'Wholly Depraved' Man Jailed for Murdering Woman

A "wholly depraved'' man who murdered a young mother and raped two others as she lay dead has been jailed for life.

Steven Mathieson, 38, stabbed 23-year-old Luciana Maurer 44 times after inviting her to his home in Falkirk.

He then called two other women, aged 22 and 26, to his house and repeatedly raped them.

The pair managed to escape and ran naked from the house to seek help.

Sentencing Mathieson at the High Court in Livingston today, Lord Bannatyne jailed him for life and ordered him to serve at least 22 years behind bars.

He said Ms Maurer must have been "terrified'' during the attack, which happened on December 4 last year.

In his sentencing statement, posted on the Judiciary of Scotland website, he said: "Your actings have deprived her parents of their daughter and deprived a young girl of her mother. The lives of these people have been devastated by what you did.

"However you did not stop there. You had also invited two other young women to your house.

"When they arrived, you subjected them to a sustained, degrading and terrifying attack, involving their being repeatedly raped.

"Throughout this attack they must have feared for their lives. A particularly appalling part of the attack on these women was that the initial part of it took place in the bedroom where the body of the deceased was lying.

"Your actings can only be described as wholly depraved.''

He said the only explanation for these "terrible and senseless crimes'' was that Mathieson had taken a lot of cocaine, which he had taken on many occasions before. However, the judge said this did not provide mitigation.

Mathieson pleaded guilty to rape and murder charges at an earlier court appearance, police said.

Detective Inspector David Pinkney, of the Police Scotland major investigation team, said: "These women were subject to a brutal and depraved attack which has been extremely traumatic for them, their families and the wider community.

"I'd like to commend the bravery of the two young women and Luciana's family throughout the investigation, and thank them for their assistance with our inquiries.

"Police Scotland welcome this sentence and, although nothing can undo Mathieson's actions that night, I hope that this will give his victims and all those affected by his crimes some sense of closure.''