Murdered care home teen’s family want answers

The parents of a teenager murdered by a fellow resident at a care home said questions need to be answered by social services after it was revealed her killer was known for his abnormal sexual desires.

Jason Conroy, 19, was found guilty of strangling Melissa Mathieson, 18, at their assisted living accommodation on Wells Road on October 13 last year.

Conroy, who has Asperger’s Syndrome and had previously attacked a teacher by suffocating her until she passed out, strangled Mathieson as he attempted to drag her into his room and rape her, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Mathieson’s parents said: “Melissa did not have a nasty bone in her body; she was a gentle, kind and lovely girl.”

They added: “We feel that there are still many questions that need to be answered by many organisations, including Social Services and the NHS, about how Melissa and Jason Conroy came to be in a situation which ultimately led to Melissa’s death.”

Bristol Safeguarding Adults Board said it had launched a review today to “fully explore the circumstances”.

Conroy pleaded manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility, but was found guilty of murder at a trail.

The court heard that it was known that Conroy had wanted to have sex with a dead woman from the age of 11, the BBC reported.

Consultant psychologist John Sandford told the jury he thought that Conroy was fixated on strangulation and sex with dead women.

He added that he believed the defendent suffered from paraphilia, a condition of abnormal sexual desires, typically involving extreme or dangerous activities.

The court heard of an incident in another residential care home when Conroy was 17 and he placed his arms around a teacher’s throat until she passed out – later admitting he had sexual thoughts about her.

Conroy had been living at the Alexandra House care home on Wells Road for more than a month when he attacked Mathieson. The court heard that she had complained to staff that she thought he was stalking her, “lurking behind corners”.

Mathieson’s parents said after the case: “We know better than most people the difficulties that autism can present so our feelings about Jason Conroy are not based on ignorance of his condition.

“What he has done is awful; we cannot comprehend it. He has deprived a brother of his sister.

“He has deprived us parents of the privilege of watching our daughter to continue to blossom, thrive, grow up and have children of her own – because she would have got through her difficulties and gone on to have the future life that she wanted within the community.

“It has been incredibly difficult to sit through the trial and listen to the evidence, especially the history of Jason Conroy’s previous sexually deviant and aggressive behaviour. Melissa believed wholeheartedly that the care system was the safest place to be to help her with her difficulties.

“We welcome the ongoing Safeguarding Adults Review and do not feel it would be appropriate to comment further whilst that process is still ongoing.”

Bristol Safeguarding Adults Board said: “The Bristol Safeguarding Adults Board was saddened by the tragic death of Melissa Mathieson last year.  

“Due to the circumstances of Melissa’s death and following our agreed procedures, the Board has already commissioned an independently chaired Safeguarding Adults Review to fully explore all of the circumstances of this truly sad event, which will report to the Board in 2016.”

Andrew Mott, senior investigating officer at Avon and Somerset police, said: “This was a desperately sad case in which a young person’s life was cut tragically short.”