Murder accused told 999 'I've just killed my girlfriend in the hot tub'

A man accused of murdering his girlfriend told a 999 operator that he “definitely killed” her by stabbing her “about 40 times”, a court has heard.

Aren Pearson, 41, made the admission during an emergency services phone call made by his mother Hazel from her home in Sandness, Shetland, on February 11, 2024.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh heard on Tuesday how Hazel phoned the emergency services because Aren told her he killed his partner Claire Leveque.

The court heard that Claire was in a hot tub and was played an audio recording of the call made by Hazel.

They heard Aren take the phone from his mum to tell the operator that he also stabbed himself and that he drove his Porsche into the “ocean”.

Pearson wept as the recording was played to the jury. A court official handed a security guard who sat beside Pearson in the dock a tissue, which was then passed to the accused.

He daubed his eyes as jurors heard him say: “Hello, hi, my name is Aren Pearson. I’ve just killed my girlfriend in the hot tub in the garage.

“I stabbed her about 40 times in the heart, stomach, face, neck and back.

“I stabbed myself in the neck four times.”

The evidence emerged on the first day of proceedings against Pearson, a Canadian citizen, who was living in Shetland with his mother at the time of the alleged murder.

He denies murdering Claire at a property called Ringville in Sandness on February 11, 2024, and other charges.

During proceedings on Tuesday, the jury heard Hazel tell the emergency operator in a 48-minute-long call that Claire was also from Canada.

Hazel also told the operator that her son was acting “aggressively” and had turned “extremely violent” in the three weeks leading up to the incident.

She said that her son had lots of “issues” and that he had mental health problems.

She also told the operator that the hot tub was “full of blood.” She said: “I tried to get her out of the water. He’s done something really terrible.”

Hazel said that Claire’s injuries were so bad she didn’t recognise her.

Hazel added: “She’s bleeding and she’s dying in a hot tub in the shed.”

Dana Jamieson, 37, a former police officer, told the court that she was among the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the scene.

She said that a person in the hot tub was “lifeless” and that Pearson was in the water with her.

Ms Jamieson added: “She was floating on her back.”

She said the water was black. Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson KC later described the liquid as “blood in the water”.

At the start of proceedings on Tuesday, jurors were read a statement of evidence which prosecutors and defence lawyers have agreed is proven and uncontroversial.

The jurors heard that the cause of Claire’s death was established as “stab wounds of the neck and chest”.

The jurors also heard it was agreed that the male voice heard on the emergency services call was Aren Pearson and that Hazel died aged 72 on May 19, 2025.

The jurors were also read the contents of a legal document detailing the charges against Pearson.

Prosecutors claim that on February 11, 2024, at a garage at Ringville, Pearson assaulted Claire, his partner, by repeatedly striking her on the head, neck and body with a knife. They also claim that Pearson repeatedly inflicted blunt force trauma to her head, neck and body by “means to the prosecutor unknown”.

Prosecutors then claim that Pearson compressed her neck and did “submerge her head and body in water” and that he murdered her.

He faces a total of seven charges.

The first charge claims that between October 21, 2023, and February 11, 2024, at locations in Shetland, Pearson behaved in a “threatening and abusive manner” towards Claire. He is alleged to have acted aggressively towards her.

The second charge claims that on various occasions between October 21, 2023 and January 31, 2024, Pearson assaulted Claire by inflicting “blunt force trauma” to her head and body.

In the third charge, it’s claimed on January 2, 2024, at another property in Sandness, Pearson acted in an aggressive and threatening manner by uttering remarks that he possessed “grenades”.

The fifth charge states that he defeated to attempt the ends of justice following the alleged murder.

He is said to have sent messages to Clint Leveque and Arran Jack informing them that he intended to provide Claire with money and a plane ticket. He is said to have told Clint Leveque that Claire was in “good health” and that he had booked flights for her to return to Canada.

Prosecutors say he undertook these actions to “avoid detection” for murdering Claire and with the “intent to defeat the ends of justice” and that he “did attempt to defeat the ends of justice”.

The sixth charge claims that he acted in a “threatening and abusive manner” by driving a car into the sea and by taking possession of a knife and striking himself with the blade in the neck in the presence of his mother.

The final charge claims he repeatedly shouted, swore and uttered offensive remarks to police officers during a trip in an ambulance between the house where the alleged murder took place and the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick, Shetland on February 11, 2024.

Pearson had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. The trial, before Judge Lord Arthurson, continues on Wednesday.