00:00:06
in
00:00:07
2014 in a suburb of Dublin a brief
00:00:10
romance between Sonia blunt and Eric
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Loch went sour setting off a chain of
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events that would end with Sonia's
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violent
00:00:18
death this was a brutal awful murder it
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was rage fueled furious at being
00:00:27
rejected lock became obsessed with
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getting Sonia back and he was going to
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do that by hook or by crook whether
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Sonia wanted it or not he brought cable
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ties at the Stanley knife duct tape the
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imitation gun after taking Sonia's life
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Eric Lo threw off all responsibility for
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his terrible crime the defense really
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argued for his mental disorder it was a
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momentary Insanity I never meant to do
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it despite his attempts to play the
00:00:58
victim Eric lock depraved actions mean
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that he will forever be known as one of
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the world's most evil
00:01:16
[Music]
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killers in May 2017 Eric Loch was jailed
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for the murder of his colleagues Sonia
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blunt the 35-year-old had vied Sonia to
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a hotel room in Dublin and ended her
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life after pretending to be someone else
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online lock was a Lonely Heart's worst
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nightmare the person that you're meeting
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may not be the person that they say that
00:01:46
they are but it could be somebody
00:01:47
deceiving you and then you could end up
00:01:49
in a situation where you're murdered or
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killed I think that's what's scary about
00:01:53
it 31-year-old Sonia thought she'd done
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enough to keep herself safe but she'd
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not reckoned on the determination and
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evil intent of Eric lock he has been
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online he has changed his identity a new
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profile on social media he pretended to
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be somebody else so that he could have
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access to her he had no intention of
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leaving there that night without having
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hurt her that was the
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plan Sonia blunt was a single mother
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simply looking for love killer Eric
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deceived and manipulated her in pursuit
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of Revenge and
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retribution this killer Story begins in
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the spring of 1982 6 miles west of
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Dublin City
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Center Eric luck was from St John's Park
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East in kundan in County Dublin quite a
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small community and he was born to a
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very good family lock grew up with his
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parents and sister in the workingclass
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town it was an ordinary childhood that
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though Lo's mother and father had
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concerns from time to time about their
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son's state of mind he had been
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hyperactive as a child and his parents
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had sought treatment for him he was
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noticed by his family at a young age to
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be interested in lining up things and
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making lists and they were concerned
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about him but he was never diagnosed
00:03:22
with
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[Music]
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anything and he also said that he was
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some object of of ridicule because of a
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deformity on his penis when Eric lock
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was born his urethra was on the the
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underside of his penis and there was a
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surgical attempt to correct it but it
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was unsuccessful so then he was left
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with both the deformity itself and the
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scarring and he didn't know about this
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really until he was teased in the
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showers after PE class when he was 12 or
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13 years of age and after after that he
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always felt different whether because of
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his issues in his teenage years or for
