A musician obsessed with serial killers was acting out his warped fantasies when he brutally murdered 18-year-old Bobbi-Anne McLeod, a court heard. Cody Ackland, 24, searched for terms including "Ted Bundy", "Golden State Killer", "Ukrainian serial killer dead bodies", "Fred West", days before murdering Bobbi.
The details of his search history, including a fascination with serial killers, in particular Ted Bundy, emerged during the sentencing hearing of Ackland, 24, at Plymouth Crown Court.
In April Ackland pleaded guilty to a single charge of murder after the 18-year-old student was found dead in Bovisand. The court heard he confessed to killing Bobbi-Anne before dumping her body, and he then told police where they could find her.
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Ackland has been given a life sentence with a minimum jail term of 31 years for the murder after he inflicted a sustained, violent attack on the 18-year-old Leigham student described by Judge Robert Linford as "determined savagery".
Bobbi-Anne went missing after leaving to catch a bus near her home on the night of November 20. She had left her home around 6pm on the Saturday and had walked the short distance to the bus stop at the junction of Bampton Road and Sheepstor Road.
Her family and friends raised the alarm later that night after she did not arrive at her boyfriend's home as expected, reports PlymouthLive.
Plymouth Crown Court heard Ackland attacked her as she waited for a bus in Plymouth in November last year. He then loaded the semi-conscious teenager into the footwell of his Ford Fiesta and drove her 20 miles to the Bellever Forest car park on Dartmoor where he killed her with a hammer.
Ackland burnt her handbag and loaded her blooded body into his boot and drove 30 miles back towards Plymouth to Bovisand where he stripped her naked and left her in undergrowth.
He later threw away her clothes in an allotment before spending the next 48 hours socialising with friends. Three days later, Ackland turned himself in and confessed, telling detectives where he had dumped her body. According to court documents he killed her sometime between between November 20 and November 23 last year.
The guitarist, from Radcliffe Close, Southway, appeared at Plymouth Crown Court this morning (Thursday, May 19) where distressing details about Bobbi-Anne's last moments were revealed for the first time.
The court heard how Ackland was obsessed with serial killers and confessed to attacking Bobbi-Anne at a bus stop before driving her to a remote location and attacking her with a hammer. Police found more than 3,000 disturbing images on his phone as well as a chilling internet search history.
Ackland's twisted internet history
In the months leading up to the murder, Ackland searched for terms including "Ted Bundy", "Golden State Killer", "Ukrainian serial killer dead bodies", "Fred West", and in the weeks before her death returned back to searching for Fred West and Ted Bundy.
There were 3,216 images on Ackland's phone which included "disturbing and dark" subject matter from horror films, and prosecutor Richard Posner said the killer has a "deep-rooted fascination in death". Mr Posner said it was "not a coindence" Bobbi-Anne died in a similar way to many of Ted Bundy's victims.
Plymouth Live, who have been live blogging the trial from the court, reported the following search history:
August - Ted Bundy sketch
August - Ted Bundy dead victim bodies
September - Golden State Killer
October - Ukrainian serial killer bodies
November - Searched for Australian serial killer and his victim's bodies
November - Fred West.
Week before Bobbi-Anne's death - Searches for Fred West, Ted Bundy etc.
Days before - Searches for US serial killer Richard Chase and his victim's bodies. Searches for Dartmoor and Fernworthy forests.
Day Bobbi-Anne went missing - Searching for B&Q and book about Ted Bundy.
After he came home , after Bobbi-Anne had been murdered, looking at clothing on Urban Outfitters.
He also searched for the detective that was leading the appeal for Bobbi.
Richard Posner, prosecuting, told the court Ackland was leading "a double life" and harboured a fascination with serial killers in the UK, Australia, US and Russia.
Mr Posner said Ackland had conducted extensive searches about "their crimes, the aftermath of such crimes, and the bodies left behind in days leading up to Bobbi-Anne (McLeod's) death".
He said he had also been searching the web pages of DIY stores for "hammers, crowbars and cutting tools".
"Cody Ackland led a double life. When he left home on November 20 and drove through Leigham in Plymouth towards the bus stop where Bobbi-Anne was," the prosecutor said.
"He held such an unhealthy fascination and desire to imitate serial killers. His fascination was to become an unimaneagable wicked reality for Bobbi-Anne."
Killer's "four attempts" to savagely murder Bobbi
At 5.45pm on November 20, Miss McLeod left her home in Leigham to meet her boyfriend and walked to the nearby bus stop on Bampton Road, where she was last seen alive at 6.15pm.
By 7.15pm, the teenager's family were starting to worry and a member of the public found her abandoned mobile phone and Apple AirPod case in the bus stop.
The teenager's boyfriend contacted her family at 9pm asking where she was, and they immediately went out looking for her and appealing on social media.
After handing himself in to police, Ackland asked for a map and directed detectives to Bovisand - where police found her body hours later. Forensic evidence and phone data corroborated Ackland's story, the court heard.
Crime scene investigators located the clothes at the allotments and his blood-stained trainers were found in his wardrobe. Miss McLeod's blood was found in and around his car.
