A woman who filmed herself killing a cat before putting the animal in a blender has been found guilty of murdering a man four months later.
Warning: This story contains descriptions and an image that readers may find distressing
Scarlet Blake, 25, live-streamed the dissection of a family pet to New Order’s 1987 hit True Faith after watching a Netflix documentary called Don’t F*** With Cats.
In the programme, Luka Magnotta kills kittens before filming a murder while the same song plays in the background.
Prosecutors said Blake, who is transgender, had a “fixation with violence” and found Jorge Martin Carreno, 30, while searching the streets of Oxford looking for someone to kill in the early hours of 25 July 2021.
The body of the BMW factory worker, a Spanish national who was walking home alone after a night out with work colleagues, was found in the River Cherwell at Parson’s Pleasure around 24 hours later.
Oxford Crown Court heard a murder investigation was launched two years later when Blake’s former partner Ashlynn Bell, who lives in the US, told detectives Blake had confessed to killing Mr Martin Carreno using a homemade garrote.
Blake pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage over killing the cat but denied murdering Mr Martin Carreno by inflicting blows to his head before trying to strangle him and then putting him in the river where he drowned.
Four months before his death she used food and a crate to capture a cat and take it to her home where she killed it.
In the video, in which Blake dissects the animal, removing the fur and skin, she says: “Here we go my little friend. Oh boy, you smell like shit. I can’t wait to put through the blender.”
Prosecutors said it showed she had a “disturbing interest in what it would be like to harm a living creature”.
“It was an interest that went beyond mere fantasy,” Alison Morgan KC told jurors, who were also shown videos of Blake and a partner engaging in consensual strangulation with ligatures.
“She described herself to others as being someone who derived sexual gratification from the thought of violence and the thought of death,” said the prosecutor.
CCTV footage shows Mr Martin Carreno trying to find his way home, while Blake walked the streets, wearing a facemask and distinctive combat-style jacket with hood over her head, while carrying a rucksack.
“He died because he encountered the defendant on that night,” said Ms Morgan.
“He died because he met a person who had a fixation with violence and with knowing what it would feel like to kill someone.”
Blake, who was born in China and came to the UK aged nine, blamed Ms Bell for making her kill the cat.
She said Mr Martin Carreno was still alive when she left him at the riverbank and she had made up details of killing him to please her ex-partner after seeing his death in the news.
“I told Ashlynn that I killed that person, I made up the details in a dramatic way,” she said.
“I told her I used a garrote that I made to try and remove the person’s head but it was more difficult than I would have imagined and then I dumped the body in the river which is what they are now pulling out.”
‘Full of passion and kindness’
Mr Martin Carreno’s family paid tribute to “an extraordinary being full of passion and kindness” who was one of three triplet brothers.
“Today his absence leaves a deep wound in our hearts,” they said in a statement. “His life was stolen, cutting short his projects and dreams.”
“This tribute is a reminder of Jorge but also a call to justice. There can be no peace until justice is served. We ask not only for justice for him but also for protection to prevent other people, other families, from suffering the immense pain caused by such cruel and senseless murders.”
Thames Valley Police detective superintendent Jon Capps said several aspects of the case were “truly disturbing to see, hear and deal with”.
“This defendant showed calculated cruelty. The acts Blake has been convicted of are barbaric and chilling. The murder was premeditated with total disregard and distain for life,” he added.