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some other reason those who knew Eric L
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in his 20s noticed something a little
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unusual about the way he interacted with
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the opposite sex I think one person said
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of Eric CL that he was weird about women
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he had no problem getting girls he was a
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quite a good-look man objectively but he
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never could hold on to them and nobody
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ever knew much about his Rel
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relationships one friend described him
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as Charming but Dead behind the eyes
00:04:36
Eric lock was definitely an odd person
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but he didn't seem to be a dangerous
00:04:41
person he had no History of Violence or
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any police history at all after
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graduating from college Lo entered the
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world of work and enjoyed socializing
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with friends and colleagues he was a
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football player as a Young Man a
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Manchester United supporter some people
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say he did a bit of
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modeling whether it's true I'm I'm not
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sure but certainly he was you know
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upright and you know throughout his 20s
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didn't really make much of an impression
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on anyone he just had an ordinary life
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in 2013 31-year-old Eric lock was single
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and living with his parents in
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clondalkin when he got a new job at a
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glue manufacturer 4 miles away in
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talor this is where he met the woman who
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would soon become the focus of the dark
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side he'd so far managed to keep under
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wraps Lo worked with a number of people
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in a daily course of his employment and
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one such person he worked with was Sonia
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blunt she was a 31-year-old lady from
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the tala
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area they caught each other's eye at
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work and um there were rumors around
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work that they they fancied each other
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and they did go on a few dates
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31-year-old Sonia had worked at the
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manufacturing PL for about 10 years when
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she met new employee Loch Sonia was
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brought up in T at Southwest of Dublin
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Center one of five was a close family
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the parents separated but it was still
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amicable the eldest of five children
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Sonia was known as a caring sister and
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daughter with a strong circle of friends
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she'd studied Child Care at College
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before starting her career at the Manu
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facturing plant Sonia was also a devoted
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single mother with a toddler son from an
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unhappy long-term relationship that had
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broken down in the Autumn of
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2013 he was
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domineering and she had gotten away from
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that
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relationship the man had left the
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country and she really was beginning to
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enjoy life again at that stage cuz she
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wasn't looking for a serious
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relationship in December 2013 Sonia
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blunt and Eric L started spending time
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together outside of work the romance
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however was short and not particularly
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sweet I think lock was to say later we
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were never boyfriend girlfriend it was
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just a sort of they went a number of
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dates early in January
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2014 Sonia and Eric lock go on a date
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together it's a gig so far so normal at
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some point in the night Sonia decided to
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go out and have a
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cigarette ultimately Lo was a bit
