Necrophiliac double murderer David Fuller sentenced for abusing more dead women

A necrophiliac double murderer was branded “sick and twisted” as he was sentenced to a further four years in prison for sexually abusing more dead women in hospital mortuaries.

Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said David Fuller would spend “the rest of his mortal life behind bars”.

There was a shout of “scum” from the public gallery as the defendant was led away.

Fuller was given a whole-life prison term last December for the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987.

The electrician had also filmed himself abusing corpses in hospital morgues over 15 years before his arrest in December 2020.

Charges were initially brought against him related to 78 victims, including a nine-year-old girl and a 100-year-old woman.

Last month, 68-year-old Fuller pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court to sexually abusing a further 23 dead women.

He was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Wednesday after admitting 12 counts of sexual penetration of a corpse and four counts of possession of extreme pornography.

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said Fuller had abused the bodies of at least 101 girls and women between 2005 and 2020, although 10 of the victims had not been identified and were unlikely ever to be.

The families of women that Fuller sexually abused after their deaths told in court of their “disgust” at the “sick and twisted” acts of the double killer.

‘Vile touch’

The daughter of one victim described how she felt when she found out about the abuse of her mother, saying: “The pain and emotional upset seared through my body like a knife.

“He took advantage of her helplessness in death where we were unable to protect her.”

Addressing the defendant in the dock, she said: “David, I want you to know how much damage you have caused, how your sick and twist behaviour has damaged families like mine.

“I’m pleased you are now being held accountable for what you did only seven hours after she died.”

One daughter said: “I kissed my mum to say goodbye, and that should have been the last human touch she had, full of love and devotion. Instead, it was your vile touch.”

Another daughter of one of Fuller’s victims said: “He has stolen my memories of a peaceful death. It has blighted my memories of my dear mother, and I feel deeply ashamed.

“I know it should not be my shame but I still carry it. It should be your shame, David Fuller.”

‘Bedsit murders’

Fuller beat and strangled Ms Knell, 25, and 20-year-old Ms Pierce to death before sexually assaulting them in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells.

More than three decades later, Fuller pleaded guilty to the murders as well as the sexual offences at mortuaries in Tunbridge Wells Hospital and the former Kent and Sussex Hospital between 2008 and 2020.

The government has launched an independent inquiry into how Fuller went undetected until he was arrested, for what have been dubbed the “bedsit murders”, following new analysis of decades-old DNA evidence.

Read more:
How did David Fuller get away with it for so long?
‘She was violated’: Mother of Fuller victim speaks out

Libby Clark, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Fuller’s actions were depraved, disgusting and dehumanising – on a scale that has never been encountered before in legal history.”

Close family members related to Fuller’s victims are now able to claim compensation of up to £32,000 for psychiatric trauma and any financial losses caused by his actions.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Superintendent Ivan Beasley, of Kent Police, said there was no evidence of any further victims of Fuller from the hospital mortuaries.