Farmer on trial for wife’s murder tried to blame serial killer West
Remains found in septic tank 40 years later
AFARMER accused of killing his wife and dumping her body in a septic tank initially tried to blame serial killer Fred West, a court heard.
The claim was made by David Venables when police questioned him after the remains of his wife Brenda Venables were discovered 40 years after she disappeared.
Her remains were found in 2019 when a septic tank was drained at the property the couple shared in Quaking Hill Farm Kempsey, Worcester.
Retired pig farmer Venables, now aged 89, is now on trial for her murder at Worcester Crown Court.
The prosecution say he killed Mrs Venables, who was 48, because he wanted her “out of the way” so he could start a new life with his mistress. Mrs Venables was reported missing by her husband in May 1982.
Venables, now of Elgar Drive, Kempsey, denies murder.
He at first claimed his wife had probably committed suicide because she was depressed at the time, a jury heard.
But after her remains were found and he was arrested, he changed his story and alleged that the notorious serial killer Fred West was responsible.
He said he knew a woman who told him she had been abducted by West in Gloucestershire but had managed to escape.
Michael Burrows QC, prosecuting, said the defendant had explained that because Gloucestershire was on the Worcestershire border this is what may have happened to his wife.
He told police that his theory was that West had abducted and killed Brenda Venables and then found out about the septic tank and put her body in it.
“He said this was just a theory of his and he had no evidence for it, but it was something he
thought may have happened,” Mr Burrows said.
But the jury were told this was a ridiculous explanation and that Venables was responsible for his wife’s death.
Mr Burrows said: “She didn’t end up in the tank by accident, this wasn’t a suicide as she had enough medication to take an overdose and the river was close by,” he said.
“She was a prim and proper lady – she wouldn’t have ended her life in a septic tank.
“The idea that she climbed in voluntarily and somehow shifted the heavy lid above her with no sign of disturbance is one we say you should reject.
“It is also fanciful that someone else came along and killed her and put her in that tank.
“There was nobody else there apart from David Venables and he had a motive because of his long-standing affair with Lorraine Styles.
“He wanted a divorce but knew that Brenda Venables wouldn’t give him one – she was an obstacle to him keeping the
house and farm and starting a new life with Lorraine Styles.
“The prosecution says you can be sure that it was David Venables who murdered Brenda Venables.”
Earlier, in opening the case, Mr Burrows, said Venables had been in an on-off relationship with his mother’s former carer Lorraine Styles in the run-up to his wife’s disappearance.
Mr Burrows said: “The truth, say the prosecution, is that it was David Venables who killed her.
“He wanted her out of the way: he wanted to resume his longstanding affair with another woman.
“He knew about the septic tank in its secluded location.
“It was for him almost the perfect hiding place.
“It meant he didn’t have to travel and risk being seen making a suspicious journey around the time of her disappearance or risk being seen disposing of her body somewhere else.
“And, of course, even if someone did think to look inside the tank, her body would be hidden
from view. And for nearly 40 years, it was the perfect place and he got away with murder.”
The jury heard Venables’ affair with Ms Styles started “around 1967”, and continued on and off.
Jurors heard Venables reported his wife missing at Worcester police station May 4 1982.
“He said he had awoken that morning and that his wife was not in bed nor in the house,” said Mr Burrows. “He also said she had been depressed.”
A police investigation failed to find any trace of Mrs Venables, while “some people thought she had committed suicide”.
By 2019 Venables had sold the farm to his nephew, and it was in July that year that contractors, clearing out the septic tank, found bones including a human skull.
“DNA testing showed the remains were those of Brenda Venables,” said Mr Burrows.
The pensioner, of Elgar Drive, Kempsey, denies murdering his wife between May 2 and May 5 1982, and the trial, scheduled to last six weeks, continues.