A retired pig farmer, David Venables, 89, has been found guilty of killing his wife in 1982. Her body was later found dumped in a septic tank at their farm house later on.
At that time, the farmer make an attempt to blame a serial killer by the name Fred West for his wife’s murder.
During the trial his lawyers said that West had links to Worcestershire village of Kempsey where Brenda disappeared in 1982.
They also alleged that Mrs. Brenda Venables may have left her marital home at the Quaking House Farm and “either killed herself or met with or encountered someone who wished her harm.”
The jury has now convicted David Venables of murdering his wife either on 3 May or 4 May 1982.
Prosecutor Michael Burrows QC stated that the farmer had “got away with murder” for more than four decades after dumping her body in a septic tank close to the farm.
The bones and skull were found as people worked to empty the septic tank on July 12, 2019. That was six years after Mr. David had sold the farm for £460,000.
At the time of her disappearance, Brenda was aged 48 years old.
“The truth, say the prosecution, is that it was David Venables who killed her,” the prosecutor said at the beginning of the trial.
“He wanted her out of the way – he wanted to resume his long-standing affair with another woman, Lorraine Styles.
“He knew about the septic tank in its secluded location. It was for him almost the perfect hiding place.
“And for nearly 40 years, it was the perfect place and he got away with murder.”
The jury was told that David’s love affair with Ms Styles commenced around 1967 and continued on and off.
The prosecutor further revealed that in 1981, the farmer rekindled his extramarital affair over Christmas and new year. Then months later his wife disappeared.
David told the jury that he woke up on the morning of 4 May 1982 and found that his wife had disappeared.
According to those who knew him, after the murder David appeared calm. He later asked for annulment of his marriage to Mrs. Brenda and friend and relatives described his wife as being friendly, kind and hospitable.
The Worcester Crown Court was told that the farmer informed the law enforcers that his wife might have been killed by West – a serial killer.
Mr. David was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Wednesday this week.
“The terrible truth is that Brenda was killed by the person who was meant to care for her most. He then let her family and friends go for so long not knowing what happened to her,” said a spokes person of West Mercial Police, Sergeant James Beard.
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