‘Vampire killer’ convicted of murder
A man who beat and stabbed his best friend to death and drank his blood has been convicted today of his murder.
Allan Menzies, from Fauldhouse, West Lothian, killed 21-year-old Thomas McKendrick, also from Fauldhouse, after an argument about a vampire film.
Menzies claimed that he was ordered to carry out the attack by a character in the horror flick Queen of the Damned. He also admitted to eating part of his friend’s head.
The jury heard that the 22-year-old became obsessed with Hitler and teenage vampire killer Mathew Hardman and watched Queen of the Damned over 100 times in the months prior to the killing.
Former security guard Menzies claimed that the film’s lead character, Akasha, had visited him and promised him immortality if he killed someone.
The High Court in Edinburgh was told that he snapped on December 11th last year when his friend insulted the vampire character, played by the late singer Aaliyah.
He dumped the corpse in a wheelie bin and later buried him in a shallow grave in nearby woodland.
Menzies believes that he is now a vampire and immortal.
Mr McKendrick’s family welcomed the verdict.
Menzies will be sentenced later. He had denied murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice and remained impassive as the guilty verdict was returned.
He had previously offered to plead guilty to culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but was rejected by the crown on the grounds that, while Menzies suffered from a severe personality disorder, he was not insane. The jury was told he was described as having an anti-social psychopathic personality.
