How Logan MacPhail's obsession with Holly Newton turned to murder as parents say he's 'a danger'
by Sophie Doughty · ChronicleLiveObsessive knife killer Logan MacPhail told his ex Holly Newton that if he could not have her then no one else could.
But when the teenager told her mum what her former boyfriend had said, Micala Trussler never imagined that he actually meant it. But tragically not long after his chilling threat, MacPhail launched a frenzied knife attack on Holly in a Hexham alleyway. The 15-year-old was taken to hospital, but nothing could be done to save her life.
MacPhail, of Birtley in Gateshead, has now been jailed for life after a jury found him guilty of murdering Holly and another charge of wounding. And today after the now 17-year-old, was given a minimum 17 year term, Holly's mum has revealed how her daughter's seemingly "normal" teenage relationship turned to control, obsession and then murder.
Micala Trussler said: "He definitely felt that if he couldn't have her then nobody could. He said that to her at one point, because she told me. I said; 'Lots of people say that so you just have to let it go'. But what we didn't know is he meant it'."
Holly met MacPhail at Army Cadets, when she was around 13. The pair got close during a Christmas camp and began messaging one another and then going out, Micala explained.
"I think they had been messaging each other at the time, but nobody's 13-year-old is going to tell their parent that they like somebody. She must have been about about 14 when she told us about him," she explained. "At first it was just messages, but they eventually went out, then they started to go out a lot.
"Then they started to go to each other's houses and stay."
At first Holly's mum had no worries about her daughter's new relationship.
"I had no concerns at all," she said. "It was apparent that he had learning difficulties and speech impediment. But they just seemed happy together and Holly was happy to help him with his speech. They got to know each other really well. I never had any concerns at all at that point."
However, in the months before the murder Micala realised that her daughter was not happy.
"To be honest it wasn't until maybe a couple of months before, it became very apparent that Holly was unhappy," she said. "She didn't want to be in that relationship anymore, but because she was so young she didn't know how to get out of it. There was a bit of back and forward, and I think with Holly she quite often felt sorry for people, which is why she kept going back and forward.
"But the thing about Holly is, when she made her mind up she made it up. So it got to a point where she had really made her mind up, but still struggled to disconnect, mainly because he didn't allow her to do that. He wasn't giving up, but I think she had given up."
And Micala said Holly, from Haltwhistle, did not realise how disturbing MacPhail's behaviour had become.
"The only way to describe it is he was obsessed with her," she said. "For a long time. But I don't think she knew how obsessed he was until his behaviour changed.
"He didn't like her to go out, he didn't want her to go out with her friends. He wanted to know where she was all the time. Even if she was at home he wanted to know what she was doing. He changed her passwords on all of her social media. She was quite upset because she couldn't get into any of it. There was just a lot of controlling behaviours going on.
"I think there was probably a lot going on already that Holly didn't know was not right, that was a red flag, because she was so young. But definitely she knew his behaviour was not normal a few weeks before."
Newcastle Crown Court heard how MacPhail left school early to travel to Hexham, where Holly went to school, on the day of the murder. CCTV showed he followed Holly and her friends for around 45 minutes before eventually persuading Holly to speak to him, in an alleyway next to a pizza shop.
Here MacPhail launched his deadly attack.
Micala endured the harrowing experience of viewing footage of the final moments of her daughter's life during MacPhail's trial.
"It was very very upsetting," she said. "It was like watching a horror movie and you know the ending but you can't change it."
The court also heard how on the night before the murder MacPhail travelled to Haltwhistle and attempted to get into Holly's home.
Micala and her partner, Lee believe other members of their family could have been harmed had MacPhail managed to get inside.
And the couple have today branded him a danger to society.
"He spent a long time trying to get into the house. I think if he had somehow managed to get into the house it could have been a very different story," said Micala. "We could have been looking at more than one murder. You always think about what could have been. You shouldn't but you do.
"I don't think he could be in society and be safe round people. He's carried that knife round a busy town centre with families and children. It's just not normal behaviour."
And Lee added: "He's not only a danger to the public, he's a danger to himself."
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