A Sudanese asylum seeker has been found guilty of the murder of Rhiannon Whyte, a 27-year-old hotel worker, in a frenzied attack at a railway station in Walsall. Deng Chol Majek, who claimed to be 19, followed Whyte from the Park Inn hotel in Wolverhampton, where she worked and he was staying, to Bescot Stadium railway station on the night of 20 October 2024.
Prosecutors said Majek stabbed Whyte 23 times with a screwdriver, with 11 wounds penetrating her skull. She died from a fatal brain injury in hospital three days later. CCTV footage showed Majek following Whyte to the station, and after the attack, he threw her phone into the River Tame, bought a beer, and returned to the hotel.
In a chilling moment during the trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, jurors were shown footage of Majek dancing and drinking in the hotel car park shortly after the attack, with blue emergency lights visible in the background. A housing officer described him as 'having a good time' with friends. Prosecutor Michelle Heeley KC said Majek was 'clearly excited about what he had done'.
Majek was arrested in the early hours of 21 October. Police found Whyte's blood on his jacket, ring, and sandals, and her DNA under his fingernails. During a 90-minute police interview, he remained silent. In court, he denied the murder, claiming he was outside the hotel at the time and was not the person seen on CCTV.
Hotel staff testified that Majek had been staring at Whyte and colleagues in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. A chef said she had to turn her chair around because of 'how scary it felt'. The duty manager reported feeling intimidated and said Majek had brushed past Whyte's arm on the day of the attack.
Whyte's childhood friend, Emma Cowley, was on the phone with her when the attack began. She told the court how a normal conversation turned into screams: 'It was a really high-pitched, terrified, in-pain scream.' Majek was found guilty of murder and possessing an offensive weapon.
