Alleged murderer told emergency services: 'I just killed my girlfriend in the hot tub'
A man accused of murdering his girlfriend told a 999 operator that he “definitely killed” her by stabbing her “about 40 times”, a court has heard.
Aren Pearson, 41, made the admission during an emergency services phone call made by his mother Hazel from her home in Sandness on 11th February 2024.
A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh heard on Tuesday how Hazel phoned the emergency services because Aren told her he killed his partner Claire Leveque while she was in a hot tub.
The court heard an audio recording of the call made by Hazel. They heard Aren take the phone from his mother to tell the operator that he also stabbed himself and that he drove his Porsche into the “ocean”.
Pearson wept as the recording was played to the jury.
He daubed his eyes as jurors heard him say on the recording: “Hello, hi, my name is Aren 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.
“I drove my Porsche right into the ocean - it’s gone yeah, she is dead. I definitely killed her.”
The evidence emerged on the first day of proceedings against Pearson, a Canadian citizen, who was living in Shetland with his mother at the time of the alleged murder.
He denies murdering Claire at a property in Sandness on 11th February 2024 and other charges.
During proceedings on Tuesday, the jury heard Hazel tell the emergency operator in a 48 minute long call that Claire was also from Canada.
Hazel also told the operator that her son was acting “aggressively” and had turned “extremely violent” in the three weeks leading up to the incident.
She said that her son had lots of “issues” and that he had mental health problems.
She also told the operator that the hot tub was “full of blood.”
She said: “I tried to get her out of the water. He’s done something really terrible.”
Hazel said that Claire’s injuries were so bad she didn’t recognise her.
Hazel added: “She’s bleeding and she’s dying in a hot tub in the shed.”
Dana Jamieson, 37, a former police officer, told the court that she was among the first law enforcement officers to arrive at the scene.
She said that a person in the hot tub was “lifeless” and that Pearson was in the water with her.
Ms Jamieson added: “She was floating on her back.”
She said the water was black. Defence solicitor advocate Iain Paterson KC later described the liquid as “blood in the water”.
At the start of proceedings on Tuesday, jurors were read a statement of evidence which prosecutors and defence lawyers have agreed is proven and uncontroversial.
The jurors heard that the cause of Claire’s death was established as “stab wounds of the neck and chest.”
The jurors also heard it was agreed that the male voice heard on the emergency services call was Aren Pearson, and that Hazel died, aged 72, on 19th May 2025.
The jurors were also read the contents of a legal document detailing the charges against Pearson.
Prosecutors claim that Pearson repeatedly struck Claire on the head, neck and body with a knife, and that he inflicted blunt force trauma to her head, neck and body.
Prosecutors then claim that Pearson compressed her neck and “submerged her head and body in water” and that he murdered her.
He faces a total of seven charges.
Pearson has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
The trial, before judge Lord Arthurson, continues on Wednesday.