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WORCESTER, KOMPAS.com – A man hides his wife’s body in septic tank for almost 40 years, in order to be able to continue affair which has been going on for a long time.
David Venablesan 89-year-old retiree, is on trial for murder his wife, Brenda Venables, whom he reported missing on May 4, 1982.
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His body was found in 2019 in a septic tank behind the house where the couple lived. Venables was indicted for his murder in June 2021.
Opening the case in England’s Worcester court on Monday (13/6/2022), prosecutor Michael Burrows QC said the septic tank had been the “perfect hiding place”, and had barely kept Venables “from assassination” for decades.
Police investigations at the time included using helicopters to explore the local area, searching rivers, conducting door-to-door investigations, and talking to friends and family.
But they didn’t reveal any trace of Brenda’s whereabouts.
The woman had suffered from depression before she disappeared. So, some assumed he had taken his own life.
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His remains were found 37 years after he went missing, after Venables sold his home at Quaking House Farm, in Kempsey, Worcestershire to his nephew, who then tried to empty his septic tank in 2019.
Bones had been found in the tank on two previous occasions, but were deemed animal bones and discarded.
However, when a human skull was found, the find was reported to the police.
DNA tests confirmed the bones found in the tank belonged to Brenda, who was 48 at the time she disappeared.
Also found pieces of clothing that match the styles available at that time.
Burrows said Venables wanted his wife to “get out of the way” so he could continue his affair with Lorraine Styles, whom he met in 1967 while she was working as a nanny for Venables’ mother.
The two had an on-and-off relationship for more than 14 years and was known to Brenda, according to the court.
In 1981 Venables promised Styles that he would divorce his wife so they could start a new life together, Burrows said.
“He (the suspect) wanted his wife out of the way: he wanted to continue his long-standing affair with another woman,” Burrows said.
“He knows about a septic tank in a remote location. For him, it is almost the perfect hiding place.”
According to prosecutors, the mode of crime allowed the suspect not to travel and risk being seen on a suspicious trip when his wife disappeared, or risk being seen dumping her body elsewhere.
And, of course, even if one thought about looking into the tank, his wife’s body would be hidden from view.
“And for nearly 40 years, it was the perfect place and he got away with murder.”
Initially, Venables told police he woke to find his wife neither in bed nor at home, and told them he was depressed.
Officers noted the man “didn’t appear worried in the slightest, and seemed calm”.
“It’s impossible to suspect that Brenda Venables killed herself by climbing into the septic tank and that she somehow removed the heavy lid and put it back on it so there was no sign of any disturbance.”
He also said that the remote location of the farm where the Venables lived, made it “absurd” to assume Brenda had stepped out of the house and was attacked by someone else.
Venables, of Elgar Drive, Kempsey, denies killing his wife between May 2 and May 5, 1982. The trial, which was scheduled to last six weeks, is still ongoing.
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