19-year-old Matthew Mason has been found guilty of murdering 15-year-old Alex Rodda.
According to the Sun, the Chester Crown Court ruled that Matthew Mason bludgeoned Alex Rodda with a specialized wrench in the woods within Chesire, England on December 12, 2019.
“Alex Rodda did not stand a chance. His life ended in those woods,” prosecutors said.
The jury of seven women and five men found Mason guilty of murder by a majority vote of ten to two. Judge Steven Everett then thanked the jury and said, “No one can pretend this has been an easy case.”
This is the resolution of a year-long trial over the death of Alex Rodda. The two teens began talking in October of 2019. Their conversations through texts soon turned sexual with erotic photos and videos being sent. Notably, it was Mason, the son of millionaire parents, who sent the first explicit photo while drunk, according to evidence. In November, Rodda found out that Mason had a girlfriend of two years and then threatened to post the photos online after messaging Mason’s other lover.
“I thought I should let you know that the past 2-3 weeks matt has been trying to message me he came to my house in his car to meet me last week but I told him my dad wouldn’t let me out so I didn’t meet him,” Rodda wrote.
“I have told him it has to stop but just thought I’d let you know before he does a d***head move and I didn’t know he was dating you until I went to go follow him on lnstagram.”
It was then that Alex Rodda started blackmailing Matthew Mason. He first asked £50 to stop putting a screenshot on social media. By the end of November, Mason had paid £2,020 to Rodda.
Then on December 12, Mason lured Rodda to the woods. Mason then beat Rodda on the head repeatedly in a “brutal and merciless” attack.
In a statement, Alex’s family said, “Our son Alex was a wonderful, gentle, loving, kind, caring, respectful boy who loved life and lived life to the full. His precious life was cut short all too soon at the hands of Matthew Mason.”
They then added, “Mason admitted killing Alex from the outset of this trial but still felt the need to put us through the trauma of this trial in an attempt to minimise his sentence. He never once considered the pain it would put our family through, or indeed his own family.”
“We have never come across a more selfish, cold and calculating person,” they continued. “Mason has attempted to blame Alex and discredit his name throughout this trial, and thankfully the jury were able to see through his web of deceit.”
Source: The Sun,
