Serial-killer obsessed Cody Ackland has been jailed for life for the murder of Bobbi-Anne McLeod, 18. Judge Linford sentenced Ackland to life in prison, with a minimum term of 31 years time less served already.
Ackland, 24, who was a guitarist with local indie band Rakuda, was leading a double life and had a secret morbid fascination with serial killers, particular US murderer Ted Bundy.
The car valet was unknown to the police when he bludgeoned 18-year-old Bobbi-Anne McLeod with a claw hammer.
Plymouth Crown Court heard Ackland attacked her as she waited for a bus in Plymouth in November last year.
Sentencing, Judge Robert 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 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."
He said: "You put her into the car unconscious and bleeding heavily. You could have stopped and took her to hospital. You would have been in trouble but not this trouble and Bobbi-Anne could have lived."
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.
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."
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.
At a previous hearing, Ackland, of Radcliffe Close, Southway, Plymouth pleaded guilty to murder.
Cody Ackland first appeared at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court last November accused of murder (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
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.”
A woman lays flowers on Sheepstor Road in Plymouth (Ben Birchall/PA)
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.
Devon and Cornwall Police launched a missing person inquiry.
On Tuesday at lunchtime, he left work to walk to a police station to confess to murdering Miss McLeod.
He 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.
The court heard that police found a trove of over 3,000 dark and disturbing images on Ackland’s phone.
Many of them were of the mutilated bodies of murder victims, as well as murder weapons, soiled and bloodied clothing, and the sites where victims were found.
Ackland’s attack on Miss McLeod bore a striking resemblance to 1970s American serial killer Bundy’s modus operandi, in that he approached her from behind and struck her with the hammer before kidnapping her.
Rakuda, who released their first EP in August last year, announced in November they would disband “with immediate effect”, but weeks later said they would be taking a “short hiatus from the music scene” with a view to reforming in the spring of 2022.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Stephanie Blundell, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said of Cody Ackland’s sentence for the murder of 18-year-old student Bobbi-Anne McLeod: “I welcome today’s sentence, however today does not bring cause for celebration.
“This was a shocking and brutal crime which led to a young life being tragically cut short and changed the lives of Bobbi’s family forever. The details of the case heard today were harrowing, particularly for Bobbi’s family.
“I would like to thank the investigators who worked on this case, including the detectives, uniformed officers, forensic investigators and all of the support teams who conducted themselves professionally and sensitively in a case of such distressing nature.
“I would like to commend Bobbi-Anne’s family – Donna, Adrian and Lee – for the strength, courage and resilience they have demonstrated throughout the investigation process and in particular, today’s hearing.
“The senseless and evil acts of one man have devastated their lives and I hope that today’s outcome brings them a sense of justice.
“The impact of this case has been felt far and wide across the communities of Plymouth, particularly in Leigham.
“It has been heartening to see the community come together in support of Bobbi’s family. I hope the community can now focus on healing and recovery, knowing that Ackland will be in prison for a substantial length of time.”
In a statement released by Devon and Cornwall Police after the sentencing, the family of Bobbi-Anne McLeod 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.
“I 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.
“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.”
The statement from Bobbi-Anne McLeod’s family continued: “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.
“We do want to say thank you to everyone. There is no piece of paper, bulletin board, flyer, or anything big enough out there on which we can say thank you.
“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.
“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.”
Ian Wilkinson, senior crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in the south-west of England, said: “Bobbi-Anne was just 18 years old when her life was taken away in the most cruel and shocking manner.
“As this case reaches its end, our thoughts are very much with Bobbi-Anne’s family as they continue to live with what Cody Ackland did.
“The CPS were involved with the case from the start of the investigation following the discovery of Bobbi-Anne’s body.
“We worked closely alongside our partners in the police to build the strongest possible case to ensure that Ackland was held responsible for what he did.
“Violence against women and girls has a devastating effect on victims and their families.
“The CPS is dedicated to working with our partners in the criminal justice system to bring offenders to justice and make the public safer.”
