From a young age, Jemma Lilley loved violence.

She loved watching shows about it, reading books about it and even wrote her own fiction novel at the age of 15, about a serial killer who tortured innocent victims and referred to his followers as "maggots".

Her teachers at school in Stamford, England, were concerned by the extreme content in her writing. But her dad saw it as imaginative and creative, not dangerous.

One day, she would bring her dark fantasies to life and cross the line by murdering an unassuming victim.

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How Jemma's horror obsession turned deadly | True Crime Conversations

At the age of 18, Lilley moved to Perth, Australia. She lived in a nondescript brown house in the suburbs and worked at the local Woolworths.

Her obsession with violence continued, according to The West Australian journalist Tim Clarke.

"She got a job. She made some friends here, but her whole persona, even from a young age, appeared to revolve around horror," Clarke told Mamamia's True Crime Conversations.

"She once said in some of her writings that the character Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, was her father figure."

Lilley's macabre interests took a dark turn when she expressed a desire to kill someone.

Per the ABC, her friend Angela McKibbon told the WA Supreme Court: "She wanted to kill someone, and she wanted to do it before she was 25."

Lilley apparently described it as an urge that was "getting stronger," and a life ambition she wanted to "tick off her bucket list."

She began to assume the identity of the serial killer she created in her book, tattooing the fictional character's name, SOS, on her body, the jury heard during her trial.

Jemma Lilley loved all things 'horror' related. Image: Seven Spotlight.

Her "bucket list" would become a reality when her friend, Trudi Lenon, moved into her house.

Lenon — a single mum of three in her mid-40s — became "her best friend, her muse, her confidant, and ultimately became her accomplice," Clarke explained.

Lenon had been involved in the BDSM scene in Perth for many years, and became a "submissive" to Lilley.

Trudi Lenon moved into Lilley's home three weeks before the murder. Image: Facebook.

"I believe, having gone through the trial, that the moment that Jemma found Trudi and realised that Trudi would do basically anything asked of her. That was when it went from a fantasy to reality for her, because she had a "maggot", right? She had dreamt up this scenario in her head," Clarke said.

The murder plot.

In the weeks before the murder, the women made three separate trips to hardware stores where they bought a circular saw, bleach, acetone, cement, a drop sheet, a large plastic barrel and 100 litres of hydrochloric acid.

In their home, they set up a "torture room" which included a gurney, blue tarpaulins around the walls, a bone saw, a machete and dozens of knives.

The image that was tendered in court of their 'torture room'. Image: Seven Spotlight.

Then, they started practising how they were going to get rid of a body.

They used a pot with raw meat in it, pouring hydrochloric acid on top to see if it would dissolve. Evidence found at the scene showed that it hadn't worked.

In court, dozens of text messages between the two women revealed their psyche and the amount of planning that went into the murder they'd soon commit.

In June 2016, Jemma messaged Trudi: "I feel as though I cannot rest until the blood and flesh of a screaming victim is gushing out and pooling on the floor," as reported by Seven's Spotlight.

Trudi replied. "It is definitely time. I am ready, you are ready."

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An unassuming victim.

Aaron Pajich had known Lenon for eight years and was friends with her 14-year-old son.

The 18-year-old, who had learning difficulties and had some diagnosed neurodivergence, was a sweet and trusting man.

He also had a passion and a talent for technology, computers and gaming — something Lenon knew.

Aaron Pajich was brutally murdered by the women in 2016. Image: Sky News.

"She contacted Aaron to ask him whether he would come to their home to download and upload some gaming software, and Aaron agreed. So they arranged to meet at a shopping centre quite close to Lilley's home," Clarke said.

It was June 13, 2016, when Pajich willingly entered Lilley and Lenon's house.

Once inside, they used a garrote to attack him from behind, but it broke. He was then stabbed multiple times in the neck and chest.

They concealed his body under concrete tiles in the backyard. Text messages widely shared by the media, showed the women had no remorse.

"I'm seeing things I haven't seen before and feeling things I haven't felt before," wrote Lilley.

"You're welcome," Trudi replied.

When Pajich didn't return home, a public plea for information was issued by the press. But it was Lilley who led police in her direction, after she bragged about the murder to a colleague five days after the fact.

She also told a colleague, as reported by the ABC, she "wanted to become a serial killer, and she wanted to leave her mark."

Pajich's phone was tracked to Lilley's house, and when police arrived, Lilley reportedly taunted them by pointing out her 'renovations' outside.

A record-breaking sentence.

Police returned the following day and found Pajich's body under the tiles, charging both women with murder.

Once in custody, they turned on each other. Lilley claimed she was asleep in another room while Pajich was on their computer. Lenon put the blame solely on Lilley.

But the evidence was overwhelming, and both were given life in prison with a minimum of 27 years.

Justice Stephen Hall described the murder as "morally repugnant" while handing down one of the highest minimum sentences in WA history, reported The West Australian.

Lilley and Lenon were both convicted of murder. Image: Seven.

"They [Lilley and Lenon] put Aaron's family and the state and the lawyers and the judge and the witnesses through that ordeal of the trial…and it was an ordeal. It was a long trial, it was a graphic trial, it was an emotional trial.

"Aaron's family had to give evidence, Lilley's friends had to give evidence, pathologists and police had to give evidence. And that's a big thing to do when a young man is dead and in such graphic ways," Clarke said.

But despite the conviction, Lilley's dad is adamant his daughter didn't do it.

"[He] categorically 100 per cent says she didn't do it," Clarke said. "I certainly got the impression he felt we were unfairly casting his daughter as a monster."

There was an outpouring of grief by the Perth community on learning about Pajich's murder, with hundreds gathering at a candlit memorial in his honour.

As his favourite teacher told Seven's Spotlight, "I remember looking around and thinking Aaron had more friends in death than he had in life, and it shouldn't be like that.

"And then I thought, wherever he is, he'd be looking down thinking 'wow look at all my friends now.'"

Feature image: Facebook.