Aussie’s killer faces life behind bars
CROSS-DRESSING killer Roderick Deakin-White has been found guilty of murdering his Australian fiancee Amy Parsons.
Deakin-White, 38, is now facing a life sentence for beating his girlfriend of eight years to death with a metal bar at their London home last April.
Ms Parsons, 35, was trying to leave her obsessive boyfriend when he beat her to death. She was seeking to flee his months of stalking and his insistence on wearing women’s underwear during sex.
The jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court gave a majority verdict of 9 to 2 to convict Deakin-White.
The jury members failed after two days to deliver a unanimous verdict.
A hardened London homicide detective labelled the Australian woman’s murder one of the “most vicious” he had ever seen after the verdict was handed down.
Crown Court judge John Lafferty said Ms Parsons’ murder was “truly dreadful”.
“This naked, defenceless woman was hit in the shower by a heavy metal bar … it was ghastly, it was truly dreadful,” he told the court.
“I fail to see (how) anyone could have been unsure that the defendant intended to kill her. Multiple blows around the face and head were calculated to kill. In my judgment this verdict was entirely right.”
Deakin-White is likely to appeal, the court heard, after his defence that he lost control during the murder was struck out. He had claimed through the trial that he suffered from child sexual abuse and possible autism.
Ms Parsons’ mother Leonie and sister Eve came to London from Australia and sat through every day of the trial.
“We were very relieved when the response came back of guilty,” sister Eve said.
“We had concerns with the amount of time it took and we weren’t sure it was going to come back in our favour.”
Life sentences are set in law for murder in England and Wales, but a non-parole period will be set on November 20.