Torbjorn Kettlewell has been jailed for life for murdering his ex, who he pestered to have a threesome with him and his new partner
A sex-obsessed killer who named himself after a video game warrior has been jailed for at least 29 years for recruiting his lover to help him murder his ex.
Torbjorn Kettlewell stabbed Kelly Franklin, the mother of his three children, 32 times in a brutal attack near her home in Hartlepool in August.
He was helped by his new partner Julie Wass after pestering the victim to have a threesome with them before the horrific attack.
Ms Franklin had finally broken free from her abusive partner after 12 miserable years when the ‘monster’ stabbed her to death, her family said.
Kettlewell, 30, was today handed a life sentence and will not be able to apply for parole for 29 years. Wass was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of manslaughter and assisting an offender.
Hospital records said Kettlewell showed signs of ‘hyper-sexuality’, had the constant urge to have sex and was prescribed medication to reduce his sex drive.
Female medical centre workers were told not to see him alone as he appeared ‘superficially charming’ and used flattery, but was described as controlling.
Victim Kelly Franklin (left) was seen, right, at a bus stop minutes before she was murdered
Kettlewell would go to clubs alone in search of sex and boasted that he would usually be invited to join groups of women within minutes.
He modelled himself after Torbjorn Lindholm, a Swedish ‘warrior dwarf’ from the video game Overwatch, who designs weapons systems.
Kettlewell, who was also obsessed with guns, knives and the army, changed his name by deed poll from Ian to Torbjorn and insisted he be called by his assumed name.
Kelly’s sister Stacy Franklin reduced him to tears as she launched a blistering attack on him in the courtroom.
She said: ‘Kelly had moved on from you Ian, she no longer wanted a creature like you in her life, no longer wanted or needed you, in fact she never even spoke about you.
‘She rid you like a nasty virus that had plagued her life for over 12 years. She was always so much better off without you. She was always the better person, kind, caring, thoughtful and loving, a person like you never deserved her. Why couldn’t you just let her go and live her life and be happy?’
CCTV shows Kettlewell walking the streets of Hartlepool looking for Ms Franklin in August
She continued: ‘She was the mother of your children. Have you thought about them, how they are, what they have lost? They are flourishing without you.
‘Your own children hate you for what you have done. You will never be forgiven and any memory they have if you will fade into oblivion.’
Kettlewell’s new partner, Julie Wass, was jailed for helping him carry out the killing
Turning to Julie Wass, who worked as a nurse, she said: ‘You are a mother and grandmother, you were supposed to be her friend, you will never understand how disgusting and heartless your actions have been.’
Wass stared back at her showing no emotion.
Kettlewell, 30, had become obsessed with the notion that Kelly, 29, had moved on from him after they split and that she was seeing other men.
So he recruited Julie Wass, 48, an older lover who was ‘in his thrall’ to help him take revenge.
On August 3 last year Wass and Kettlewell walked around the streets of Hartlepool looking for Kelly and she watched without trying to help as he plunged a knife into her over and over again, causing ‘catastrophic’ blood loss.
She had her car parked nearby and sat with the engine revving waiting until he had finished and then drove him away to woodland on the edge of the town where he planned to hide out while the police were looking for him.
Kettlewell changed his first name to that of a cartoon character from a game called Overwatch
Kelly and Kettlewell had three children who were taken into care in 2017 after he shot the youngest child in the face whilst cleaning a powerful air rifle at home.
The fall out from the incident saw the couple split by the beginning of 2018 and Kettlewell moved into a flat two miles away.
He then had two lovers, Julie Wass, and another woman, Corinne Hunter, seeing them both at the same time.
Prosecutor Jamie Hill said: ‘This is a classic and terrible case of a defendant who decided ‘if I cannot have her then nobody else will.’