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suspicious she was gone for 20 minutes
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and this seemed to upset him after a
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while Lo came out looking for her and
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she was talking to other people
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including males and he called her a [ __ ]
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Furious lock berated Sonia for daring to
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chat with other men basically accusing
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her of flirting very gendered slurs so
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that incident actually is probably the
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biggest red flag you can have from
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anyone who's going to become a problem
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for you in the relationship and she
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didn't like it and she was upset by it
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horrified at the dark turn the date had
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taken Sonia left telling Lo that the
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romance was over as he took a taxi home
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a few hours later a drunk and apparently
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remorseful Lo tried to take back his
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verbal
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attack he was just hounding her by text
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message and just begging her to to let
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him see her and explain it and she said
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there's no need to explain it Sonia
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explained to in the messages that she
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knew he was a nice person however she
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couldn't accept being spoken to in that
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manner over the next couple of days Eric
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log bombarded Sonia blunt with dozens of
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messages demanding a second chance Sonia
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asked him repeatedly to stop but the
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text kept coming peppering her with
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excuses for his jealousy and aggression
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he did acknowledge the only reason that
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he reacted in this way was because he
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was insecure and that Sonia hadn't told
00:08:58
him that he was effective this was
00:09:01
surprising to Sonia that he would react
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in this way or seek this type of
00:09:05
approval Sonia had only had a couple of
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dates with him this kind of behavior
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after a relationship breakup is not
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about love it's actually about
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possession an inability to take any kind
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of rejection at all and it can become
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really quite dangerous quite quickly
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Sonia found Eric Lock's respon on
00:09:29
surprising even alarming but it was only
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the beginning on the 13th of January 3
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days after their disastrous date he
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walked out in the middle of his shift he
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stopped answering his phone or replying
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to co-workers messages about his
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whereabouts Sonia being the caring and
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and kind and considerate person that she
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was sent him a text to say oh we're
00:09:56
worried about you is everything okay but
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he didn't resp sponge until the
00:10:00
following day and he said that he was in
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a hotel room and that he had a rope and
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that he was sorry it was at this time
00:10:06
that Sonia decided to contact the G
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Sonia was worried sick she had no idea
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what this desperate volatile man might
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be capable of doing the guarde were able
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to trace Lock's phone to a hotel room
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and when they got there he said that it
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was just a joke however the guardy
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didn't believe him and weren't convinced
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so they arrested him under the mental
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health act he was then hos
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hospitalized he discharged himself later
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that day and she stayed in touch with
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him her text messages to him were more
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of a caring nature after that asking him
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to get help encouraging him to get help
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she was extremely worried and her friend
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said she wasn't sleeping or
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eating Sonia felt terrible about the way
