Police ScotlandTwo killers who brutally tortured and murdered a mother-of-three have been jailed for a total of at least 42 years.
Michelle Ramage, 43, and Ryan Hill, 27, subjected Susan Turner to a horrific ordeal, inflicting more than 130 injuries.
Ramage was angered after discovering Ms Turner had been texting her boyfriend Jason Bell, 51.
The 41-year-old was attacked at Bell’s flat in Ayr, including being bludgeoned with various weapons.
On Thursday, Ramage and Hill were handed life sentences at the High Court in Glasgow.
Ramage was jailed for a minimum of 22 years after earlier pleading guilty to the March 2023 murder.
Hill was jailed for at least 20 years after jurors found him guilty of the same charge.
Lord Mulholland told the pair: “You have both been convicted of the murder of a defenceless woman, who posed no threat to either of you.
“As she was being subjected to the homicidal assault, she begged you to let her go.
“You ignored her pleas and subjected her to a brutal and cowardly assault.
“It was akin to torture clearly designed to demean and disfigure her as a woman.”
The judge warned the pair that they may never be freed.
The trial heard how Ms Turner stayed near to Jason Bell’s flat at the time.
Bell’s brother told the court that Ms Turner would visit him two to three times a day.
Prosecutor Chris McKenna asked if Ramage had been aware of the victim being in contact with her partner by text.
Jurors heard Bell’s brother told police in a statement that Ms Turner had “constantly ” texted Bell.
He said: “Michelle… you could see was getting annoyed. She was becoming jealous – that was obvious.”
Ramage was said to have confronted Ms Turner before killing her.
Bell is said to have told his brother, “They are going to end up murdering her” or “They are going to end up doing away with her”.
Bell was sitting outside his flat when police arrived.
Officers had to force entry to the dimly lit property.
Sergeant Craig McLachlan recalled “the very strong smell of blood” in the air and then “a visibly deceased female” with injuries lying on the floor.
Bell was asked who the woman was but claimed not to know.
In his closing speech, Mr McKenna told jurors there was “barely a part of Susan Turner’s body that was not injured”.
Susan had three children aged between nine and 23.
The prosecutor said Ramage had 37 previous convictions, including a five-year jail term for abduction and serious assault in 2010.
Hill had 11 previous convictions, with a number also for violence. He was on bail at the time for assault.
Bell had also faced the murder charge, but he was acquitted by jurors at the trial.
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