New Year killer jailed for murdering sister’s boyfriend after being caught on pet-cam
Murray’s undoing was a pet camera installed to monitor his dogs, which had captured the attack on video.
A man who stabbed his sister’s boyfriend to death with a combat knife just minutes before New Year has been locked up for a minimum of 18 years.
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Anthony Murray, 25, from Tarn Drive in Bury, plunged the knife into the back of Joe Burton, 23, just eleven minutes before midnight in 2025 after an evening of drinking and taking drugs at Murray’s flat.
The court heard how a row had broken out over Mr Burton’s drinking and the impact of that on Murray’s sister, Kayleigh, who was present in the flat and intoxicated to the point of not being able to stand. There was then a further altercation over his dogs after Mr Burton suggested they should be put in their cage.
Having plunged the combat knife 18cm into the back of Mr Burton, severing his aorta and causing almost instant death, Murray rang family members to spin his version of events before making efforts to remove the knife and its sheath from the flat.
When police arrived, he told them he had come home from a day at the pub and found Mr Burton lying at the bottom of the stairs injured and suggested he must have been stabbed by somebody else.
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Murray’s undoing was a pet camera installed to monitor his dogs, which had captured the attack on video, and, when faced with the footage, the 25-year-old said he had no explanation for his actions and had blocked out what had happened.
The Judge at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court told Murray he accepted he was psychologically vulnerable and had a history of poor health and self-harm. Still, he did not accept that removed his responsibility for what he did, or the lies he subsequently told.
Murray, who showed no emotion during the sentencing hearing, was asked to stand as he was sentenced to a life sentence with a minimum of 18 years in prison.
Mr Burton’s mum, Jeanette, sobbed through the hearing and stared at Murray in the dock throughout. In a victim impact statement, she said: “There was only one Joe, he was loving, caring and full of life.
“He was so kind-hearted… he was a dad who had all his little girl’s milestones taken from him; riding a bike, first day at school… we as a family are not just grieving for Joe, but the future he has lost with us.
“It’s left a massive void in our family.”