A retired pig farmer has been jailed for life, with a minimum of 18 years, after he was found guilty of the 1982 murder of his wife, whose body was found hidden in a septic tank 37 years later.
David Venables, 89, tried to blame serial killer Fred West for Brenda Venables’s murder, but was convicted by a 10-2 majority verdict during his trial.
At the sentencing hearing, the judge said that Venables had taken advantage of his wife’s depression to create a “carefully thought-out story” that she had left home in the middle of the night, apparently to take her own life.
Ms Justice Tipples said that evidence presented in court showed that the retired pig farmer had used a manhole cover to weigh down his wife’s body.
She told the pensioner: “You killed Brenda Venables in her own home, where she was recuperating with an injured leg and suffering from depression. You were Brenda’s husband and she should have been able to trust you.
Brenda Venables in the garden of Quaking House Farm, Kempsey, Worcestershire, where her body was found in a septic tank in 1982.
(PA)
“Your complete lack of respect for Brenda is obvious from your decision to dispose of her body in the septic tank.”
The judge said that the farmer was motivated to kill his wife so he could “remove her from your life and the complications she may have presented to you in any divorce proceedings.”
“There is no doubt an element of greed and selfishness,” she added.
More to follow…