The teenage son of a millionaire farmer has been sentenced to life for murdering his 15-year-old lover in a ‘ferocious and merciless attack’ to stop the schoolboy exposing their sexual affair to his girlfriend.
Matthew Mason, 20, will serve a minimum of 28 years in prison after he was convicted of the pre-meditated murder of 15-year-old Alex Rodda at Chester Crown Court earlier this month.
During the trial, the court heard Mason lured Alex Rodda to remote woodland near the village of Ashley in Cheshire with the promise of sex before beating him to death with a wrench.
Mason, who was 18 at the time, had been involved in an intimate sexual relationship with Alex.
But in chilling messages revealed during the trial, the 15-year-old allegedly threatened to expose their affair after finding out Mason had been dating a girl for two years, the court heard.
In the week before the murder, Mason made internet searches for phrases including ‘what would happen if you kicked someone down the stairs’, ‘everyday poison’ and ‘The mysteries of Cheshire unsolved deaths of missing people’.
Alex’s semi-naked body was found by refuse collectors on December 13, 2019.His head and body had suffered at least 15 blows.
Sentencing Mason to a life term, the Honorary Recorder of Chester Judge Steven Everett told him: ‘This was a pre-meditated murder, carefully planned and, in my judgment, ruthlessly carried out showing no empathy for your victim and a callous disregard for his family and friends.’
Matthew Mason, 20, (left) admitted bludgeoning 15-year-old Alex Rodda (right) to death with a wrench in woods in Ashley, Cheshire, on December 12, 2019
The 20-year-old had used a heavy and long wrench (pictured) to repeatedly beat 15-year-old Alex to the head and body with an estimated 15 separate blows and causing fatal injuries
Mason dragged Alex’s body to the track at the side of the road in an attempt to put him inside his car.After failing, he drove away. Mason had dried blood on his hands and inside his car was a bin bag with his blood-stained green fleece, the wrench and Alex’s large padded jacket
Mason drove Alex to a wooded area in Cheshire and subjected him to a ferocious and attack
Matthew Mason (pictured left), 20, bludgeoned Alex Rodda (right), 15, to death with a EFFICERE 24-Piece Master Combination Wrench Set in Ashley, Cheshire.Mason admitted hitting Rodda with the wrench but denied murder
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS news" data-version="2" id="mol-68c38630-5f0d-11eb-b795-0dd9fa41ac65" website 19, sentenced to life for murdering boy, 15, in woodland