She Was Stabbed to Death — Now Her Boyfriend is Telling a Chilling Story

On a remote Scottish island, 24year-old. Clare Lec was found dead in a hot tub. And authorities suspect her boyfriend, 41-year-old Aaron Pearson, brutally. stabbed her. But Pearson's own account. of how Clare died, it is as shocking as. it may be hard to believe. And we are. going to break it all down with. international law attorney David Tafur. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. You know, some stories they start. quietly. It's almost innocuous. It's.

like every other day. There is no sign. of what is about to happen. And then. when the story develops and you hear. what happens, it settles in your chest. This is one of those stories. I want you. to imagine this remote Scottish island. The winds whipping off the North Sea. There's a house that seems ordinary from. the outside, but inside the air, it is. thick with tension. And by the end of. that night, a life is gone. There is a.

family that's shattered. And the local. community is stunned by this. And now in. a courtroom in Edinburgh, what one man. has just told the jury is so shocking, you have to wonder, is the jury going to. believe it. This is the tragic and. twisting case that has unfolded over the. past week at the high court in. Edinburgh. The story begins with. 24-year-old Claire Levc originally from. Westlock, Alberta in Canada, living and. working in Edmonton. There she met Aaron.

Pearson, a 41-year-old Canadian who also. held British citizenship. This is. according to the CBC. Now, at some point. they decided to leave Canada behind for. a while and visit the Shetland Islands. This is a remote archipelago in northern. Scotland where the CBC reports Pearson. had family connections, including his. mother, Hazel. Now, from the outside, their relationship might have looked. adventurous, romantic, but behind closed. doors, things were apparently far more. complicated. According to reporting from. the BBC and the Scottish Sun, court.

evidence showed that Clare and Aaron. drank heavily together, that they. argued. At times, they were abusive. towards one another. A neighbor, Katherine Jameson, testified that on. January 2nd, 2024, a half-dressed, bleeding Pearson, arrived at her door. erratic and distraught. He told her he. had punched out his own teeth and. claimed he had quote grenades. Now, that's not even the episode we're going. to be talking about. The episode we're. talking about right now is what happened. February 11th, 2024. This is when Claire.

and Pearson were spending time at. Pearson's mother's house in sadness at a. property called Ringville. They had. apparently planned to clean the hot tub. and the adjoining shed, a place that. they had spent a lot of time hanging. out. This is according to Pearson's own. statements in court, which we will get. to. But as Pearson later described it, the afternoon turned into a horrible. one. Alcohol was allegedly involved. Arguments apparently escalated. And by. the evening, police and emergency. services were called to the scene. Why?

Because Clare was found lifeless in the. hot tub. The water apparently darkened, presumably by blood. Hazel Pearson, who. has since passed away, according to the. BBC, made an emergency call reporting. that her son had said that he had killed. Claire and was now stabbing himself. Pearson himself also reportedly spoke to. the operator, reporting that he had. driven his Porsche into the sea. The. wreckage of that car was later recovered. less than a kilometer from where. Claire's body was found. This is per the.

CBC emergency crews. They found Pearson. in distress, bleeding. Now, Pearson had. been admitted to the Gilbert Bane. Hospital in Lairwick after being. detained in connection with Claire's. death. According to reporting from the. BBC, he made statements to doctors that. would later be really analyzed in court. Statements that he allegedly stabbed. himself in the neck and had been trying. to quote get rid of Clare. A remark that. he later insisted was taken out of. context. Now, medical staff and a. psychiatrist, they assessed him. They. found no evidence of acute mental.

illness at the time that this happened, concluding he was fit to be interviewed. Investigators confirmed that Clare had. suffered fatal stab wounds to her neck. and chest. Forensic evidence also. indicated blunt force trauma. Pearson's. behavior after a death, including. apparently sending messages to her. father claiming she was quote in good. health and that he had booked flights. for her return. That became part of the. evidence suggesting an attempt to. obscure the truth to cover up what had. happened. In the end, Pearson faced a. total of seven charges: murder, assault,

threatening and abusive behavior, attempted defeat of justice, and a. series of acts designed to intimidate or. mislead authorities. And despite the. evidence, he pleaded not guilty to all. the charges. This trial began on October. 7th in the High Court in Edinburgh. before Judge Lord Arthur. And over the. following days, jurors would hear a. combination of emergency call. recordings, eyewitness testimony, medical reports, and Pearson's own. account. and it culminated on the fifth. day with the most personal and confiding. version of events he has ever told. Now,

we're going to get to all of that in a. minute, but first to help us break down. what we are hearing so far, and there is. a lot more to get into with this case, I. want to bring on international law. attorney David Defur. David, thank you. so much for taking the time. Let's start. here. Given that both Claire and Aaron. are Canadian citizens, this alleged. crime occurred in Scotland. From a. jurisdictional point of view, how is it. determined? Could Canadian authorities. theoretically get involved here or is. this all, you know, part This is all. part of Scottish territory.

