On Sunday afternoon, the day after he killed Miss McLeod, Auckland was out, socializing with friends, going for pizza, joining a rehearsal with his group, Rakuda, before having a drink in the pub hall in the wee hours.
He would later tell a psychiatrist that the feelings of depression he had felt before killing Miss McLeod had disappeared and he did not feel the same resentment as before, “as if this violent act had relieved him of those feelings.”
Prosecutor Richard Posner told the court that Auckland had “led a double life” and had a “painful interest” in the crimes of serial killers, looking for the killer of Golden State Joseph DeAngelo Jr., Andrei Chikatilo, Ivan Milat, Fred West and Tommy West and Tommy West .
A week before the murder, Auckland conducted additional searches of Bundy, Fred West and “Fred West’s house”, the court heard.
“Prolonged, ferocious and ruthless attack”
Ray Tully QC, for Ackland, said psychiatrists had found that his client did not suffer from a mental illness, but said he had struggled during his childhood.
Auckland was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia, depression and anxiety and by the age of 19 “had a seven-year history of depression,” Mr Tully told QC.
Mr Tully QC said Auckland had not received “much comfort” from either his home or school life and that his father and other male role models had not provided much “in the way of help or support”.
Mr Tully QC said the killer “grew up feeling angry” because of “his own inability to cope in the world”.
He said Auckland had approached his GP, saying he did not feel “right like other people” but was struggling to get the help he needed.
“He grew up to hate himself, to be angry with the world, to be angry at everything, and sometimes he sought help and help for that, but it wasn’t very forthcoming,” Mr Tully QC told the court.
Sentenceing Auckland to life in prison for a minimum of 31 years for the “long, brutal and ruthless attack”, Judge Robert Linford told Akland that he would remain “a very dangerous person” indefinitely, adding: “There is a good chance you may never be able to shall not be released from prison. “
In a statement, Miss McLeod’s family said: “We have been robbed of our beautiful girl in the worst possible way and our lives will never be the same without her.
“I want Cody Auckland to know that he took our world. We will never see her beautiful face or hear her laugh, see her get married or have the children she wanted so much. So many everyday things have been taken away. being here is still unthinkable. ”
As he left the dock, Miss McLeod’s brother Lee shouted, “You’re a dead man.”
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