For the past three and a half weeks the family of Elle Edwards were forced to listen to the lies, obstructions and brazenly criminal attitude of her killer Connor Chapman.
As his lawyers did their best to mount a defence to a stack of overwhelming evidence, the story of the beautiful, popular and kind young women could not be fully told.
But, with Chapman cast out of society for at least nearly half a century, the time came to remember the woman whose life was senselessly, recklessly snatched away. Elle died enjoying herself, chatting outside the Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey Village on Christmas Eve.
READ MORE: Connor Chapman jailed for at least 48 years for murder of Elle Edwards
The pride her dad, Tim Edwards, felt in his daughter was obvious as his victim personal statement was read in court. He spoke of how the beautician and dental nurse was "reaching her peak" and was "the happiest I had ever seen her".
Speaking to the ECHO earlier, Mr Edwards described how Elle loved visiting her sister, Lucy, in Dubai, and was working to achieve her professional goals. He said: "She was a beautician for many years, she had a place in a salon that she’d do at the weekends. She was also a dental nurse for a good few years so that was her bread and butter, if you like, and she was back and forwards with her sister (Lucy) to Dubai. When she had the chance she would be out there doing what any 26-year-old should be doing. "
Elle's relationship with her siblings Connor, Lucy and George was a major cornerstone of her life. In court, a statement from older brother Connor was also read. He spoke of her warmth, writing: "We were born into a big loving family which had huge amounts of energy. Our childhood has many many happy memories thanks to our mum and dad growing up. We were brought up to love and respect each other, we were always out and never ever in. We had numerous family holidays and spent lots of time with our grandparents.
"Me and Elle grew up side by side through our teenage years and were very close. We would argue of course as most siblings do but it was never anything serious. We had a great friendship which remained solid.
"We would have really good conversations, Elle would always compliment you, she knew what you were doing in your life and would make you feel good about yourself.
Speaking of elle's relationship with Lucy, he said: "They were best mates as well as sisters. They had the best of both worlds where they could fight and argue like sisters do but they’d also have the good times as best mates do. They had a really good relationship, very close, tight."
Connor spoke of how he met his partner, Kirby, through his sister, and described how their four-year-old son Roman misses his Auntie Elle.
He said: "How to explain to a four year old why Auntie Elle is no longer here is just impossible. He looks at pictures of Elle and points to the sky and tells his nursery teachers that he misses her. No four year old should be having these emotions and feeling the way he is."
Elle's mum, Gaynor has been too grief-stricken to attend court during the trial. She penned a few words to be read in court, which amounted to a gut-wrenching cry of despair. She said: "First of all I want to know why you have done this? And what drove you to do this to my daughter. Since Elle has been gone I have never been the same. I can’t except that she is gone and I still think she will come home.
"Elle looked after me as I suffered with my health and since Elle has been gone my health has deteriorated and I cannot put into words how much I miss and love her."
Elle was a caring and loving to her family, a characterisation repeated time and again in court. People described how she went out of her way to spend time with her grandparents, how she spoiled her little nephew. In one of the most hauntingly sad statements heard in court, her grandma, Sue Edwards, described how Elle booked an afternoon tea at a castle in Cheshire for her birthday, telling her "Every Queen has to have her own castle."
Sue wrote: "Who does that? Someone very special does that, and went that extra mile to make me happy."
Elle and her sister were also, unlike so many young girls, far from embarrassed to go out drinking and partying with their old man. Mr Edwards told the ECHO how the three would "get rotten drunk" together and "always get into trouble".
He smiled as he remembered a night out at the Christmas markets in Manchester, days before her death. "That got messy", he chuckled.
One thing is uncontroversial, Elle Edwards will be remembered, and thanks to a stunning memorial mural of her face on the gable end of a row of houses in New Brighton, not only in the memories of her friends and family.
As Tim Edwards told the court: "It is hard to focus on the future when no matter what we do there is nothing we can do to bring our daughter back. But for as long as U live I will do my best to make sure her name, Elle Marlene Edwards, is never forgotten and people will always want to know what she was like, and hopefully use her name going forward to help those who need it, as that is what she would have done herself."
