‘Monster’ admits axe murder of ex-girlfriend and burying her body
Man who consistently lied to police pleads guilty to ‘callous’ premeditated killing on third day of trial
A “VINDICTIVE monster” lied to police about killing his ex-girlfriend by claiming he accidentally hit her with an axe after she challenged him to hit a coke can with it.
Andrew Burfield, 51, insisted he never intended to hurt Katie Kenyon, 33, despite a post-mortem examination showing she was struck about 12 times with a “heavy-edged weapon” such as an axe or a spade.
Ms Kenyon’s body was found in a shallow grave in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire a week after she vanished on April 22.
Jurors at Preston Crown Court were told that Burfield had dug the pit the day before carrying out the fatal attack and later sent messages to himself and his victim’s two children from her phone to make out she was still alive.
Yesterday Burfield, 51, changed his plea to guilty on the third day of his trial and will be sentenced this morning.
Opening the trial on Monday, David Mclachlan KC, prosecuting, told the court the defendant was arrested following Ms Kenyon’s disappearance and interviewed four times, initially denying any knowledge of her whereabouts.
In his penultimate interview there was a “revelation” and his version of events changed. He told officers he had taken Ms Kenyon, with whom he had been in a relationship since 2019, out for a picnic and she had “bet” him he could not hit a can of coke with his axe.
“I went for the tree at the side of her and it hit her in the head,” Burfield said.
The couple were said to have had a difficult relationship which had resulted in Ms Kenyon attempting to take a non-molestation order out against her ex-boyfriend in 2021.
However, in March 2022 they were back in touch but Ms Kenyon was unsure of his motives.
She sent a text message to her mother on March 16, 2022, which read: “I’m paranoid to death hes ganna do summert .. couldn’t sleepall night xxxx”
Over the next few weeks, Burfield mounted a concerted effort to win her back. He left chocolates and flowers on her car bonnet, before the pair were seen at an event together on April 12.
On April 21, Ms Kenyon parked her car and walked towards Burfield’s home in Burnley at about 10am. At 2.55pm, she was captured on CCTV hugging him before she left. That same day, Burfield picked up a spade from his father’s house and drove to the forest where Ms Kenyon’s body was later found.
The next day, Ms Kenyon arrived at his home at 9.18am. Her phone was picked up travelling to the forest but the signal went dead at about 11.15am when Burfield attacked her.
After the case, Det Chief Insp Allen Davies, of Lancashire Police, said “My thoughts first and foremost are with Katie’s family. They have suffered unimaginable pain and suffering at the hands of Andrew Burfield, a man who is nothing short of a vindictive monster. In my entire police service, I have never dealt with a case involving such an extent of cold and callous premeditation.”
‘Katie’s family have suffered at the hands of Andrew Burfield – a man who is nothing short of a vindictive monster’