Jack-the-Ripper-style killer has been jailed for more than 25 years the killing He was acquitted of the murder of a pregnant woman 30 years ago.
David Smith, 67, was acquitted in 1993 after a trial for the murder of escort Sarah Crump, 33, where his mother warned he would kill again.
Six years later, the lorry driver murdered another 21-year-old sex worker, Amanda Walker, for which he served a 24-year life sentence.
Mr Justice Bryan on Friday sentenced him to life imprisonment for Ms Crump’s murder with a minimum term of 27 years, including 479 days he spent on remand in his 90s, meaning he could serve at least 25 years and Will serve a sentence of 251 days.
Smith, wearing dark glasses with his head bowed, showed no emotion as he was labeled a “sadistic sex murderer” and a “habitual and unscrupulous liar”.
The judge told her, “I must sentence you to this abominable murder, which I believe was both sexual and sadistic in nature.”
He said, “I have no doubt that you had a premeditated and well-planned intention that night … to kill and sexually mutilate an escort to satisfy your perverted and sadistic sexual desires.”
In a statement read outside the court, Crump’s family thanked witnesses for coming forward at “great personal sacrifice”.
He added: “Finally justice has been done for our lovely Sarah. If only our mother and father were with us today to share this momentous occasion.
“After a disappointing acquittal at the Old Bailey in 1993, our mother said David Smith would kill again. Eight years after Sarah’s murder, he was found guilty of an even more brutal murder and mutilation of a young woman and mother , which he later accepted.
“Thirty years have passed but we still remember Sarah – she was a shining light in a bleak world that wished for the best but found the worst of humanity.”
Her older sister, Joan Platt, said the family was not aware Ms Crump was working for an escort agency, and believed it was because she was undergoing fertility treatment because of a “strong desire to become a mother”. Wanted to give money for
She said: “We would now like to remember Sarah for who she was to us – a sister with the most wonderful smile, a funny, thoughtful aunt and daughter who was one of the three best girls in the world” – the phrase now on her headstone. But “sad”.
Sarah Crump’s naked and decomposed body was found by police in her west London flat in the early hours of 29 August 1991.
(PA)
After being acquitted in 1993 of the murder of Ms. Crump, a chiropodist’s secretary, Smith bragged that he “got away with it”.
The lorry driver had also raped two other women and killed Ms Walker in 1999.
An Old Bailey judge found Smith guilty of Ms Walker’s murder later that year, but Ms Crump’s family were left to seek justice for three painful decades until Court of Appeal judges ordered a retrial Gave.
it was ultimately guilty of the crime after less than three hours of deliberations at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday.
Ms Platt and Suzanne Wright, Ms Crump’s older sisters, attended the court for the verdict, as well as Jill McTeague, the detective who led the original murder investigation.
In a statement read out outside the court, Ms Platt said: “Even after 32 years, hearing the details of the attack on Sarah was harrowing.”
He continued: “My family and I will never accept the brutal brutality of Sarah’s murder.
“To finally see justice for Sarah, the chase was always so important.”
David Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum sentence of 27 years for Ms Crump’s murder
(Metropolitan Police)
The judge said he hoped the sentence would give the family “some closure”, telling Smith they would be “safe in the knowledge that you have been brought to justice and are likely to spend the rest of your life in prison”. .
He added that the mitigating features were “really thin porridge”: “You have shown no remorse.”
During the Old Bailey trial in 1993, Ms Crump’s mother Pat Rhodes warned she believed Smith would kill again – which he tragically said again after Ms Walker was murdered.
Both victims were mutilated by Smith, who was known to his colleagues as the “Honey Monster” or “Larch” because of his 6 ft 3 in height and heavy build.
When he was allowed to walk free, he thanked the jury after his defense attorney accused the police of incompetence and suppressing evidence.
Police vehemently denied the allegation of rescue and said they were not looking for anyone else.
Smith murdered Ms Crump in the early hours of 29 August 1991 at her west London flat in Southall.
Working as a secretary in the chiropody department at Wimbledon Hospital, following a previous job as a psychiatric nurse, she was said to have led a double life as an escort.
Ms Crump’s family had to wait three decades for justice
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Loner Smith, then 34 and living with his parents in Middlesex, had arranged to meet her at a one-bedroom flat during his week’s work.
Her naked body was found to be “brutally mutilated”, with scars similar to the surgical scars of a woman Smith had become “obsessed with” but “rejected his attentions”.
At Smith’s latest trial, jurors awaiting remand for Ms Walker’s murder heard she claimed to another prisoner that she had already faced trial for murder at the Old Bailey but “went away”. Was.
The prisoner said, “He said no evidence was found about him and he got away.”
His case was referred to the Court of Appeals and after a change in the law on double jeopardy in 2003 for a new trial with “new and compelling evidence”.
He denied a single charge of murder but failed to provide evidence.
Lorry driver David Smith, pictured at a previous trial, was found guilty of Ms Crump’s murder at Inner London Crown Court on Thursday
(PA)
Prosecutor William Boyce Casey told the jury that Ms Crump’s murder was part of his “escalating pattern of violent and sexual assault against women” dating back to his teenage years in the 1970s.
They said Smith developed an “attraction and obsession” with some of the women he paid for sex and allegedly tried to rape an escort 10 days before the murders – they were held at the Old Bailey. Was acquitted of attempted rape.
Jurors also heard that Smith raped a young mother at knife point in 1976 and nearly 10 years later cornered an unidentified woman in a car.
It was said that he regularly used sex workers and went to Ms Crump’s flat to pay for sex, using a false name “Duncan”.
Speaking after Friday’s sentencing, DS Rebecca Reeves said: “Smith’s sentencing today brings to a close a 32-year search for justice for Sarah’s family.
Amanda Walker, 21, whose partially dressed body was found in woodland next to the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens in Wisley, Surrey
(PA)
“I am pleased that Smith has finally been held accountable for this heinous crime. He is an evil man who will now more than likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Mr Boyce said the murder bore “many parallels” with the mutilation and mutilation of Ms Walker, whose body was found in a shallow leaf grave near the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens in Wisley in Surrey – couples meeting to have sex Notorious place for – about six weeks after he went missing.
Speaking after Ms Walker’s murder trial, Ms Crump’s mother said: “Nothing will bring Sarah back, we know this, but we feel there is unfinished business left while Smith is free.
“I really do blame Smith for the murder of my daughter Sarah. I said at the trial that he would kill again.
2005 Inquiry Dr. Harold Shipman Heard how Smith regularly played cards with serial killer GP serving his sentence in Wakefield Prison.
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