CHESTER, England, March 25 (UPI) -- A British horror film fanatic was sentenced to a minimum 30 years in prison for killing a friend in a way eerily reminiscent of a scene in his favorite movie.
Gary George, 41, who prosecutors said is homeless, tortured and killed his best friend, Andrew McNall, 53, Aug. 30 after McNall got too drunk to defend himself.
Prosecutors said George stabbed McNall 49 times inside his Chester home, including making ritual knife marks on the man's chest then pouring salt in the wounds. He also splashed the man's eyes with cleaning fluid.
The wounds were remarkably similar to a 2009 Australian horror flick, "The Loved Ones," prosecutors said. They said George was obsessed with the movie.
"You killed him in a most cruel and sadistic way and you enjoyed doing so," Judge Elgan Edwards said when sentencing George. "I am satisfied that in behaving in the way you did, you were aping the conduct in a film of which you were obsessed, namely 'The Loved Ones.'"
George pleaded guilty after a trial had gotten under way last week, The Mirror said Monday.
