// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Man who murdered stepmother's ex and ate finger jailed for life
Gabriel Brown stabbed Joseph Ernest Johnston 22 times in the attack
Warning: this story contains graphic content which some readers might find distressing
A murderer who stabbed his victim 22 times before cooking and eating his finger and setting his flat on fire has been jailed for 23 years.
Gabriel Brown killed Joseph Ernest Johnston, 58, at the victim's home in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, on 19 November 2024.
Brown, 35, had denied murder with a special defence that he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time and believed he had been possessed by the spirit of 19th Century occultist Aleister Crowley.
However, Brown was found guilty of the "sustained, merciless and vicious attack" at an earlier trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
Johnston was pronounced dead at the scene when emergency crews were called to the fire on Lady Street.
The trial heard Johnston had previously been in a relationship with Brown's stepmother.
Joseph Ernest Johnston was attacked in his home in Annan
Brown, a convicted sex offender, had targeted Johnston over claims of what he had been told about their time together.