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things had turned out which is perhaps
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exactly what Eric Lo
00:11:00
intended Sonia was such a gentle and
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kind and soul that she was looking after
00:11:05
his best interests and he exploited that
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instead of appreciating it for what it
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was he is looking for anything that will
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get her back it's like having a like
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little tool box right well I'm going to
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pull this tool out the begging and cry
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let's see if that works and if that
00:11:25
doesn't work then we'll go to something
00:11:26
else
00:11:29
for homicide expert Professor Jane
00:11:32
monton Smith Eric Lock's threats to take
00:11:35
his own life were not just ATT tactic
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they were also a warning sign of the
00:11:40
risk he posed to Sonia Blunt's
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life when I'm training police we always
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say if there's a threat to Suicide that
00:11:49
should be interpreted as a threat to
00:11:52
homicide Eric Lock's desperate text
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messages and disappearing tricks were
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just the beginning his pursuit of Sonia
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blunt would continue to escalate but
00:12:03
while Lo was planning his next move
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Sonia had been online and met someone
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new Sonia was contacted on social media
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by a guy called Shane Cully and they
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started messaging and he seemed
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completely different from Eric lock and
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was there was a bit of fun a bit of
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banter back and forth and she just went
00:12:27
with it
00:12:29
Sonia wants to find something maybe it's
00:12:33
friendship maybe it's
00:12:35
romance one can't be absolutely sure but
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I can be incredibly sympathetic cuz I
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can understand exactly how she must have
00:12:42
felt they're getting along quite well
00:12:45
he's proposing to go on a date initially
00:12:47
Sonia had some concerns she was worried
00:12:49
that this could have been lock and
00:12:51
essentially catfishing her so she asked
00:12:54
Shane cly to send her a selfie she
00:12:56
wanted to be completely assured that
00:12:58
this wasn't luck pretending to be
00:12:59
somebody else the young mother ignored
00:13:02
her own misgivings and brushed off the
00:13:04
fears of those who'd witnessed her
00:13:06
ordeal with luck and even when she was
00:13:09
telling the story to her coworker about
00:13:13
this guy she was going to meet uh the
00:13:15
cooworker said are you sure that's not
00:13:17
Eric lock pretending to be someone else
00:13:20
that's the kind of guy he was that uh
00:13:24
they suspected that of him and she
00:13:26
assured her well I I thought that but I
00:13:28
actually got a selfie from him it's not
00:13:31
him and they started to send each other
00:13:33
RIS game
00:13:34
messages and eventually they agreed to
00:13:37
meet up in a hotel room it was something
00:13:41
unusual for her but it was after
00:13:43
Valentine's Day perhaps feeling slightly
00:13:45
lonely and decided to spend the night
00:13:47
with him Sonia blunt had never before
00:13:50
arranged a romantic encounter with a
00:13:52
stranger in a hotel but she pushed her
00:13:56
nerves aside and set a date to meet
00:13:59
cly while Sonia did her best to move on
00:14:03
Eric Loch was persisting in his campaign
00:14:06
of emotional blackmail he accused her of
00:14:08
blanking him at work and said that she
00:14:13
was spreading rumors that he was
00:14:14
stalking her and she replied well I
00:14:17
haven't heard those rumors but I would
00:14:20
appreciate if you'd stop staring at me
00:14:22
at work because it is making me feel
00:14:25
uncomfortable Sonia had been through bad
00:14:29
break up before she had seen probably
00:14:32
the kind of behaviors that lock was
00:14:34
displaying you know that possessiveness
00:14:36
that
00:14:38
control it must have been very difficult
00:14:40
for Sonia on a day-to-day basis coming
00:14:42
in and wondering how am I going to deal
00:14:44
with him today what form is he going to
00:14:46
be in today have to thread the needle uh
00:14:49
be nice to him uh but not give him the
00:14:51
wrong signals Sonia was so uncomfortable
00:14:55
with Lock's behavior that she considered
00:14:57
asking to change shifts so that she
00:14:59
would no longer cross paths with him her
00:15:02
former love interest seemed hellbent on
00:15:05
pressuring her into submission Sonia
00:15:08
confided in one of her friends she said
00:15:09
that he was freaking her out it was at
00:15:11
this time that Sonia decided it was time
00:15:13
to cut all contact with him and blocked
00:15:15
him on social media she wanted him to go
00:15:18
away she was probably quite frightened
00:15:21
of him at this point the trouble is when
00:15:24
you do something like that it just makes
00:15:28
them more Angry the mother of one
00:15:31
desperately hoped this would put an end
00:15:33
to a situation that had rapidly
00:15:36
escalated from Awkward to troubling to
00:15:39
downright scary but Sonia couldn't have
00:15:42
been more wrong on the 24th of
00:15:45
January Lo writes Sonia a letter quite
00:15:49
long again pleading for a
00:15:53
Reconciliation he was telling her how
00:15:55
sorry he was and how ashamed he was of
00:15:58
putting her in that position after
00:16:00
sending the suicide text but lower down
00:16:02
in the in the letter he would say things
00:16:06
like I thought you might have stood by
00:16:08
me um when I was suicidal and I would
00:16:11
have stood by you and I would have
00:16:13
waited for you until you got over this
00:16:16
one minute he was building her up next
00:16:18
minute he was knocking her
00:16:20
down lock ended the long letter by
