THIS is the moment a blood-covered killer tells police his pal fell on a knife after stabbing him to death in a row over a eyebrow prank.
David Eaton, 37, turned on close friend Matthew Higgins after he woke up to find his left brow missing following a booze binge.
The thug had stabbed David Eaton to death following a row over a prank[/caption]
Higgins has now been jailed for murder[/caption]
Higgins, 36, first tried pinning the blame on another pal but a brawl soon broke out at his home near Northwich, Cheshire.
He then grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed David – known as Bode – twice in the heart.
After carrying out the horror, he ran to a neighbour with blood on his hands, saying: “I’ve stabbed my mate. He was doing my head in.”
Chilling footage has now been released of Higgins’ arrest after he was today jailed for 18 years for murder.
The killer can be seen leaning over a sink with blood still on his hands as officers burst in to detain him.
After being told he’s being arrested, Higgins callously asks police: “What about my dog?”
The thug then slurs “he fell on a knife…he actually fell on a knife”.
As he’s bundled into a police car, Higgins asks what the “drill” is and how David is doing.
He then learns his friend has died after he is told by an officer he is now being held on suspicion of murder.
The cop tells him he cannot go any further into the circumstances, causing Higgins to reply: “Sweet”.
He continues: “F*** the bed…He fell on a f***ing knife, for f*** sake”.
Chester Crown Court heard the friends had been out drinking in September last year when David fell asleep on the sofa.
After he woke up to find his brow missing, a “scuffle” broke out where Davif “got the better” of Higgins.
At first the pair “appeared to brush themselves off and continue their day” when Higgins blamed their other friend for the prank.
But when David confronted that pal at his home, he swore on his mother’s life he had no part in shaving off the eyebrow.
David then realised Higgins must have been behind the drunken joke and returned to his home where another brawl broke out.
His on-off girlfriend Emma Deed told the court David punched Higgins, who told him: “I’m not putting up with this.”
She continued: “I thought Matty went upstairs but Bode then went to the hallway and there was a bit of an argument.
“I heard Bode shout ‘knife’ then ‘you’ve actually stabbed me. Emma he’s stabbed me’.
”I asked Matty to let go of the knife, but he refused, saying: ‘No, he’s not hitting me again’. I then heard Bode say ‘I’m sorry’, before he slumped over.
”I was in a daze and I was screaming out to the neighbours. I was saying to Bode ‘stay with us, you’re alright, you’re fine, you’re alright’.”
David suffered two wounds between 12 and 14.5cm deep that penetrated his ribcage and entered his heart.
While in custody, Higgins headbutted an officer and continued spreading a web of lies to evade justice.
His deceit continued at his trial when he told jurors he only stabbed David in self-defence as he was “scared of him”.
Detective Inspector Eleanor Atkinson said: “The afternoon that David was killed, Higgins chose to pick up a knife and let his anger get the better of him – that decision had devastating consequences.
“Despite knowing what he had done, he denied the charge of murder and forced David’s loved one to sit through a two-and-a-half week trial. But the jury saw through his lies and convicted him of murder.
“I welcome the sentence handed down to Higgins and while nothing can bring David back to his family and friends, I hope the fact Higgins is now behind bars for his murder will bring them some sense of closure, knowing justice has been served.”
