The horrifying story of a murderer from Stoke-on-Trent who stabbed his ex 75 times is to be explored in a ITV documentary. Social Media Murderers will tonight, April 15, tell the story of Molly McLaren, 23, who was killed by her stalker ex, Joshua Stimpson, in 2017.
Moments earlier, she had told friends 'I'm always looking over my f***ing shoulder' in a text. But after she left a Maidstone gym and sat in her car, Stimpson opened the door and launched his frenzied attack.
He was found guilty of murder and handed a life sentence with a minimum 26-year term, having killed Molly after their relationship - which started when they met via dating app Tinder - broke down.
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They had bonded over their love of exercise and similar struggles they had been through, meeting up a few months after they started chatting online.
Months later, though, 27-year-old Stimpson, who had moved to Kent having grown up in Potteries, Stimpson had started to become controlling in what was Molly's first serious relationship.
Molly described his behaviour as 'childish' and said she felt she was 'constantly treading on eggshells' around him. On a night out on June 17 2016 in Maidstone, Molly took Stimpson to one side and broke up with him - to be met with an angry reaction.
When Molly refused to take Stimpson back, he quickly 'turned nasty'. He started posting insulting Facebook messages and claimed she had been taking drugs five days after they had broken up. Stimpson continued his abuse over WhatsApp and Molly grew terrified he would turn up to her home.
Molly reported the posts to Facebook but nothing happened, so she went with her mother to North Kent Police Station. A police officer called Stimpson in their presence, put him on speakerphone and warned him to stop or face prosecution.
Stimpson was spoken to by police for a second time on June 27, 2017. But the following day, he turned up at a bar where she was with friends.
Terrified by his behaviour, Molly and her mum printed pictures of Stimpson and handed them out to neighbours so they could keep a look out for him in case he turned up.
She had blocked him from all her social media accounts - Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram - and friends had done the same. But little did they know, sick Stimpson had recruited another girl to follow Molly on social media and report back to him with her every move.
On the day of her death, Stimpson followed Molly to her gym at Chatham Dockside Outlet and began working out right next to her in silence.
Molly messaged her mum saying: "Mum he's turned up at the gym and come next to me", before phoning her. Her mother told her to go straight home.
In a flurry of messages to friend Amy, Molly wrote: "I’m always looking over my f***ing shoulder." She was warned not to communicate with her 'freak' ex and to 'stay away from him'.
But moments after her chilling text, horror struck. Molly left Pure Gym at 11.01am on June 29, still on her phone and got into her Citroen C2.
Stimpson had tailed her around the car park in his father's Peugeot. He parked in an adjacent aisle and went to Molly's car. He then pulled open her driver's door and what followed was an act of wickedness.
Stimpson stabbed Molly at least 75 times and her throat was completely cut through. Molly lost consciousness within seconds and nothing could be done to save her.
Five years on from her daughter's death, her mum Jo said she is still unable to leave the house, except to go food shopping, and Mr McLaren also struggles to go about his daily life.
Jo told ITV: "She would hate to see us like this. She would want for us to be happy together for the rest of our lives, but we're finding that very tough."
Molly's family have set up a charity in her name to help people with eating disorders.
Social Media Murderers airs tonight at 10.40pm on ITV.
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