A fugitive murderer has been given a life sentence after killing a “kind and generous” mother before going on the run.
Alexander Carr spent 18 days at large after attacking Michelle Hanson at her flat in Sunderland on 1 December last year.
A wanted appeal was issued nationwide and armed police eventually tracked him down hiding in a tent in London. His arrest was captured in body-worn camera footage.
After an evening of socialising together, Carr subjected the vulnerable mother-of-five to a violent and sustained attack in her flat in the Pallion area of Sunderland.
Carr, 33, stabbed Hanson at least 29 times, before fleeing the scene and going into hiding. He soon became prime suspect after forensic evidence linked him to the scene.
Hanson’s daughter, Shannon Brown, issued an emotional plea through the media, asking Carr to hand himself in.
Two weeks into his disappearance, Northumbria police received information that Carr had travelled to London from Lincolnshire and was hiding out in a tent near Upper Holloway train station. Armed officers from the Metropolitan police found him hiding inside with a knife.
Carr appeared at Newcastle crown court on Friday and was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 19 years and three months. He pleaded guilty to murder last month.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Brown said: “My mam was taken in such a vicious and mindless attack. We believe that her last moments would have been spent in fear.
“To think she welcomed this evil person into her house as a friend is unbearable. He has taken advantage of a vulnerable, kind and loving woman.
“My mam was a kind and caring woman with a huge heart. She had an infectious smile, a brilliant sense of humour. She was a character and was always vulnerable to people taking advantage of her. But she would never hurt anyone and always saw the good in people.
“We all feel lost without her. I would speak to her regularly, she was the first person I’d turn to if I was happy, sad or angry. She was my best friend. She was my rock.”
DCI Graeme Barr, of Northumbria police, said: “Carr has shown no remorse and has never provided an explanation for why he murdered Michelle, a woman who invited him into her home as a friend. He killed her in her own home and then fled thinking we would never catch him.”