>> It's certainly possible that Canadian. authorities could get involved because. especially the victim was Canadian and. however in this case it's unlikely. because Scotland is going forward with. the prosecution and the crime occurred. there as you mentioned. So a country. like Canada in this instance would only. get involved if Scotland refused to. prosecute. >> Right. And by the way, whenever we cover. crimes of an international nature, it.

may be in a different jurisdiction, but. some of the same themes like we cover. cases here in the states are present, right? You have this combination, this. alleged combination of alcohol, prior. arguments, alleged abusive behavior. How. does that factor in determining intent. in a crime like this? >> Well, those are going to be the facts. that are going to be presented to the. court for for the court to decide if. there was intent. And notably, Scotland.

has a little bit it's part of the United. Kingdom, but it has a different legal. system than England. And so they have a. crime called culpable homicide, which. means that you were engaged in crime, but you didn't necessarily intend to. murder the person, but a murder happened. as a result. So that might be something. the defense is trying to go after here. And in order to do that, they would try. to say alcohol and other things caused. him to do this and that there wasn't the. requisite intent for murder. Now,

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the QR code on screen. When you look at some messages though, I. think that's interesting to think about. that, right? So, these alle messages to. Cla's father claiming that she was quote. in good health, statements about trying. to get rid of Claire. How is that. interpreted? um you know both from an. intent point of view and also context. maybe even a psychiatric evaluation. >> Well, intent obviously depends upon what. he was thinking and doing before the.

crime. So, one of those things you. mentioned what he wrote about her after. the crime to try to cover up the crime. That wouldn't go to his intent at the. time of the alleged crime, but it might. be evidence of another crime covering up. a murder. you know, the other stuff will. go. Any prior communications prior to. the incident happening that showed that. he might have been planning or thinking. about killing her or thinking about even. just harming her, that would go to. intent. >> And I want to get into this trial.

because it's something. Okay, so day one. set the stage with this emergency call. and this horrifying discovery. And we. start at the beginning on this remote. Shetland Islands, February 11th, 2024. According to court proceedings, 41-year-old Aaron Pearson had just told. his mother, Hazel, something that would. soon set off a cascade of emergency. responses, telling them that he had just. killed Claire. Now, Pearson at some. point took the phone himself, spoke. directly to the operator, saying,

"Hello, hi, my name is Aaron 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 like I can't live. the fact that I killed my stupid bleep. of a girlfriend. She drank too much and. bleeped me off. I drove my Porsche right. into the ocean. It's gone. Yeah, she is. dead. I definitely killed her to make. sure I drowned her after I stabbed her. several times and beat her the bleep up.

really badly. And I'm like, you know, and jurors were presented with this raw, unflinching audio. Testimony from former. police officer Dana Jameson, one of the. first on the scene, painted a very grim. picture because she told jurors that she. saw Claire lifeless in the tub floating. on her back. Now, I will tell you, she. said the water was black, okay? Which. Pearson's defense would later refer to. simply as blood in the water. And by the. end of the day, jurors heard the. official cause of death to be from stab.

wounds to the neck and chest. David, this is just horrific for even me to. describe. How does the defense get past. an audio recording like that? >> Yeah, I don't see how. As you mentioned. earlier, these crimes frequently have. some similarities, but this is the thing. that makes this crime very different. It's very unusual for the killer to give. such a a long detailed and certain. confession on essentially a 911 call. right after the crime occurred. And you.

know, normally that's when they're. trying to cover up the crime. Later, he. tried to cover up the crime despite that. confession. But this evidence is. devastating. And apparently even the. defendant's reaction to it when it was. played in court demonstrated, you know, how distraught he was over the fact that. he did that. >> Yeah. and the specificity of it, like. allegedly talking about where the stab. wounds were, how many times the black. water, I mean, I think it's important in. trials, and sometimes we see this with.

crime scene reconstructions, we see this. with site visits, but for the jurors to. understand the crime scene, to. understand the attack, that's important. for them, both for the prosecution and. the defense. >> Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's going. to create an emotional response for the. jurors certainly because the the vision. of it, a hot tub, dark black from blood, you know, demonstrating just how much. she bled as a result of the multiple. stab wounds. It's such an odd place for.

