Pig farmer, 89, is found GUILTY of murdering his wife
Pig farmer, 89, who killed his wife and dumped her body in a septic tank as he had affairs with other woman is found GUILTY of murder after getting away with it for nearly 40 years
- David Venables murdered his wife Brenda and put her body into the septic tank
- Remained composed as he was convicted of his wife’s murder by a 10-2 majority
- Police never searched tank but it was finally drained in 2019 by killer’s nephew
A philandering pig farmer who got away with murder for 40 years will spend the rest of his life in jail after he was today convicted of killing his wife.
David Venables, 89, murdered his wife Brenda and put her body into the septic tank of their marital home in Kempsey, Worcestershire, in May 1982.
The pensioner, who was required to sit in the dock after previously being allowed to sit beside his legal team, remained composed as he was convicted of his wife’s murder by a 10-2 majority after jurors deliberated for 16 hours and 43 minutes over four days.
Venables, who was given headphones to aid his hearing, blinked several times when the verdict was returned and then stared back towards the jury bench.
Police originally treated Brenda’s disappearance as a missing person inquiry and never searched the tank, but finally found her remains when a cesspit was drained in 2019 by Andrew Venables, who had bought the farm from his uncle.
The court heard that the couple had met at a Worcester and Kidderminster Young Farmers club social in 1957 when he was 25 and she was 23.
David Venables, 89, (pictured yesterday) murdered his wife Brenda and put her body into the septic tank of their marital home in Kempsey, Worcestershire, in May 1982
Mrs Venables in the garden of Quaking House Farm, Kempsey, Worcestershire, where her body was found
They married in Brenda’s local parish church in Rushock in 1960 and the following year moved into Quaking House Farm, built by Venables on land gifted to him by his father, and boasting ‘magnificent views’ of the surrounding countryside.
But by the end of the decade their marriage was in difficulties. They had no children, a situation that distressed Brenda according to her friend Vicky Jennings, and Venables had begun a series of affairs with other women.
One of them was Lorraine Styles, who had been the carer for Venables’ mother, and started a sexual relationship with the wealthy farmer after he gave her lifts home in 1967.
She died in 2017 but a statement she gave to detectives in 1984, revealed details of their affair and how Venables had reacted after his wife’s disappearance.
Ms Styles said Venables had offered to bring a catering-sized pork pie to help with refreshments at her daughter’s 21st birthday party but a week before the bash had rung to say his wife had gone missing.
Her statement said: ‘He seemed quite composed and suddenly told me that his wife had disappeared the day before and that he was phoning to let me know before I read it in the paper.
‘He said that she had gone in the night and the first he knew was when he discovered the front door open the following morning.
‘He said that Brenda had seemed quite normal the night before and had set the Teasmaid and everything seemed alright, but the following morning she had disappeared.’ Two weeks later, he called round at her house and tried to have sex.
Pictured, the septic tank where Mrs Venable’s remains were found in July 2019
An aerial photo of the septic tank (circled) at the couple’s former home in Kempsey, Worcestershire in July 2019
A handout photo of Brenda Venables, 48, whose remains were found in 2019 in a septic tank outside the home she shared with David Venables – 37 years after she disappeared
Ms Styles stated: ‘I couldn’t understand why he was so calm about the whole episode; he just sat and watched the television. Later (in) the evening he eventually got round to making advances towards me and it was quite obvious from his actions that he wanted me to have intercourse.
‘In view of his wife’s disappearance and that even I was concerned for Brenda I refused his advances.’
Their sexual relationship resumed a few weeks later but by the Autumn 1982 the spark had gone and she spotted Venables with another woman on his arm.
Venables had always insisted that he had simply woken up on May 2 1982 to find his wife had disappeared.
But Trevor Brooks, who then ran a piggery owned by Venables and his brother Peter, told the court that neither he nor his colleagues were asked to join in the search, and further witness statements said there was ‘no mention’ of Brenda’s disappearance by Venables in the aftermath.
The jury also heard that before her death, Brenda had become depressed by her husband’s ‘multiple affairs’ and the fact she had been unable to conceive.
Venables, 89, pictured leaving his home for an appearance at Worcester Crown Court on June 8, 2022
Mr Venables now lives in a bungalow about a mile away from the farmhouse where the remains were found
She had visited both her GP and a consultant psychiatrist to help her deal with her mental health.
She reportedly told her psychiatrist Dr Richards, that she and her husband had not had sex since 1969 and were sleeping separately.
The court heard doctors tried to make appointments to see the couple together, but Venables repeatedly said he was ‘too busy’.
According to note read to the jury, he also blocked Dr Richards’ attempt to have her hospitalised in the weeks before her death.
The psychiatrist described Venables as a ‘’typical farmer – displaying little to no affection to his wife, but showering praise on the family dog’.
When questioned by detectives after his wife’s remains were discovered, Venables insisted they had a normal marriage and attempted to blame her death on serial killer Fred West.
Venables is expected to be sentenced next week.
Police arrested Venables at his home in Kempsey in July 2019, shortly after his wife’s remains were discovered in the septic tank near their former home
Source: Read Full Article