Electrician accused of double murder ‘sexually assaulted dead bodies in mortuaries’, court hears
An electrician accused of murdering two women more than 30 years ago sexually assaulted dead bodies in the mortuaries of hospitals he worked at, a court has heard.
David Fuller is standing trial at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent accused of the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in 1987.
Both women were found naked and had been struck on the head, asphyxiated and sexually assaulted after their deaths, the jury was told.
Wendy Knell was killed in 1987
Caroline Pierce was found dead five months after Ms Knell was killed
Fuller, 67, admits killing the women but denies murder, claiming he was suffering from “abnormality of mind” at the time, the court heard.
Opening the trial, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said Fuller had a “particular interest in the sexual assault of dead women”.
The defendant sexually assaulted corpses in the mortuaries of Kent and Sussex hospital and Tunbridge Wells hospital where he worked, the jury was told.
After his arrest in December, police uncovered hard drives and images hidden at his home which showed that over “an extended period of time” he used his access to the mortuary “to carry out acts of sexual penetration of female corpses”, the court heard.
The prosecutor said: “The defendant’s clear sexual interest in such bizarre and grossly repellent activity provides a unique and terrible link between him and the treatment of the bodies of those who were killed, and thus with Wendy and Caroline’s deaths.”
Fuller had previous convictions for burglary, and the prosecution suggested he used those skills to access the homes of 25-year-old Ms Knell and Ms Pierce, who was 20.
Mr Atkinson told the court: “There was no connection when they were alive between Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce – what links these two women is the circumstances and manner by which they died.”
Fuller had a ‘particular interest in the sexual assault of dead women’, the court heard
Ms Knell was found dead in her apartment in Tunbridge Wells in June 1987, before Ms Pierce was killed in the same town in November that year.
Neighbours described hearing screams from Ms Pierce’s flat on the night of her death.
Her naked body was later discovered in a water-filled dyke at St Mary-in-the-Marsh, near New Romney in Kent, in December 1987.
DNA evidence from both women’s bodies linked Fuller to their deaths, the court heard.
Fuller initially denied that he had killed the women following his arrest but, after learning of the DNA evidence, he changed his plea to that of one of diminished responsibility, the jury was told.
“His account has now changed,” said Mr Atkinson.
“He now asserts he was suffering from an abnormality of mind.”
The court heard there were reports of “prowler activity” in the lead up to both killings, with local women reporting a voyeur looking through their windows.
Mr Atkinson said that the prosecution’s case is that Fuller killed and sexually assaulted Ms Knell and Ms Pierce to satisfy his desire.
Fuller’s claim that he was suffering an “abnormality of mind” when he killed both women was an example of “his attempts to avoid the consequences of his actions by any means”, the prosecutor added.
Mr Atkinson said there was no evidence of Fuller suffering from mental health problems until 2010, when the defendant complained of feeling depressed over pain in his legs.
A professional footballer has been jailed for causing the death of a cyclist in a car crash.
Mansfield Town forward Lucas Akins crashed into Adrian Daniel in his Mercedes G350 in Huddersfield on 17 March 2022, while taking his daughter to a piano lesson.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Mr Daniel, 33, suffered catastrophic head injuries and died 10 days later.
Akins, 36, played in Mansfield’s 0-0 draw with Wigan on 4 March, hours after pleading guilty at Leeds Crown Court to death by careless or inconsiderate driving.
The footballer has continued to play for Mansfield since the incident.
Judge Alex Menary said on Thursday that he had considered imposing a suspended sentence, but had concluded that only an immediate sentence of 14 months’ imprisonment was appropriate.
Mansfield Town’s Akins. Pic: George Wass/PPAUK/Shutterstock
A spokesperson for Mansfield Town FC said it “acknowledges” the court’s decision and offered the club’s “sincere and deepest condolences to the family of Adrian Daniel at this difficult time”.
“The club is considering its position with regards to Lucas and will be making no further comment at this stage,” the spokesperson added.
‘Like hell’
Prosecuting, Carmel Pearson said it was a “difficult junction to emerge from” but that the defendant “did not stop at the give-way sign”.
Savanna Daniel, Mr Daniel’s wife, told the court it had been “like hell and a nightmare [she is] not waking up from”.
“There was no reason for Adrian to be killed that way,” she said, adding it was “too simple a collision to have taken a life”.
Adrian Daniel. Pic: West Yorkshire Police/PA
Mrs Daniel said she did not want Akins’s children growing up without their father as she did not want “any more lives to be destroyed from this”, but she criticised the defendant for failing to plead guilty at an earlier stage.
Tim Pole, representing Akins, said he was “fundamentally a decent, honest and hard-working individual”.
“I want to publicly apologise on his behalf,” he said.
Mr Pole added that Akins understood Mrs Daniel’s “frustration and anger” over the time it took him to plead guilty.
Handing down his sentence, the judge accepted that Akins’s remorse was genuine but by not admitting to the offence at an earlier stage, he had prolonged Mrs Daniel’s “heartache and grief”.
After the sentencing, Mrs Daniel said “three years of hell” had come to a close, in a statement via West Yorkshire Police.
She said Akins had made a “farce” of the justice system and that his failure to plead guilty sooner “makes a mockery of any remorse that Akins offers for his actions”.
Akins, who has played for Mansfield Town since 2022 and was previously with clubs including Huddersfield Town, Tranmere Rovers and Burton Albion, was also suspended from driving for 12 months.
Much of the UK will bask in warm, sunny conditions at the start of next week, with inland temperatures up to 10C higher than average, but it’s a mixed picture before then.
The first half of spring brought warmth and sunshine for many, but the last 10 days have been more changeable.
Some areas of Ireland, Northern Ireland, southwest Wales, and southwest England have seen much-needed rainfall, whereas parts of northern Britain have observed very little.
See the latest weather forecast where you are
Warm, sunny conditions, such as those in Harrogate on Thursday, are expected at the start of next week. Pic: PA
Tyne and Wear in northeast England has recorded just 7% of its average April rainfall, whereas Cornwall in the southwest of the country has already seen 156%.
And the Milford Haven rain gauge in Wales has seen over twice its average April rainfall.
There’ll be more rain over the next few days, mainly in the West, but it looks like high pressure will settle things down from Sunday.
Temperatures will rise too, becoming widely above average on Monday and Tuesday.
Highs of 22C (72F) to 24C (75F) can be expected.
The highest temperature of the year so far is 24C (75F), seen at Northolt in northwest London on Saturday 12 April.
The settled conditions will bring plenty of sunshine, with UV levels expected to be around moderate.
Tree pollen levels will be high in the South, low to moderate in the North.
What happens from next Wednesday onwards is unclear.
A thundery breakdown is possible from the South, or wet and windy conditions may move in from the North West.
Other computer models suggest high pressure will hold on, with the fine weather continuing and potentially higher temperatures.
The last time that 25C (77C) was reached in April was during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
The highest temperature ever recorded in April was 29.4C (85F), seen at Camden Square in London on 16 April 1949.
All this means that it will be quite warm for the London Marathon, which will take place this Sunday.
Temperatures will be around 11-12C (52-54F) at the start, potentially peaking at a warm 22C (70F).
That’s a little off the highest temperature ever recorded for the race, which stands at 24.2C (76F) seen at St James’s Park in 2018.
But it will be a lot higher than the 12.6C (55F) seen last year.
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It’ll be dry for runners and spectators, with sunny spells and light winds.
Competitors in the Manchester Marathon on Sunday will face similar conditions to London’s runners; it should be dry with sunny spells. The temperature first thing will be around 9C (48F), but it’ll warm up with a high of about 19C (66F).
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