FAMILY’S HELL 

Mum interrupted sicko as he killed my sister – when he burnt body he invited neighbours to WATCH & said it was mannequin

FIGHTING back tears, brave Gemma Aitchison sat through the harrowing recount of her sister’s murder in court – until one shocking detail left her reeling.

It wasn’t the horrific truth that her younger sister, Sasha Marsden, 16, had been raped and killed just five months earlier in January 2013.

Sasha Marsden was raped and killed in January 2013Credit: SWNS
 

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Heartbreakingly her mum Jayne (seen with husband Gary) had knocked on the door of the killer’s homeCredit: SWNS
The teenager had been lured to her death by hotel worker David Minto with the promise of a job interview at the Grafton House Hotel in Blackpool, Lancashire – a sick lie that ended with Sasha being stabbed 58 times in the head, neck and face before her body was dumped in an alleyway.

But as the grim details of the case unfolded at Preston Crown Court that July, a chilling revelation emerged which stopped Gemma in her tracks.

For the very first time, she learned that in the hours after Sasha was killed, her own parents had unknowingly come face-to-face with her murderer – all while their daughter’s body lay just yards away.

Speaking on episode two of the vodcast Key Witness: Aftermath, Gemma, 40, a feminist activist from Bolton, Greater Manchester, said: “I didn’t find out about the confrontation until the trial.

David Minto lured Sasha to the hotel he worked at with the promise of a job interviewCredit: SWNS
 

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Gemma Aitchison was left horrified by the details of her sister’s trialCredit: SWNS
 

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Sasha was murdered at the hotel before Minto attempted to burn her bodyCredit: SWNS
 

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Sasha’s wounds were so severe her body had to be identified using DNA from her toothbrushCredit: SWNS
“My mum went round to the hotel and knocked on – and spoke to David Minto – while he was in the midst of killing my sister.

“She didn’t know that at the time, of course.

“But what went through my mind was how horrible for my mum. That must be awful for her to know.

“She was stood at the door with him and Sasha was in the house – who I imagine was desperate for her mum.

“But I can only imagine how she was feeling because she didn’t talk about stuff.”

Sasha met Minto through a mutual friend on a night out in Blackpool in 2012.

A year later, he contacted the teen who was studying childcare at the time, asking if she was interested in a part time job as a cleaner at the hotel he was staying at, run by his girlfriend’s mother.

When she failed to return home on January 31, her frantic parents, Jayne and Gary Marsden, went straight to the hotel on Kirby Road – Sasha had said she was heading there – in search of answers.

Instead, they were met by Minto himself – who at first glance, seemed like a “good Samaritan.”

But they had no idea that the man standing before them had coldly lied about Sasha’s whereabouts and in fact had already murdered their daughter – whose mutilated body was lying just yards away.

Recalling the investigation, Gemma said: “He [Minto] told so many lies.

“I didn’t really take on board all the different stories at the time.

“But I remember him claiming a three-foot by three-foot pool of blood that had soaked through three layers of carpet underlay was just a nosebleed.

“And he said he’d walked Sasha to meet her dad – even though CCTV proved that wasn’t true.”

Police quickly closed in, and on February 3, 2013, Minto was arrested and charged with Sasha’s murder.

Her blood was found on his clothes, throughout the hotel and on the kitchen knife used in the attack – which was bent at the tip.

He had inflicted devastating injuries before attempting to burn her body in an alleyway, where she was later found wrapped in carpet underlay and bin bags.

The wounds were so severe, Sasha had to be identified using DNA from her toothbrush.

Gemma said: “I learned during the trial that Minto was almost excited to show people what he’d done.

“He told neighbours there was a mannequin burning in the alley and invited them to come and look.

“He kept changing his story – by the time we got to court, we were probably on version four.

“I tried to see if there was any humanity in him – but there was nothing there.”

On July 26, 2013, Minto was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years.

It meant he could be eligible for parole in 2048.

But for Gemma, the sentence never felt like enough.

“I wasn’t particularly happy,” she said.

“I thought – he can come out, have children, live a life.

“Sasha was 16. She didn’t get that chance.

“It just felt really inappropriate.”

While Gemma tries not to think about her sister’s killer, she recently learned he was himself attacked by another inmate at HMP Wakefield in October 2025.

His attacker admitted attempted murder in April this year.

Commenting on the news, Gemma said: “I read it in an article and I’m glad he’s experiencing as much fear as he put my sister through.

“He knows he’s not safe and I feel like he’s now living how teenage girls live – always looking over their shoulders.”

She added: “I’m glad he didn’t die, because I see it’s more of a punishment he’s living in fear.

“But most of the time, it’s mixed emotions.”

Since Sasha’s death, Gemma has channelled her grief into campaigning against sexual violence.

She founded the support group Yes Matters UK, while also pushing for compulsory PSHE lessons to better educate young people and support victims.

Her family has continued to campaign for tougher sentencing laws, and Gemma says she is “incredibly proud” of her sister Katie, whose efforts helped secure the introduction of Sasha’s Law, giving victims more time to challenge lenient prison sentences.

Her family has also battled for tougher sentencing laws, and Gemma is “incredibly proud” of her other sister, Katie’s, achievement of Sasha’s Law to give victims more time to challenge lenient prison terms.

“Women are still seen as objects while men are seen as the subjects, so crime against them don’t matter as much,” Gemma said.

“That’s why my sister didn’t matter, Sarah Everard didn’t matter – you don’t ask a chair before you sit on it ‘can I have consent to sit on you? What are your hopes and dreams?’ – we don’t care about that.

“I’m doing work around pornography and its affects on young people that push these thoughts,” she added.

“I’ve promised to myself that if I ever see a girl or a woman who’s in danger, I’ll always step in.

“Sasha was an annoying teenage girl – like they all are and I’m saying that as an ex-teenage girl myself – who was starting her life.

“But it’s how society views teenage girls – and what we allow to happen to them – that’s why she died.”

Key Witness: Aftermath is a collaboration between social producers Creatorville and content agency SWNS.

The weekly vodcast is released on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

CRE: https://www.thesun.ie/news/17027813/mum-knocked-on-killers-door-sisters-body-inside/