Palmer ‘killed & cut up’ animals for months in research lab role
IN the months before the murder, Palmer worked for an animal testing company “killing and dissecting” the creatures in a lab, the Mirror can reveal.
The jury was not told about his role with the controversial business because his legal team successfully argued that the details could harm his case.
Prosecutors told a pre-trial hearing that he was “basically paid to kill animals” while employed by Envigo. He landed the job six months before murdering Mr Wrighton.
A source said: “Palmer worked in the labs doing animal experiments. He was killing and dissecting them.”
Palmer told police he dreamt of working with human remains in a mortuary as a pathologist’s assistant.
He joined Envigo last February, working in Occold, Suffolk.
The company said in a statement Palmer was employed as a “trainee pathology laboratory services assistant”. After he was arrested last year the business confirmed it had been in touch with police.
Envigo, which is based in Huntingdon, Cambs, carries out chemical and pharmaceutical research.
It was created in 2015 following a merger of several businesses including Huntingdon Life Sciences.