a murder to happen because we think of. hot tubs as, you know, an intimate place. where you would go with family and. friends. And for this to happen in the. hot tub and then to to paint that. picture of it afterwards is going to be. really provocative for the jury. >> Now, let's talk about day two of this. trial. Okay, day two of this trial began. with a startling image from Aaron. Pearson's own mother, Hazel Pearson, who. by the way has since passed away in May. of this year. But jurors were able to. hear what she told detectives from the. night of February 11th, 2024. And she.

said that that night Aaron looked. unrecognizable. Described him as looking. zombie-like. And then she described the. horrifying scene she witnessed, telling. police, "Aaron walked into the kitchen. and came back with a small blackhandled. kitchen knife." Aaron stated to me he. had hurt Claire. Clare was within the. hot tub. The water was red with blood. Claire was covered with blood. She had. severe injuries to her face. And Hazel. then said she called police. One of the.

responding officers, PC Kevin Simpson, told the court that Pearson said, quote, "Murderers are to be killed. Put a. bullet in me." Now, David, there is a. difference between a random stranger. making an account, an ex making an. account, defendant's own mother. That's. something that may be different. And I. wonder, you know, under Scottish. evidentiary law, how is that statement. treated? And is it, as far as you know, would it be corroborative evidence? Is. it hearsay? Um, it seems like it's going.

to be allowed in even though she's no. longer with us. >> Yeah, I mean, under our rules, it would. probably be allowed in because she's not. available to testify to it. Um, I'm not. sure what the evidentiary rules in. Scotland would provide for. It's also a. very unusual part of this case. Normally, family members are helping the. family member cover up a crime. In this. case, she was really instrumental in. revealing to the authorities that the. crime occurred and the admissions that.

her son made. It sounds like she wanted. her son to, you know, fess up to what he. did. And so, she made sure that. happened. And as you mentioned, you. know, tragically, she passed away. Although, uh, it would have been very an. emotional experience for her to go. through this trial. >> Yeah. A and um you know Hazel reports. Aaron came back with a small. blackhandled kitchen knife. Okay. When. you you hear that description, they have. to corroborate that investigators,

right? What are the what do you think. the forensic steps would be to confirm. whether that was in fact the knife that. was used on Claire? Yeah, I mean they're going to have to. compare, you know, the blood samples. that they have on the knife and compare. it to her blood and her DNA. That would. be part of it. There could also be hair. samples left on the knife as well, so. that might also be a part of it. And. then also, you would look at the size of. the knife and see if it matched the. wounds that were on her. And there were.

so many stab wounds on her, you would. likely be able to get a match if it were. the knife. When she describes Aaron as. zombie-like and unrecognizable, does that provide different context to. this case for you? >> I I think it might. If he is, you know, seeking to. claim he's not guilty by reason of. insanity or that he was under the. influence and didn't know what he was. doing, that might be supportive of one.

of those defenses. And you know, otherwise it's hard to understand what. was happening there. Why did he go from. this violent, flailing, stabbing. murderer to a zombie? So, it's it's kind. of hard to it paints a strange picture, but certainly you would think the. defense would latch on to that to try to. use that for their defense, but I'm not. sure they have yet. >> And the statement from this officer PC. Simpson that Aaron said, "Murderers are.

to be killed. Put a bullet in me." that. would be classified as an utterance by. the defendant that would be allowed in, right? Because it happens in that. moment. >> Yes, I think so. An excited utterance. certainly under the US legal system that. would be allowed in under that exception. to the hearsay rule. It's interesting. that he said that. I mean, obviously. showing culpability, guilt. Also, he. said, "Take me out to the boonies. apparently mean like take me out to the. countryside and kill me there." They had. to explain to the jury what boonies.

means because in Scotland that's not a. term they're familiar with whereas it's. a term we understand here in the US and. in Canada. >> Yeah, it's a pretty devastating comment. uh to say the least. So let's talk about. day three. Okay, so day three of the. trial it shifted focus from the scene. itself to what happened after. And Aaron. Pearson in the immediate aftermath, what. happened the medical testimony that. revealed both his physical and mental. state. So Pearson had been admitted to. the Gilbert Bane Hospital in Lurwick. after being detained in connection with. Claire's death. So Dr. Caroline Hegy.

recounted how the defendant told medical. staff that he had stabbed himself in the. neck, consumed brake fluid, driven his. Porsche off a pier. The hospital team. administered an antidote for the brake. fluid, performed a CT scan to assess the. extent of his neck injuries, and then. the doctor told the court something that. would linger in the minds of these. jurors. says that Pearson told her, "I've been trying to get rid of her for. a while." David, your take on that? >> I mean, more just incredibly damaging.

evidence for him, especially that. statement he made at the end that you. just mentioned. Um, you know, paints a. picture of someone very distraught, um, trying to kill himself. Um, demonstrates. he's comfortable stabbing with a knife. He stabbed himself. He stabbed her. Um. and uh and so you know none of it um. comports with his now defense that she. stabbed herself. Why would he feel so.