00:16:23
saying that Sonia was an amazing mother
00:16:26
who'd everything going for her and that
00:16:28
he hoped they would all find
00:16:32
happiness Lo's Behavior was escalating
00:16:36
and in this stage Lock's Behavior turned
00:16:39
to
00:16:40
stalking he contacted his sister to say
00:16:43
he'd got back with uh Sonia and but that
00:16:47
he had heard rumors that she was ripping
00:16:49
him off and asked if an acquaintance of
00:16:54
his sister could hack into her Facebook
00:16:57
page then he asked what about hacking
00:17:00
into her Hotmail email account whether
00:17:04
or not she believed his tale that he and
00:17:06
Sonia were back together Eric Lock's
00:17:09
sister refused to help him access
00:17:11
Sonia's private email or social media
00:17:15
profiles oblivious to Lock's attempt to
00:17:18
stalk her Sonia continued living her
00:17:23
life on Saturday the 15th of February
00:17:26
2014 she and her family celebr
00:17:28
celebrated Sonia's little boy's
00:17:31
birthday Sonia adored her son and loved
00:17:35
being a mother and according to her
00:17:38
sister she went all out for his birthday
00:17:41
and had a party with family and his
00:17:45
friends the festivity over Sonia got
00:17:48
ready for a secret trist she had asked
00:17:52
her mother to look after her son for the
00:17:54
night because she wanted to go meet her
00:17:55
friend Susan and was going to go out
00:17:57
with her that evening she cancelled last
00:18:00
minute telling that friend she wanted to
00:18:02
stay in and read a book that she was
00:18:03
tired though she did not admit it to
00:18:06
friends and family Sonia had in fact
00:18:09
arranged to meet her Facebook date Shane
00:18:11
Cully at a hotel in talor that evening
00:18:15
she gets to The Plaza Hotel about 9:00
00:18:17
that evening and takes about 20 minutes
00:18:19
for her to check in she's received
00:18:21
messages from Shane say that he was
00:18:23
going to be slightly later and could she
00:18:25
leave the uh the key card for the door
00:18:28
at the reception
00:18:29
Sonia was thinking a sure I wait him we
00:18:31
can go up together but he didn't come
00:18:34
for hours and he was texting her through
00:18:36
Facebook and most of the text messages
00:18:39
about 12 of the text messages were
00:18:42
asking her to leave a key card for him
00:18:44
at reception and she said sure there's
00:18:47
no need I'll let you in when you get
00:18:49
here unaccustomed to arranging sexually
00:18:52
leasons in hotels and embarrassed about
00:18:55
facing reception staff again Sonia
00:18:58
initially resisted Shane's demand
00:19:01
however Shane was quite persistent and
00:19:03
asked her to leave the key down at the
00:19:05
hotel desk so she did so she'd been
00:19:07
waiting for him for about 3 hours at
00:19:09
that stage and she said she was going to
00:19:11
have a drink to Cal her nerves she would
00:19:13
have been tired but I suppose excited
00:19:16
when he said he was finally on the
00:19:19
way armed with his own room key Sonia's
00:19:23
would be lover had no need to
00:19:26
knock when the door opens just before
00:19:29
midnight she immediately recognizes that
00:19:32
the man who's just entered a room isn't
00:19:35
Shane Cully but it's actually Eric
00:19:39
Loch we will never know exactly what
00:19:42
went through Sonia Blunt's head when she
00:19:45
realized Eric lock had tricked her into
00:19:47
meeting him nor will we ever be sure
00:19:50
precisely what happened
00:19:52
next Lo himself told gy that she was
00:19:55
shocked to see him and that she asked
00:19:59
could they leave together so she did not
00:20:01
want to stay there with him there was no
00:20:04
doubt about it but Lo did not agree to
00:20:07
leave with Sonia he later said he feared
00:20:10
she'd scream as they walk through
00:20:12
reception almost 6 hours later he left
00:20:15
the hotel alone he left the do not
00:20:19
disturb sign on the door he didn't want
00:20:22
Sonia to be found he wanted to buy
00:20:24
himself some time he got into the
00:20:27
elevator he could be seen trying to
00:20:29
cover his face he was wiping it with a
00:20:31
tissue Eric lock flagged down a taxi to
00:20:34
take him home to clond doin telling the
00:20:37
driver who commented on injuries to his
00:20:39
left cheek that he'd had an eventful
00:20:42
Night Out gave him some story about
00:20:45
dancing with a girl on the dance floor
00:20:48
and her boyfriend coming up and giving
00:20:49
him a few slaps when the taxi driver
00:20:53
said let's have a look at your your face
00:20:56
which was very obvious and he said oh
00:20:57
you'll have a lot of expl explaining to
00:20:59
do about that while Eric Loch slept off
00:21:03
his rough night Sonia Blunt's family had
00:21:06
begun to sense something was a Miss
00:21:09
Sonia always called up to check her son
00:21:12
was all right if she'd stayed out at
00:21:14
night first thing in the morning she'd
00:21:16
ring and say is he okay however when she
00:21:19
didn't call alarm Bell started to ring
00:21:21
her mother initially called her friend
00:21:23
Susan to see what had happened because
00:21:25
she was out with her friend Susan that
00:21:26
night and when Susan told her that she
00:21:29
had changed her plans and said she was
00:21:30
staying in that night her mother was
00:21:32
very concerned so her family were
00:21:34
looking for her and calling everybody
00:21:37
calling her friends and it's then that
00:21:40
her brother had seen on social media
00:21:42
that a murder had occurred in
00:21:43
tala news travels fast that a body has
00:21:47
been
00:21:48
discovered now and it's almost
00:21:51
impossible to imagine what their parents
00:21:54
must have felt the news of a suspicious
00:21:57
death at aalor Hotel came in the late
00:22:00
afternoon of that Sunday the 16th of
00:22:02
February fearing the worst but hoping
00:22:05
they were wrong Sonia's family needed to
00:22:08
find out if she had come to harm they
00:22:11
made their way to the hotel and saw her
00:22:13
car
00:22:14
there her father saw Sonia's car and saw
00:22:17
police gathered around and he said that
00:22:19
he just knew when they approached the
00:22:21
guardi the guardi told the family you
00:22:23
better come inside the guards ask the
00:22:27
family to you know to describe Sonia to
00:22:31
them and in particular they asked them
00:22:34
about the tattoo that Sonia had because
00:22:38
it's very specific well imagine the
00:22:41
scene it is beyond description what they
00:22:45
must have felt and how they must have
00:22:47
felt it Sonia Blunt's devastated parents
00:22:50
and siblings were told they would have
00:22:52
to wait 24 hours for confirmation that
00:22:55
