Man guilty of stabbing girlfriend to death in hot tub

A Shetland man has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in a hot tub.

Aren Pearson, 41, stabbed 24-year-old Claire Leveque to death at her mother’s home in Sandness on February 11 last year.

The couple, who are both Canadian, moved to Scotland in 2023.

Pearson denied murder and claimed Ms Leveque stabbed him; but after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh the jury found him guilty.

The sentence is expected to be carried out after 14:00.

Ms. Leveque died from stab wounds to her neck and chest.

Jurors heard Pearson’s late mother, Hazel Pearson, who died in May, told police that her son went into the kitchen on the evening of the murder and came back with a knife.

He stabbed himself in the neck and said he hurt his girlfriend.

Ms Pearson later found Ms Leveque in the jacuzzi in the shed at her home.

“The water was red with blood,” he told police.

“Claire was covered in blood. She had severe injuries to her face.”

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