Yahoo Movies Bobbi-Anne McLeod's killer, an indie guitarist, has been given a life sentence
The killer of 18-year-old Bobbi-Anne McLeod, Cody Ackland, has been sentenced to a minimum term of 30 years and 190 days in prison for her murder. Ackland was found guilty of the young woman's brutal death after handing himself in to a local police station a couple of days after committing the heinous crime and directing officers to the site where he had disposed of her body.
The court also heard how Ackland, who worked as a car valet assistant and moonlighted as a guitarist in an indie band, had a long-time obsession with serial killers, notably Ted Bundy, whose own crimes also targeted unsuspecting young women. A report from the Devon and Cornwall Police says, "Cody Ackland, 24, struck Bobbi-Anne McLeod on the head with a claw hammer at a bus stop in Leigham, Plymouth, on the night of Saturday 20 November last year."
It adds that he then abducted Bobbi-Anne and drove her to Bellever Forest car park on Dartmoor, where he continued his 'frenzied' attack.
The following day, it's said that Ackland met a friend for pizza, attended band practice and then drank until the early hours of the morning, with friends having since described him as being "happier than usual" during evening. He later went to the cinema before turning himself over to staff at Charles Cross police station in Plymouth.
"In an interview [Ackland] told the police that the killing was not on his mind because it was 'so out there' and extreme that it was almost like a film or fantasy, something that hadn't really happened," the Devon and Cornwall Police's coverage on the case states.
"He admitted that he did not know how he felt about the murder, that it felt like someone else had committed the crime but he knew deep down it was him."
It's also reported that officers retrieved over 3,000 disturbing images from Ackland's phone, depicting autopsies, corpses and murder scenes.
Senior Crown Advocate Richard Posner told the court: "Bundy approached his victims in public places and knocked them unconscious before killing them. It is not a coincidence that Bobbi-Anne McLeod met her fate the same way. This was a prolonged and awful ordeal for this poor person. She had the whole of her life in front of her until it was brutally and savagely snuffed out by you."
Following Ackland's sentencing, Bobbi-Anne's family released a heartbreaking statement describing how her immense loss has impacted upon them, "[We] want Cody Ackland to know that he has taken away our world. We will never see her beautiful face or hear her laugh, see her get married or have the children she so wanted. So many everyday things have been taken away. Her not being here is still unimaginable.
"Bobbi-Anne was so loved and had so many life plans; he cruelly ripped that life away from her and us. We can’t even contemplate a future without her in it. There will never be anything the justice system can impose that will ever come close to what he deserves."
Our thoughts are with all of Bobbi-Anne's loved ones during this incredibly painful time.
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