Judge Linford said there was substantial planning by Ackland over committing murder in general.
He said: "You were quite clearly planning murder and did murder."
"There were effectively four attempts to kill her," Judge Linford said. He said they were the initial attack at the bus stop, Ackland trying to strangle Bobbi-Anne in his car, attacking her again with the hammer on the moor and standing on her throat.
He added: "This was a prolonged, savage and merciless attack. It caused outrage and fear in this part of country and rightly so. Utterly motiveless."
Killers chilling last words to Bobbi-Anne
Revisiting Ackland's confession, the court heard his chilling last words to Bobbi before brutally murdering her. Ackland said he approached Bobbi-Anne from behind at the bus stop and hit her from behind with a clawhammer. He said "that was meant to be it" but she looked at him so he did it again.
Ackland said he got in his car and was about to drive away but saw her sit up with blood on her head. He said he then drove up next to Bobbi-Anne and put her in the car and covered her in a jacket to avoid being seen.
Ackland said he then strangled Bobbi-Anne and took her somewhere to dispose of her, thinking she was dead. Ackland said he drove to Bellever Forest and heard Bobbi-Anne so he walked her out of the car, propping her up "like a drunken walk". Bobbi-Anne said she was scared to which Ackland replied "so am I, I've never done this".
Ackland said he 'knew what he had to do' so hit Bobbi-Anne with the hammer 12 times. He said he saw signs of life again and thought "hats off to her" before burning her property. He then put his foot on Bobbi's Anne's throat before feeling that she had died.
The court heard how Bobbi-Anne fought bravely for up to three hours after the initial brain injury before passing away.
Judge said the murder was "determined savagery"
In sentencing, PlymouthLive report that Ackland Judge Linford said: "Bobbi-Anne was just 18 when on November 20 you encountered her at bus stop in Leigham area. She had the whole of her life in front of her until it was brutally and savagely snuffed out by you. She was a much-loved daughter and sister and a well-liked friend to many. She was the light of the family home, loving, loyal and the best daughter her parents could have. Her family struggle to comprehend a future without her."
Judge Linford went on to describe how evidence disclosed Ackland had "a worrying and disturbing interest in serial killers". He spoke of images on his phone including pictures of bodies, post mortems, serial killers. He said: "I am satisfied your interest in this material went beyond morbid fascination."
He added that Ackland was actively looking for tools that could be used to kill and dispose of a body and that his search history included evidence of him searching remote and wooded areas on Dartmoor.
Judge Linford said he was satisfied Ackland was planning to kill. He added: "But I cannot be satisfied you drove into Plymouth to kill that night but it was only going to be a matter of time."
Judge Linford said the murder was "determined savagery" and that he delivered blows intent on killing.
He said: "You put her into the car unconscious and bleeding heavily. You could have stopped and taken her to hospital. You would have been in trouble but not this trouble and Bobbi-Anne could have lived. In the car you tried to strangle the life out of her but failed."
Judge Linford then spoke of how Ackland continued the attack at Dartmoor, saying that his account of Bobbi-Anne's fight to live was "chilling".
He said that so widespread was the search for Bobbi-Anne that not a single person in Plymouth would have been unaware of her disappearance.
Judge Linford said there was substantial planning by Ackland over committing murder in general.
He said: "You were quite clearly planning murder and did murder."
"There were effectively four attempts to kill her," Judge Linford said. He said they were the initial attack at the bus stop, Ackland trying to strangle Bobbi-Anne in his car, attacking her again with the hammer on the moor and standing on her throat.
He added: "This was a prolonged, savage and merciless attack. It caused outrage and fear in this part of country and rightly so. Utterly motiveless."
Judge Linford sentenced Ackland to life in prison, with a minimum term of 31 years.
He added that there is a strong possibility Ackland will never be released.
Bobbi-Anne's family have paid tribute to their "beautiful girl"
Bobbi-Anne McLeod's parents, Adrian and Donna, and brother Lee said they had been robbed of a "beautiful girl" and their lives would never be the same again.
The McLeod family said the student's last hours alive were spent being tortured by Ted Bundy obsessive Cody Ackland.
"We want him to know that he has taken away our world," they said.
"Our lives have changed forever. We have not been able to say goodbye to Bobbi-Anne and we can only imagine the things he did to her - the thoughts are continually going around in our minds.
"Why Bobbi-Anne? Why make her suffer? To know her final hours were spent being tortured destroys us inside.
"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."
They said: "Bobbi was a beautiful girl who lit up our lives and the lives of everyone she ever met. She was kind, funny, and loyal.
"She was the best daughter, the best sister, and the best friend to so many people. Everybody who knew Bobbi loved her.
"We have been robbed of our beautiful girl in the worst possible way and our lives will never be the same without her.
"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."
The family thanked relatives, friends and members of the local community for their help in trying to find Miss McLeod.
"The help and support from everyone, not just friends and family but everyone, everywhere, who helped with all of the posters, posts and messages to bring our baby, our Bobbi, home - thank you," they said.
"To everyone in the police, the investigation team and all of the services, we thank you for everything you have done and for finally getting justice for Bobbi-Anne."
