He Unalived Ex-Girlfriend, Cut Off Her New Lover's Genitals & S.A.'ed The Roommate

A man with a long history of domestic violence fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend and cut off her new lover’s penis before murdering him and raping a third person.

On May 15, 2023, 35-year-old Marcus Osborne of Huddersfield had bad intentions when he broke into the home he once lived in with his now ex-girlfriend. Kate Higton, 27, was on a date at the theater with her new boyfriend, Steven Harnett, 25, leaving her roommate in the apartment alone with four children.

Osborne had been released from jail on May 13 after police picked him up on charges of threatening to kill Higton and Harnett.

Osborne “Lay in Wait” For Higton to Return From Date

Higton and Harnett enjoyed a lovely evening together. After their date, Harnett dropped her off at her apartment and made his way home, unaware that Osborne lay in wait for her to walk through the front door.

Osborne attacked his ex-girlfriend as soon as she entered the apartment. An autopsy later revealed that she had been stabbed 99 times in the face and body. He wanted to disfigure her before the murder, a Leeds court judge would later say. Higton fought for her life but it wasn’t enough against the crazed Osborne.

With his ex-girlfriend dead, Osborne retrieved her cell phone and texted Harnett asking him to return to the apartment. Under the belief that Higton had texted him, Harnett made the drive back to her apartment.

Harnett was blindsided when Osborne opened the front door and brutally attacked him with the same knife he used to kill Higton. Osborne stabbed Harnett 24 times, and then while he was still alive, cut off the man’s penis and testicles.

With both people dead, Osborne moved the bodies together on the living room floor and said, “Romeo and Juliet can die together now, can’t they?”

Osborne held the roommate hostage throughout the night, during which time he brutally raped her.

The following morning, Osborne invited a neighbor over to the house to see the bodies before fleeing the area. He later turned himself in to authorities.

Higton Afraid of Osborne

Higton and Osborne spent five years together before she ended things with him in 2022 after an assault. When Highton spoke to police, she told them Osborne had assaulted her several times during their relationship, including one incident in which he threw a cat at her.

In the days before Osborne killed her, Higton called the police and told them that he said he would “slit her throat if she said what he had done” and that “if she ever got a boyfriend he would kill them both.”

He was ordered to stay away from Higton but spied on her several days before breaking into her house the night of the murders. He learned of the relationship after hacking into his ex-girlfriend’s Snapchat account.

Osborne had convictions for violent offenses against two previous partners in 2011 and 2012.

Whole Life Term

Osborne was convicted of the double murders. In March 2024, the Leeds Crown Court handed him a whole life term. He will never get out of prison.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-68439179

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-68445830

RIP Kate and Steve.

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