‘What evidence have you got? Are you sure bones are my wife?’
Farmer quizzed cops over body in septic tank
A PIG farmer who allegedly dumped his dead wife in a septic tank where she lay for nearly 40 years quizzed police over her remains, a court heard.
David Venables, 89, is accused of murdering 48-year-old Brenda so he could run off with his secret lover, jurors were told.
It was said he asked police: “These bones, are you sure it’s my wife?”
Brenda’s remains were found in an underground cesspit on Quaking House Farm, in Kempsey,Worcs, in 2019 – some 37 years after she vanished.
Venables is on trial at Worcester Crown Court charged with murdering Brenda between May 2 and 5, 1982.
The court heardVenables told police he had cleaned out the septic tank on several occasions before his wife’s remains were found by contractors.
In transcripts of police interviews which were read out in court,Venables asked officers: “What evidence have you got? These bones, are you sure it’s my wife?”
Venables was told by an officer that inquiries were ongoing. He replied: “I have no knowledge that there was anything in there at all.”
The farmer added that if he had known there was anything like that in the tank he would have “sold the farm”.
He added: “It would be pretty obvious that, at some time, it would be discovered.”
Earlier in the trial, jurors heard Venables allegedly had a “longstanding affair” with his mother’s former carer Lorraine Styles, behind the back of his wife.
Prosecutor Michael Burrows QC said he “wanted her out of the way”, adding: “It was David Venables who killed her.
“He knew about the septic tank in its secluded location. It was for him almost the perfect hiding place.”
Venables, of Kempsey,Worcs, denies murder.
The trial continues.