Benjamin Day, 20, has admitted murdering sex worker Maria Saceanu inside a £30-a-night Airbnb in Oldbury, after developing an obsession with the US TV show Dexter. He will be sentenced in December.
Murder and attempted mutilation
Day kitted out the room to replicate crimes depicted in the series, spending hours preparing for the killing. He copied things he had seen in the show, including trying to sever her limbs, laying down plastic sheeting, and preserving a microscopic slide of her blood as a 'trophy'.
He changed into his 'Dexter clothing' - a khaki T-shirt with buttons halfway down - before the victim arrived. Police later found a 'shopping list' on his phone, compiled a month beforehand, containing knives, scissors, a mask, an apron, disposable gloves, duct tape, a staple gun, cleaning chemicals, a pipette, duffle bag, latex gloves, number plates and 'Hefty bags'.
Injury and arrest
Day had planned to get away with it, but his scheme went wrong when he sliced his own hand while trying to dismember Ms Saceanu's body. He then deliberately travelled 20 minutes from the location and rang 999 himself while her unclothed body remained on the floor, intending to return and finish the job after his injury was treated.
Day, of Yeadon Close, Redditch, Worcestershire, had pleaded not guilty to murder between December 19 and 22 last year. He reversed his plea on the second day of his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, on Tuesday, October 6, following the prosecution's opening and presentation of evidence. Mr Justice Bryan KC ordered a pre-sentence report before sentencing in December.
Court details
Jurors were told the show follows Dexter Morgan, a forensic scientist who is a serial killer and 'knows how to' conceal his actions. Prosecutor Rachel Brand KC said there was no dispute from the defence that his fascination with the programme played a part in his actions leading up to the night Ms Saceanu was killed.
Ms Saceanu, from Romania, was contacted by Day shortly after 9.30pm on Saturday, December 20. She had registered on Vivastreet, a platform used by sex workers to connect with clients. Ms Brand told the jury: "We don't suggest that this case is about sex. There is no evidence, actually, that any sexual contact took place between Day and Ms Saceanu on the night that she was killed."
She added: "The fact is, because she was a sex worker, she was available. She was a person who could be hired and therefore lured to a particular place with the pretext that she was going to meet a client."
The victim was captured on CCTV arriving about 50 minutes later, which the prosecution described as the 'last time she was seen alive'. Day, then 19 and living with his parents, had been preparing in the room from around 5.30pm. He killed her 'within a very short time of her arrival', then cut away her clothing with scissors and stripped her of her jewellery before disposing of them in a bin bag.
Day, a University of Worcester student, bound his hand with gaffer tape and was caught on CCTV leaving at 12.30am on Sunday, December 21. He contacted emergency services about 20 minutes later. At 1.05am, he messaged the Airbnb landlord requesting an extension of one week, or at least two or three days, before officers arrived about five minutes later.
Ms Brand told the jury: "He said that the injury to his hand had been caused when he had been bitten by a fox or a wild dog. The police found that explanation to be curious and it was also curious that he had bound up his own hand with gaffer tape."
Day was taken to Russells Hall Hospital and arrested there at 3.42am. Ms Saceanu sustained 78 wounds, many believed to have been inflicted after her death. She died 'as a result of wounds to her neck' which damaged her carotid artery or jugular vein. Ms Brand noted she may not have collapsed immediately, and wounds to her hands were consistent with efforts to defend herself.
There were 'attempts to dismember her body', including injuries to her elbow, wrist and knee. The Airbnb property owner said the accommodation had three rooms for hire, with a standard charge of £30 for a single guest and an extra £10 for an additional guest. Day reserved for two guests and paid £40 plus commission and VAT, totalling £46.78.