guilty and say these things in the. hospital and do these things after the. incident if he didn't feel guilt? >> Yeah. I I think it would be tough for. the defense to say what that that. statement is being taken out of context. in a way. Maybe, hey, I'm just talking. about ending the relationship, not. ending her life. Uh but when you. consider what he's accused of doing, you. know, and coming from a medical. professional. >> Yeah. I think what he said I I I read is. he's claiming what he meant was not that.

he intended to murder her when he said. he wanted to get rid of her. He meant. that he wanted to send her back to. Canada, that the relationship was over, wanted to get rid of her in that way. But like you said, given all the other. things he said, it seems more likely the. jury would believe that he intended it. He was saying he intended to kill her. >> Day four, that was the day that drew the. jury deeper into this relationship, into. the relationship's dynamics. Audio. recordings surfaced of conversations.

between Clare and Aaron before her. death. And in one chilling exchange, Clare told him, "You are going to kill. me." This is moments after saying, "I. love you." The fifth day of the trial, October 13th, jurors would hear the most. personal account yet. the moment that. Pearson had long been expected to. describe and the account that would. leave everyone in that courtroom holding. their breath. So Pearson took the stand, spoke directly to the jurors. He. described February 11th, 2024 as a day.

that began like any other day. Plans to. clean the hot tub, plans to clean the. shed at his mother Hazel's property in. Sandness. And the morning was quiet. It. was pleasant. But as the afternoon wore. on, that's when the tension apparently. escalated. According to him, he. recounted Clare drinking heavily. Quote, about a third of a liter of recently. purchased liquor. The arguments that. followed, Pearson said she called him a. rat after overhearing him speak to her. father in Canada about returning her. home. And what happened next, Pearson.

said, was sudden and it was shocking. He. described Clare striking him, then. grabbing a knife and turning it on. herself. And Pearson described trying to. move her into his car to take her to the. hospital in Lurwick. This is a 45minute. drive, apparently. But the problem. according to him was she was like quote. dead weight. And in this chaos, he was. struck. He was disoriented. Eventually. drove his Porsche into the sea. This is. his account. He said he swam ashore, returned to his mother's house in shock. He didn't really know what had just. transpired. David, does that seem. credible to you?

>> Some of it seems credible and some of it. does not. The part about her being the. one that stabbed herself does not seem. credible to me. It does sound like they. were having a normal afternoon. Soon. they started drinking, things started to. change. They started to argue. There's a. history of arguments between them and. fights between them. So all of that. sounds right. But the claim that she. somehow took action against herself, that she's self-injured is doesn't. comport with all the other things that. he said both before and after the crime.

And so it's hard to believe. It's also. hard to know what to make of the fact. that he took his Porsche and he drove it. into the ocean. Is there evidence in the. course he was trying to hide? Is he just. trying to end his life and thinks he. could drown himself? Is he trying to get. rid of his possessions before he kills. himself? That's never been explained. either. But it's also a very odd part of. what he did after this alleged crime. >> Look, jurors sometimes want to hear. defendants, particularly when you have. these kind of unexplainable, these these.

grotesque crimes, these really horrific. crimes. What was going on? does become a. question of credibility if they believe. him. Um because again, one, you know, one of the odd things is jurors might. say, you know, you drove away instead of. calling for immediate help if Clare had. truly injured herself. They might say, even if we take your story as true, there could be parts of it that don't. add up. But having said that, it's. interesting when a defendant takes the. stand because it can create an. unpredictable aspect. You never know.

which way jurors are going to go. >> Yeah, that's absolutely true. the the. the facts are so harsh and it's that you. may maybe jurors will want to try to. find a way to explain it because it's a. really depressing concerning story and. so maybe they will latch on to some of. the defenses that he is making. I would. also note something very important about. the legal system in Scotland is that. unlike the UK and the US, it's not just. guilty or not guilty. There's a third.

category in Scotland which is not proven. guilty, which means the jury may think. you did the crime, but they don't think. there's enough evidence to prove that. you did it. And so that's a very. interesting part of the legal system in. Scotland. Maybe that's what he's going. for is a not proven guilty verdict. >> Yeah, David, this is a a really dark. case. It's a chilling case. Um, seeing. how it's progressing each day of this. trial, um, it's interesting from both. the prosecution point of view and the. defense's point of view. Uh, we'll see.

which way this shakes out, but still a. really, really disturbing one to say the. least. Uh, David Defur, thank you so. much for taking the time. Really. appreciate it. >> Thanks, Jesse. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us and as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].