms McLaren arrives at the Dockside retail outlet in Chatham for a workout at PureGym.
– 10.25am. Stimpson arrives and enters the same workout studio as Ms McLaren, placing his mat near to hers. CCTV shows him pacing up and down the stairs before going into the studio.
– 10.45am. Ms McLaren texts her mother and says: ‘Mum he’s turned up at the gym and come next to me.’
– 10.54am. She calls her mother and is told to go straight home and drive safely.
– 10.57am. Stimpson leaves the gym. Ms McLaren leaves three minutes later.
– 11.02am. In her last ever message, Ms McLaren tells friends on WhatsApp: ‘Feel like I’m f****** looking over my shoulder all the time.’
– 11.03am. Witnesses dial 999 as Stimpson yanks the door of the university student’s car open and launches into the frenzied attack while she is inside. Passerby Benjamin Morton tries to stop him but Stimpson continues, stabbing her more than 75 times with the kitchen knife he bought just days before.
– He is arrested moments later when police find him pacing up and down by the car covered in blood. The knife and pickaxe are seized from his car.
– He replies ‘no comment’ when interviewed by police.
June 30 – Stimpson is charged with murder.
January 23, 2018 – Stimpson stands trial at Maidstone Crown Court after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility but denying murder.
February 6 – A jury unanimously finds Stimpson guilty of murder.