[ad_1]
Double murderer David Fuller has pleaded guilty to 16 sexual offences relating to 23 dead women in mortuaries over a 13-year period. The 68-year-old is appearing in Croydon Crown Court facing 16 charges. The offences involving the bodies of 23 women are said to have taken place between 2007 and 2020. He pleaded guilty to 12 counts of sexual penetration of a corpse and four counts of possession of extreme pornography during the 13-year period.
Fuller, who beat and strangled Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce to death before sexually assaulting them in two separate attacks in 1987, was last year sentenced to a whole-life term.
He pleaded guilty to murdering both women, as well as 51 other offences, including 44 charges relating to 78 victims in mortuaries between 2008 and 2020.
Fuller had filmed himself abusing corpses in the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, where he had worked as an electrician.
An investigation from Kent Police had led to evidence relating to a total of 101 victims. The most recent charges relate to the 23 remaining victims, all of whom were deceased adult women – 10 have not been identified.
When police searched Fuller’s three-bedroom semi-detached home in Heathfield, East Sussex, where he lived with his family, they discovered a collection of pictures of him attacking corpses.
The victims included a nine-year-old girl, two 16-year-olds and a 100-year-old woman.
The 68-year-old double murder pleaded guilty to 10 charges under section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 relating to offences involving 10 identified victims, and two charges under section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 relating to offences involving three unidentified victims.
He pleaded guilty to two charges under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 relating to the possession of extreme pornography in connection with 13 identified victims.
READ MORE: Collapsed pier battered by 70mph winds as Met Office issues warnings
Fuller also admitted guilt to two charges under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 relating to the possession of extreme pornography in connection with 10 unidentified victims.
Fuller, who appeared in court by video-link from HMP Frankland, has been ordered by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb to appear in person when she sentences him in the week starting December 5, which is likely to take place at the Old Bailey in London.
Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court victim personal statements are being prepared.
He said: “There are many family members of the victims who would like to attend court in one way or another, some of whom who would wish to read their victim personal statements to the court.”
DON’T MISS
New weather warning as thunder and lightning to strike UK in hours [LATEST]
Britons brace for ‘worst of both worlds’ as BoE ‘far behind’ crisis [LIVE]
Nicola Sturgeon torn apart over SNP’s ‘absurd ideas’ [COMMENTS]
Senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Libby Clark said: “Fuller’s actions were depraved, disgusting and dehumanising, on a scale that has never been encountered before in legal history.
“It was vital for us to bring these additional charges for the women we could identify, and those we sadly couldn’t, to reflect his offending and bring justice for the families that we can. The horrors of this case will no doubt remain with everyone who has worked so tirelessly to bring the case to a close.”
The Government has said an independent inquiry has been launched looking at how Fuller went undetected until being arrested on December 3, 2020 after new analysis of decades-old DNA evidence.
On June 23, 1987, Ms Knell was found dead in her apartment on Guildford Road.
Five months later on November 24, Ms Pierce was snatched outside her home in Grosvenor Park, with her naked body discovered in a water-filled dyke at St Mary in the Marsh on December 15.
[ad_2]
