A cousin of the beast who butchered his girlfriend and flushed her down a toilet has told of her shock at his change from loving child into a psycho.
As a youngster Dean Lowe was a fun-lover who played the clown.
But he became so warped he told a policeman he made a necklace out of his victim’s teeth.
In May last year he messaged his cousin Rebecca Tilford, 30, to tell her he had found a body in his flat and described how he disposed of it.
Lowe, 33, later went on to make up a story that his girlfriend Kirby Noden had emigrated to South Africa.
But it simply unravelled and he was jailed for life on Thursday.
Speaking after his murder conviction Rebecca told how he had been a warm, protective cousin as a child then became a troubled teenager.
He stabbed a man with a screwdriver and bit someone’s nose off in a row.
She said Lowe’s behaviour had become increasingly erratic in the run-up to his gruesome crime – while tragic Kirby remained smitten with the man she called her “soulmate”.
In a plot worthy of a horror film, Lowe beat Kirby, 32, to death with a rock and metal pole, dismembered her body and got rid of the parts down the toilet and in a wheelie bin.
Rebecca said last night: “It’s crazy how you can watch someone you know go from a sweet, caring child who you play with in the garden to a murderer like someone you see on the news.
“The twisted killer people are talking about, that’s not the Dean I knew, that wasn’t my cousin.
“I feel devastated Kirby has gone because she was my friend and what he did was horrendous. I miss her all the time but I miss the person he used to be too. I’m just glad he’s now somewhere he can’t hurt anyone else.”
Rebecca was close to Lowe from a young age. The boy was fostered from just a few months old because of his parents’ drug problems.
“We grew up together,” said Rebecca. “I spent the summer holidays with my Nanna and he’d stay too.
“Dean was good fun. He was loud, he was a clown and he’d always look after me and my sisters. I had no idea he’d grow up to be a killer.”
Lowe’s behaviour deteriorated when he hit his teens.
Rebecca, a barmaid, said: “At first he’d do things like smash windows but by the time he was 19 or 20 he had to come and live with me because he bit someone’s nose off in an argument with a local family. I ended up having to get him picked up, though, because he broke into a load of cars and set them all on fire.
“Dean would always think he was doing the right thing. My sister had a boyfriend who beat her up so he stabbed him with a screwdriver.”
Lowe and Kirby grew up in Winsford, Cheshire, and Rebecca said they first became an item when they were 14.
The mum-of-four, from Kirkham, Lancs, said: “Kirby was lovely, she was a really kindhearted, nice girl.
“She followed Dean round like a little puppy. She absolutely thought the world of him. They were really young when they got together.”
They split but were reconciled in their 20s and moved to Torquay, Devon, before they became homeless and walked along the coastal path to Penzance, Cornwall.
Rebecca, who said her cousin was a “free spirit” who lived in a tent for six months, kept in touch online.
“They had a chaotic lifestyle,” she said. “They would post pictures of ecstasy and I had conversations with Kirby where she was worried about the amount of heroin Dean was taking.”
Rebecca, who said her cousin was a “free spirit” who lived in a tent for six months, kept in touch online.
“They had a chaotic lifestyle,” she said. “They’d post pictures of ecstasy. Kirby said she was worried about the amount of heroin Dean took.”
Rebecca says the couple turned to a drug addiction charity six or seven years ago to get clean – then started on legal highs.
Lowe’s messages became increasingly disturbing and he posted graphic self-harm images.
Rebecca said: “Quite a few times he messaged me telling me he had just slashed himself. In May 2016 he sent a video which ended with a splatter of blood on the camera.
“I always encouraged Dean to get help, just like he always looked out for me when I was little.
“He went through phases. There were times he’d say he was happy, playing his guitar on the beach. In 2013, they told me they got married on the beach but that was never confirmed. Kirby told me she’d married her soulmate, he was the love of her life.”
Lowe and Kirby moved from town to town and were last living in a flat in Marazion, Cornwall.
“Kirby and I spoke every day in 2016, just general chat,” Rebecca said. “She sounded normal and happy. I didn’t hear from her after November.”
Rebecca then heard from Lowe on January 19 – days after he murdered Kirby in their one-bed flat.
His message read: “Can’t remember half of what I’ve done, I just know it’s bad... I’m so sorry... If you want to have a go at me maybe I’ll remember. Sorry cuz, I really am.”
Lowe did not reply to her messages. “That was it until May, when he changed his Facebook photo,” she said. “Realising he was back online, I sent a message.”
Lowe’s lengthy replies revealed the full, horrifying story of how he killed Kirby.
One read: “Facts are this: there was a body looking like Kirby on my floor was there for days not just an overnight dream was still there day after day.
“I cut it up and put it in the bin and flushed fat and guts down the toilet. The blood is still there now and the pool of matter is still stained on the floor.”
Lowe included photos, one of them showing a blood-spattered ceiling.
Rebecca said: “My first thought was Dean was off his head. Then I sent my mum and sisters a few of the messages.
“I spoke to Kirby’s mum and cousin. When we realised nobody had heard from her, my mum phoned the police.”
Two days later, officers from Devon and Cornwall Police drove up to interview Rebecca, having taken Lowe into custody. The next day, they told her he had been charged with murder.
“It was difficult,” said Rebecca. “I didn’t sleep for days. When I did, I woke up screaming.
“I was picturing what was happening in that flat. They are people I grew up with. I don’t know why he chose me to tell. I think he wanted to get caught as he couldn’t live with what he’d done.”
Rebecca gave evidence by video link at Exeter crown court by video link from Preston.
Lowe’s bizarre defence was that he was raped by two men as part of a set-up and Kirby was living in South Africa.
The jury found him guilty of murder and sentencing is this week. Kirby’s remains have never been found.
“I still don’t want to believe he’s done it. I ask myself why all the time,” said Rebecca.
“On one hand, I think I’ve got my cousin sent down for life but on the other I think there’s a mother who has lost a daughter. Kirby was so lovely and she didn’t deserve it.”