Inquest 'The system failed our daughter - and her killer'

A TEENAGER who was murdered by a fellow Bristol care home resident who was fascinated by necrophilia had written a letter before her death detailing how "social services had destroyed my life", an inquest heard.

- ROD MINCHIN

Melissa Mathieson, 18, was strangled by Jason Conroy at Alexandra House, which provided residential care for adults with autism and Asperger's syndrome, in Wells Road, Knowle, in October 2014.

Conroy, now aged 28, was jailed for life for the sexually motivated killing.

Avon Coroner's Court heard how he once tried to strangle a teacher so he could abuse her and had also attempted to kill his mother.

The inquest, which was resuming into Miss Mathieson’s death more than 10 years after her murder, was attended by her father, James.

In the letter titled Social Services Have Destroyed My Life, Miss Mathieson wrote: “This was a terrible time for me, and I felt like I was dragged away from my home and everything I knew and being completely disrupted.

“They never took into consideration my age or the distance from my family. I was still a child, just very confused.”

The letter was read to the court as part of the written evidence of Miss Mathieson’s mother, Karen, who died from cancer a year after her daughter's death.

Mrs Mathieson said “the system” had failed her daughter and had also failed Conroy.

“We know better than most people the difficulties that autism can present, for our feelings about Jason Conroy are not based on ignorance of his condition,” she said. “What he has done is awful, we cannot comprehend it, so many people cannot comprehend it.

“Melissa did not have a nasty bone in her body. She was a gentle, kind and lovely girl.