the female victim was indeed their
00:22:57
daughter and sister as the shell shock
00:23:00
family returned home Inside the Hotel
00:23:03
the guarder were examining what was
00:23:05
clearly the scene of a terrible crime
00:23:09
her body wasn't discovered until
00:23:11
cleaning staff went into the room at
00:23:13
3:00 that afternoon the young mother was
00:23:16
lying on the floor in the recovery
00:23:18
position Sonia had blood on her face and
00:23:21
some kind of fabric stuffed into her
00:23:23
mouth they found her with ligature Mark
00:23:26
around her neck it was a very pronounced
00:23:29
they also saw an imitation gun they saw
00:23:32
duct tape and cable ties when they went
00:23:34
into the bathroom they saw blooded tell
00:23:37
and bloodied napkins they also saw her
00:23:39
bloodied phone cable
00:23:42
charger something horrible has happened
00:23:45
in that hotel room the postmodern
00:23:47
results show that Sonia died due to
00:23:49
ciation and lack of oxygen due to
00:23:51
compression of the neck the
00:23:52
strangulation was so vicious and
00:23:54
prolonged that it actually broke a
00:23:56
number of bones in her neck son 's
00:23:58
t-shirt had been pushed deep into her
00:24:00
mouth exacerbating the effects of the
00:24:03
strangulation the state pathologist
00:24:05
Marie Cassidy noted that due to the
00:24:08
bruising around her mouth that she was
00:24:10
undoubtedly alive when her top was put
00:24:12
into her mouth and it was put in with
00:24:14
such force and such ferocity that he
00:24:17
broke several of her teeth and the wire
00:24:19
retainer at the back of her teeth Sonia
00:24:22
blunt had been murdered in an act of
00:24:24
extreme violence detectives asked
00:24:28
themselves
00:24:28
who could possibly want a hardworking
00:24:31
family orientated young mother dead but
00:24:34
they did not have to wonder for
00:24:37
long 6 hours after her body was
00:24:40
discovered Eric Loch walked into a
00:24:42
Garder station in the center of Dublin
00:24:46
at around half n last night a man
00:24:48
presented himself to gari at store
00:24:50
Street station in the city he was
00:24:52
arrested and taken to talag the
00:24:56
station Eric lock went into store Street
00:24:58
gation and confessed to killing Sonia
00:25:03
blunt he said he had attempted suicide
00:25:06
but couldn't do it when he had very real
00:25:09
images of his family in his head he
00:25:11
admitted The Killing but said it was an
00:25:13
accident he said that he had just
00:25:15
planned to talk to her and explain his
00:25:18
situation lock told investigating
00:25:20
officers he had to use the fake profile
00:25:23
to trick Sonia into meeting him because
00:25:25
she'd cut all contact and blocked him
00:25:27
online
00:25:29
he insisted he' only bought the cable
00:25:31
ties and duct tape so that if Sonia
00:25:33
refused to hear him out he could tie her
00:25:36
to a chair and force her to listen the
00:25:39
weapons were simply to scare her into
00:25:41
compliance Lo claimed that at first
00:25:44
Sonia had been happy to stay in the room
00:25:47
with him he said they had consensual sex
00:25:51
um he was asked by the gy if he had
00:25:53
raped her and he he denied that when she
00:25:56
saw what he had brought with him the
00:25:58
pellet gun the Stanley knife the masking
00:26:00
tape she started to scream and he said
00:26:03
he just wanted to shut her up in case
00:26:06
somebody heard her and he started to
00:26:08
strangle her detectives found Lock's
00:26:11
version of events hard to believe the
00:26:14
killer claimed Sonia had willingly
00:26:16
stayed in the room with her own stalker
00:26:18
had consented to have sex with him and
00:26:21
had only panicked when she saw the array
00:26:24
of sinister items lock had brought with
00:26:26
him Marden investigation point of view
00:26:30
here we have a a young woman is
00:26:33
strangled
00:26:34
murdered and we have a guy then coming
00:26:37
in and telling us that he did it but he
00:26:40
didn't intend to do it so is it
00:26:43
manslaughter or is it murder can we
00:26:46
prove the intent or can we not prove the
00:26:50
intent he first told the guardy that he
00:26:53
strangled her with his bare hands only
00:26:56
but then he was shown the cable of her
00:26:58
phone charger which was Blood Stained
00:27:00
and he admitted that he had used that
00:27:02
briefly he later said he used that first
00:27:05
and then he changed to using his
00:27:09
hands that first attempt he made to
00:27:11
Strangler didn't work so he strangled
00:27:15
her with his bare hands then instead so
00:27:17
really his story didn't really stand
00:27:21
up he was medically examined after his
00:27:24
arrest and uh he had very obvious
00:27:27
scratch mark on his face and he also had
00:27:31
carpet burns on his arms and legs and
00:27:35
these were found to be consistent with
00:27:39
him having carried out a sexual assault
00:27:42
his DNA was found on her forward her
00:27:46
right breast on a pillow and bed sheets
00:27:49
in the room as well Sonia's blood was
00:27:52
found on the jeans Eric lock had been
00:27:55
wearing Lo told the Garder he wasn't
00:27:58
sure if Sonia was dead when he left but
00:28:02
that before leaving he dressed the
00:28:04
lifeless woman so that she'd have
00:28:06
dignity when she was
00:28:09
found it's a very very creepy thing to
00:28:13
do the confession is not about remorse
00:28:18
or shame or guilt he's now trying to say
00:28:20
to the police I'm not really this bad
00:28:22
guy that I look like he is going to
00:28:25
start presenting himself as the victim
00:28:28
him he claimed that he he'd always
00:28:31
suffered with depression through his
00:28:33
life but when he met
00:28:36
Sonia it seemed to lift and he was happy
00:28:40
and then when she finished with him it
00:28:42
all came crashing down again depression
00:28:46
does not cause people to commit this
00:28:49
type of
00:28:52
murder just after 1:00 a.m. on the 17th
00:28:55
of February Eric L was chared charged
00:28:58
with Sonia Blunt's murder Eric lock was
00:29:01
brought by detectives from tallard
00:29:03
station to the local district court this
00:29:05
morning to face a charge of murder there
00:29:08
was not enough evidence to charge him
00:29:10
with raping or sexually assaulting
00:29:13
Sonia lock was remanded in custody at
00:29:16
Clover Hill prison in kulin South Dublin
00:29:20
the task for detectives now was to prove
00:29:22
their suspect intended to kill Sonia the
00:29:26
police search Eric Lock's house and
00:29:31
discover a positive Treasure Trove of
00:29:35
information including handcuffs cable
00:29:39
ties a screwdriver
00:29:43
set and also a list of names of women a
00:29:46
