MATTHEW MASON killed Alex Rodda in an attack a judge said was "carefully planned and ruthlessly carried out".
Mason, who was 20 when he was convicted of the murder, claimed he committed his crime after his teenage victim blackmailed him.
Who is Alex Rodda's killer Matthew Mason?
Matthew Mason is a murderer and son of a millionaire farmer.
He was just 18 when he brutally killed 15-year-old Alex Rodda.
Mason killed schoolboy Alex in remote woodland in Cheshire on December 12, 2019.
Church-goer Matthew claimed he committed the crime over fears Alex would expose the pair's sexual relationship.
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The killer lured his victim on the "pretence of sexual activity" before bludgeoning him in "cold blood".
After he was reported missing, Alex was found partially clothed by refuse collectors.
Mason, who lived with his parents on a farm near Knutsford, began messaging Alex in October 2019.
The texts soon turned sexual and Mason drunkenly sent the Year 11 pupil an explicit photo and video.
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Alex threatened to post the messages online and messaged Mason's girlfriend of two years on November 3, 2019.
He then asked Mason for £50 to stop him putting a screenshot of the explicit messages on social media and by November 23, 2019 Mason had paid £2,020 to Alex as he was "embarrassed about what had happened".
On the night he killed Alex, Mason tricked the teenager into meeting him in the woods.
He then beat Alex repeatedly with a wrench in a "brutal and merciless" attack – reigning at least 15 blows on the schoolboy's head.
The monster then left Alex for dead in the woods, even though he could see he was still breathing.
Mason made his way to a pal's home to clean himself up and visited friends in two pubs – posting a selfie from one to "lay the ground" for an alibi.
He then returned to the woods hours later to move Alex's body.
Where is Mason now?
After Alex's body was discovered police arrested Mason and found dried blood on his hands and fingers and the blood-stained weapon in his car.
The killer claimed he was acting in self-defence after Alex hit him first but admitted he hit the Holmes Chapel High School pupil at least 15 times.
In January 2021, Mason was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 28 years for the murder.
In June of that year, the Court of Appeal reduced his sentence to a minimum of 26 years.
Alex's dad Adam Rodda gave a powerful victim impact statement before Mason's original sentencing, revealing he had "struggled not to take [his] own life to be with Alex".
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He told the court: "This is further devastation that I am already suffering and the pain I should never have to feel.
"Whatever sentence [Mason] receives, he will still have a life; still be able to see his family during his incarceration and when he gets out he will be able to do all the things Alex would love to have been able to do."
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