David Venables found guilty of murdering his wife in 1982 hiding her body in a septic tank | UK News
A retired pig farmer was convicted of murdering his wife in 1982, whose body was found in a septic tank on their farm 37 years later.
David Venables, 89, tried blame serial killer Fred West for the murder of Brenda Venables.
During the month-long trial, his legal team said West had links to the village of Kempsey in Worcestershire, where Brenda went missing in May 1982.
They also claimed that Ms Venables may have left her marital home at Quaking House Farm and “committed suicide or met or encountered someone who wanted to harm her”.
But the jury convicted Venables of murdering his wife on May 3 or May 4, 1982.
Prosecutor Michael Burrows QC said Venables had been “free of murder” for nearly 40 years after dumping his wife’s body in a septic tank near the farm.
Her skull and other bones were discovered during the emptying of an underground room on 12 July 2019, six years after Venables sold the property for more than £460,000.
Rejecting Venables’ defense as absurd, Mr Burrows said at the start of the trial: “The truth, according to the prosecution, is that it was David Venables who killed her.
Brenda Venables is pictured on holiday in Perthshire in Scotland
“He wanted her gone – he wanted to resume his longtime love affair with another woman, Lorraine Styles.
“He knew about the septic tank in its remote location. For him, it was almost the perfect hideout.
“And for almost 40 years it was the perfect place and he got away with murder.”
The jury heard Venables’ affair with Ms Styles began around 1967, and continued on an ongoing basis.
Mr. Burrows said that in 1981, Ms. Styles was “in doubt again about David Venables’ feelings for her”, but the rancher rekindled the affair over Christmas and New Year’s Eve, several years later. months before his wife disappeared.
Venables told the jury that he woke up on the morning of May 4, 1982 to find his wife, then 48 years old, gone.
He said he then searched the surrounding lanes and a stretch of the river Severn nearby.
After the murder, court trial, Venables appeared calm to those who knew him.
He then sought to annul his marriage to Mrs Venables, who was described by relatives and friends in court as a kind, hospitable and friendly woman.
Her body was found in a septic tank in 1982
Worcester Crown Court has been informed that the pensioner has notified the police after arrest in 2019 that he believes West may have killed Brenda, who had been diagnosed with depression.
Venables has been detained and will be sentenced next Wednesday.
Speaking on behalf of West Mercia Police, Detective Sergeant James Beard said: “The terrible truth is that Brenda was killed by the very person she cared about most. He then left his family and friends alone. her friends go a long time without knowing what happened to her.”