number of them had addresses which he
00:29:48
obtained from social media when Lock's
00:29:51
devices were analyzed guardi found he'd
00:29:54
been stalking several women online they
00:29:57
suspected did he planned more attacks
00:29:59
like the one he'd inflicted upon Sonia
00:30:03
we will never know what his other plans
00:30:06
were and who
00:30:07
else he had taken a dislike to or a set
00:30:11
against he had a kill this he went with
00:30:15
weapons he had got there through
00:30:17
coercive means this guy had been
00:30:21
planning this for a what he was not an
00:30:23
innocent he was not a victim of his own
00:30:27
temper that's just not what was going on
00:30:29
here when a man kills a partner who has
00:30:33
left him it is never jealous
00:30:38
rage most cases have planning and lock
00:30:43
planned the fake Facebook profile in the
00:30:46
name of Shane Cully had been carefully
00:30:49
calculated to deceive Sonia and to win
00:30:52
her trust he had photographs on there he
00:30:56
had friends on there it looked like a
00:30:59
real Facebook profile of someone at this
00:31:02
stage it was months since he had met her
00:31:05
and they' dated and he knew her likes
00:31:07
and he her dislikes and he behaved
00:31:10
completely differently to Eric lock on
00:31:13
this Facebook profile and he played on
00:31:17
that to be able to get access to her he
00:31:20
knew enough about her to know if he came
00:31:24
in as a potential boyfriend what to say
00:31:28
say and how to say it when the
00:31:31
pathologist examined Sonia's body she
00:31:33
found further evidence that Sonia's
00:31:36
death had not occurred in one brief Red
00:31:38
Mist moment but had in fact been a
00:31:40
prolonged and determined assault she was
00:31:44
really attacked by him she fought for
00:31:47
her life and she she was able to scratch
00:31:50
his face and she actually got his DNA
00:31:53
underneath her fingernails she fought
00:31:56
like a tiger and it would have taken
00:31:58
some strength and some determination and
00:32:01
some time strangulation murder doesn't
00:32:05
happen in a couple of
00:32:08
seconds though they were certain Eric
00:32:10
lock had murdered Sonia blunt In Cold
00:32:13
Blood guarder and prosecutors knew it
00:32:16
was down to them to prove it to a jury
00:32:20
on the 8th of May 2017 Eric Loch went on
00:32:24
trial at Dublin Central Criminal Court
00:32:27
the process of getting Justice for Sonia
00:32:30
had been beset by legal
00:32:33
delays the trial was supposed to start
00:32:35
at least a year and a half earlier but
00:32:38
it was adjourned when the defense
00:32:41
applied for a new psychiatric report for
00:32:45
him Eric lock didn't speak during the
00:32:47
brief hearing he stood in the dock with
00:32:49
his head down he was granted free legal
00:32:52
aid and the judge directed that he have
00:32:54
access to his medication and be afforded
00:32:57
medical attention ition if required
00:32:59
before remanding him in custody to
00:33:00
appear again at Clover Hill district
00:33:02
court this day week lock now 35 years
00:33:06
old maintained his position that while
00:33:09
he may have killed the mother of one he
00:33:11
was not a murderer when the trial did
00:33:14
get underway a jury was sworn in and he
00:33:18
pleaded not guilty to murder journalist
00:33:21
Natasa Reed attended every day of the
00:33:24
two week trial the courtroom was packed
00:33:28
both families friends but also an awful
00:33:31
lot of reporters there was a lot of
00:33:32
interest in the case and there was an
00:33:35
atmosphere a very tense atmosphere that
00:33:38
prevailed for the whole trial one of the
00:33:41
challenges for prosecutors would be
00:33:43
convincing the jury of eight men and
00:33:45
four women that Lo was a callous killer
00:33:48
who posed a threat to women one of the
00:33:51
things that stood out about Eric lock is
00:33:53
that he looked like a quite a decent
00:33:56
person he look looks like someone who
00:33:58
didn't belong in a courtroom and sure
00:34:00
enough he'd never been in trouble with
00:34:01
the gy in his life before he didn't come
00:34:04
from that kind of background at all so
00:34:06
he did look out of place there and he
00:34:09
did look kind of innocent as well as Lo
00:34:12
had already admitting to killing Sonia
00:34:15
it really came down to his mental state
00:34:17
in this trial so what the jury needed to
00:34:19
establish was his mental state at the
00:34:21
time of the offense you couldn't argue
00:34:23
with the forensic evidence you couldn't
00:34:25
argue with the physical evidence you
00:34:27
could only argue about Lock's State of
00:34:29
Mind Lock's defense team claimed that at
00:34:32
the time of Sonia's death the killer was
00:34:34
suffering from a mental disorder that
00:34:37
meant he did not have the ability to
00:34:39
form a rational judgment exercise
00:34:41
self-control or understand that what he
00:34:44
was doing was wrong the psychiatrist who
00:34:47
evaluated Lo did say that a great deal
00:34:49
of planning went into the murder of
00:34:52
Sonia however he did go on to say that
00:34:55
Lock's mental capacity had diminished a
00:34:58
lot prior to this killing there are only
00:35:02
specific mental disorders that can
00:35:04
qualify a person for this partial
00:35:07
defense of diminished responsibility
00:35:09
which reduces murder to
00:35:11
manslaughter so it did come down in the
00:35:14
end to the defense psychiatrist saying
00:35:16
he had a pervasive personality disorder
00:35:19
which would have qualified him for
00:35:20
diminish responsibility when Dr bun
00:35:23
asked Lo to describe himself he said he
00:35:25
was a genuinely peaceful guy
00:35:28
however the psychiatrist had noted in
00:35:29
these examinations that lock distinctly
00:35:32
lacked empathy he also added that he
00:35:34
suffered from ADHD and borderline
00:35:36
personality disorder when they
00:35:38
cross-examined the expert witness the
00:35:41
prosecution questioned the idea that Lo
00:35:43
had lost control of himself when he
00:35:46
killed Sonia the doctor did concede that
00:35:48
there was an element of control in Lo's
00:35:51
actions when he was there so when he was
00:35:52
strangling her he could change his hands
00:35:55
a person who lacks self-control is
00:35:57
blinded by their rage and would continue
00:35:59
acting in a consistent manner however Lo
00:36:02
was able to change both of his hands not
00:36:04
only that he didn't then made the
00:36:06
decision to reach for the cable the
00:36:08
phone cable and then strangle her with
00:36:10
that not only did lock show control in
00:36:13
the moment the prosecution pointed out
00:36:16
