Trevor Dunkley, 66, has been jailed for life after admitting to killing his partner Patricia Lashley, 33, in Dudley in 1998. He kept her body in a cellar for a year before disposing of her remains in a household waste bin.
Killer's hideout revealed
Police photographs show the interior of the hideout in the Black Country where Dunkley kept the mother-of-seven's body for a year. Dunkley, jailed for life on Friday (November 6), used his fists to brutally assault Lashley in bed at the home they shared in Dudley in September 1998. He then covered her with bedding and moved her body down to the cellar.
Police confirmed that Dunkley later disposed of her remains in household waste over a number of weeks. Nearly 30 years on, Dunkley confessed this year to the killing of the 33-year-old, prompting police to conduct a search of the cellar at his former home on Hall Street.
Extensive cellar excavation
Several photographs taken by police document the searches of this area. The reason the excavation was so extensive was because the cellar had undergone renovation on multiple occasions since Dunkley vacated the property. Specialist search teams were required to dig through the existing floor to reach the original space beneath. Large bags of rubble were unearthed during the excavation of the cellar on August 19.
Confession and sentencing
Dunkley, who was 38 years old at the time of the murder, told detectives he took Patricia's child to Social Services, informing them she had left him and abandoned her baby. He claimed he returned home to sleep on the sofa before heading to work that evening, and upon his return stated she had not moved and "knew she was dead". Dunkley claimed Patricia had been abusive and violent, which ultimately led to her death. However, police stated this has not been corroborated.
Earlier this year he confessed to the killing, believing that West Midlands Police were "onto him". He told an officer investigating the case: "I killed her. I'm sorry". Footage subsequently showed him sitting in the back of a police car, telling another officer: "My life is finished now... I'm getting locked up for life."
Dunkley pleaded guilty to murder and preventing a lawful and decent burial following a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court on September 11. He has now been handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years and 10 months, which includes 120 days already spent in custody.
