Teen obsessed with vampires faces charges for grisly murder

LONDON -- A teen-ager obsessed with vampires killed an elderly neighbor and drank her blood because he believed that would make him immortal, prosecutors said Tuesday at the start of his murder trial.

The 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of killing 90-year-old widow Mabel Leyshon at her home in Llanfair in north Wales on Nov. 24.

He denies the charge.

Prosecutors said Leyshon's chest was ripped open and her heart removed, wrapped in newspaper and placed in a saucepan on top of a silver platter. Blood was drained from her legs, probably for drinking, prosecutors told the jury at Mold Crown Court.

Prosecutor Roger Thomas said the teen-ager was obsessed by "his two main questions -- how do I become a vampire and how do I become immortal?"

The defendant decided "a sacrifice, the murder of another human being, was necessary," Thomas said.

The prosecution said the teen entered Leyshon's house by breaking glass in the back door and attacked her from behind as she watched television, stabbing her 22 times and removing her heart.

Thomas said the defendant "was fascinated by" vampires.

"He believed they existed, believed they drank human blood, and believed most importantly that they could achieve immortality -- and he wanted to be immortal," he said.