that he'd put a great deal of planning
00:36:18
into his crime what he did was
00:36:20
premeditated in that he had set up a
00:36:23
fake profile he had engineered a case
00:36:27
whereby
00:36:28
Sonia would leave the key card at the
00:36:31
reception he knew that if Sonia had gone
00:36:35
along with her plan to let him in as he
00:36:37
knocked at the door that she would have
00:36:39
recognized him through the keyhole and
00:36:41
not let him in he had brought the
00:36:43
equipment to tie Sonia up and to to gag
00:36:47
her and he had brought the fake firearm
00:36:50
after killing Sonia lock had also gone
00:36:52
to some lents to cover his tracks having
00:36:55
placed the do not disturb sign on the
00:36:57
hotel room door he'd run from the
00:36:59
building attempting to cover his face so
00:37:02
his wounds would not be
00:37:04
seen he went outside and he was caught
00:37:07
on camera disposing of his mobile phone
00:37:10
the prosecution argued that lock may
00:37:12
have had a personality disorder but he
00:37:14
did not have a mental disorder that
00:37:15
would qualify him for diminished
00:37:18
responsibility the prosecution case was
00:37:20
that it was anger and rage that led him
00:37:24
to strangle her and it was consistent
00:37:27
with retribution and Vengeance and they
00:37:32
said you know this story about
00:37:35
consensual sex was not even slightly
00:37:39
believable the prosecution argued that
00:37:41
Lo was motivated by his obsessive
00:37:44
fixation on the relationship with Sonia
00:37:46
he wanted and believed he deserved to
00:37:50
have Lo had honed in on Sonia he had
00:37:53
picked her out and then he had decided
00:37:56
they were going to live happily ever
00:37:58
after and he was going to dominate her
00:38:00
he was going to tell her what she can
00:38:02
and what you can't do and he was going
00:38:04
to be in charge and the relationship was
00:38:05
going to go exactly along the lines that
00:38:08
he wanted and there was no room for
00:38:11
maneuver he feels that she has committed
00:38:14
to him in some way which she hasn't but
00:38:17
he thinks she has then he
00:38:20
feels this is now an
00:38:23
injustice I've had my rights taken away
00:38:27
by this person rejecting me and
00:38:29
finishing with me when we were in a
00:38:32
relationship and I was in charge of that
00:38:34
relationship this was the argument put
00:38:36
forward by the prosecution that Eric
00:38:39
lock had killed Sonia blunt because he
00:38:41
was Furious that she had rejected him as
00:38:44
the jury retired to deliberate on the
00:38:46
22nd of May 2017 Eric Lo must have been
00:38:50
hoping they empathize with his plight as
00:38:52
a Love Lawn
00:38:54
Suitor he thinks that other people will
00:38:57
sympathize with him we go I know what
00:39:00
you mean mate that must have been so
00:39:02
hard for you that's what he was
00:39:04
expecting Eric lock did not have to wait
00:39:07
long to find out if he was right when
00:39:10
the jury was called back after only
00:39:13
about 90 minutes deliberating they were
00:39:15
asked as is all always the case do have
00:39:18
you reached a verdict there were gasps
00:39:20
in the courtroom when they said they had
00:39:22
actually reached a verdict uh at 1990
00:39:26
minutes and the ver ICT was unanimous
00:39:28
and it was guilty they didn't believe
00:39:30
his story they didn't believe that he
00:39:33
didn't know what he was doing was wrong
00:39:36
they didn't believe he had no intent
00:39:38
they didn't believe there was any mental
00:39:40
disorder
00:39:42
there as he was leaving the courtroom he
00:39:44
turned to Sonia's family and apologized
00:39:46
and said he was so sorry this wasn't
00:39:49
accepted by her family they found that
00:39:52
it was completely insincere as I think
00:39:54
Sonia's sister CLA was to say later if
00:39:57
he'd been truly sorry he wouldn't have
00:39:59
put the family through the torture of a
00:40:01
trial and the description of what
00:40:03
happened to her sister it's an act of
00:40:07
savagery that it is impossible to
00:40:10
exaggerate she was an absolutely
00:40:13
innocent mother of a three-year-old
00:40:17
boy there can be no excuse there can be
00:40:20
no hiding from the fact that he was a
00:40:23
dreadful depraved act on the 2nd of June
00:40:26
Eric lock appeared again at the central
00:40:29
criminal court for sentencing the
00:40:32
mandatory sentence for murder in this
00:40:34
jurisdiction is life and that's exactly
00:40:37
what he got two of her sisters read out
00:40:41
very moving Victim Impact statements and
00:40:44
they talked about not just losing a
00:40:46
sister an aunt a daughter but a mother
00:40:50
and the fact that Sonia's little boy had
00:40:53
lost now had lost both parents um
00:40:56
because one had moved away and Sonia who
00:41:00
had promised him she would never leave
00:41:02
had now left also in the aftermath of
00:41:05
lock sentencing Sonia's family expressed
00:41:08
surprise at Sonia's actions that night
00:41:11
their only explanation for her was that
00:41:12
she had been terribly lonely I mean
00:41:15
she's had a relationship had a child the
00:41:18
relationship has fallen down and now
00:41:20
she's simply looking for the next bit of
00:41:24
happiness for her they believed it was
00:41:26
completely out of character for Sonia to
00:41:28
meet up with a stranger in a hotel room
00:41:30
it's just not something that she would
00:41:31
have done Eric Lo exploited Sonia
00:41:34
Blunt's vulnerability when he tricked
00:41:36
her into meeting him his only intention
00:41:39
to punish her for refusing to continue
00:41:42
their shli
00:41:45
relationship he took advantage of her
00:41:47
compassion when he threatened to kill
00:41:49
himself she still was there looking out
00:41:51
for him even though she was concerned
00:41:52
about her his behavior towards her she
00:41:54
still wanted to be a really nice person
00:41:56
and be kind and considerate so it is
00:41:59
scary and sad that somebody would take
00:42:03
advantage of that to such an extent and
00:42:04
to manipulate her um with her kindness
00:42:07
and to use that against her Eric lock
00:42:10
could not accept a woman rejecting him
00:42:13
when mother of one Sonia blunt
00:42:15
recognized his toxic behavior and made
00:42:18
the decision not to keep dating him Lo
00:42:21
responded with every trick in the book
00:42:24
from begging to threats to emotional
00:42:26
black M when none of his troubling
00:42:29
tactics worked to win her back he took
00:42:32
the ultimate Revenge depriving a caring
00:42:35
and beloved young woman of her life and
00:42:38
cementing his place as one of the
00:42:41
world's most evil killers
00:42:46
[Music]
