Man guilty of murdering girlfriend in hot tub

A man has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in a hot tub in Shetland.

Aren Pearson, 41, stabbed 24-year-old Claire Leveque to death at his mother's home in Sandness on 11 February last year.

The couple, who are both from Canada, had moved to Scotland in 2023.

Pearson denied murder and claimed in court that Ms Leveque had stabbed herself - but a jury found him guilty after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

He is due to be sentenced after 14:00.

Ms Leveque died after being stabbed more than 25 times on her neck and chest.

Pearson admitted stabbing Ms Leveque in a call to a 999 operator and also confessed to police officers at the crime scene.

Jurors heard that Pearson's late mother Hazel Pearson, who died in May, had told police that on the evening of the murder her son had walked into the kitchen and returned with a knife.

He stabbed himself in the neck and told her that he had hurt his girlfriend.

Ms Pearson then found Ms Leveque in the hot tub, which was in a shed at her home.

"The water was red with blood," she told police.

"Claire was covered with blood. She had severe injuries to her face."

The trial heard Pearson told a hospital doctor he had been "trying to get rid of her for a while".

Pearson was taken to the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick after being detained by police.

The jury heard that he said he had stabbed himself in the neck, consumed brake fluid and driven his Porsche car into the water.

A&E consultant Dr Caroline Heggie treated him for two days following his arrest.

Prosecutor Margaret Barron asked Dr Heggie if Pearson had said something that stuck with her.

She replied: "He said: 'I've been trying to get rid of her for a while'."

Ms Leveque's father Clint said his daughter had been "happy, positive and so friendly to everybody".

Speaking to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Mr Leveque said his daughter was "a typical daddy's girl".

"My daughter texted me every night: 'I love you dad'. Every night of her life," he said.

"There's nothing negative that anybody could possibly say about her."

Mr Leveque said his daughter, who grew up in Westloch, Alberta, had a love of adventure.

"There's no words to describe this whole situation," he added.