A viscous burglar has been convicted of brutally murdering an 86-year-old woman in her home.
Before leaving the victim to die, Vasile Culea beat, gagged and tied her up. He was also convicted of wounding with intent the victim's 88-year-old husband - former district councillor and alderman Kennet Walker - at their home on January 14.
The court heard how Culea "hog-tied" Mr and Mrs Walker while searching their Langwith Junction home in Derbyshire for £30,000 in cash which he found after claiming to have overheard the strangers chatting about it in a shop. While the cash did exist, it was only discovered afterwards by the police search teams - in the jury hearing evidence, Mr Walker said he had forgotten where he had stored the money.
CCTV footage showed Culea first arriving at the address at around 5.30pm, where he could then be seen climbing over the victims' fence, before waiting in the garden. He claimed to have then opened their unlocked door and hid in the utility room where he was later discovered by Mrs Walker and her husband when they came looking for their cat.
However, the prosecution argued that Culea waited for Mrs Walker to open the door to let the cat out, forcing his way inside and launching a violent attack against the victims. Mrs Walker, who had a bag pulled over her head, tragically died of a brain injury and was found dead in the kitchen by emergency services the following day after neighbours raised concerns - she had at least two covering over her head that were knotted.
Jurors heard the victims suffered “frankly horrific” injuries, and that Mrs Walker had a reasonable prospect of survival had she not been “abandoned without any assistance” and “with coverings to her face obstructing her airway”, according to Michael Auty KC, prosecuting.
Mr Walker died some months later, however his death was not linked to the attack. The perpetrator had already admitted manslaughter of Mrs Walker and the grievous bodily harm of her husband.
However, prosecutors said he was guilty of fabricating "a nonsense" cover-up for an attack on the couple that went "far beyond any justification; savage in its nature - and sustained". Culea claimed that he injured Mrs Walker after "slipping" on a spilt drink and stepping on her chest after she "fell over" during the attack
Culea was arrested at a property in Grove Road, Church Warsop – just a short drive from the Walkers’ address in Station Road – six days after his break-in. Examination of the footage showed Culea spending hours scoping out the area around the Walker’s home, having parked his Audi nearby.
When he left their home, sometime around 8.48pm that evening, he had changed his appearance, wearing a high-vis jacket.
A jury of 11 men and one woman unanimously convicted the 34-year-old after just two hours and 15 minutes of deliberation. After the verdicts, Ms Van Schaik said the methods used by Culea had been “truly shocking”, adding it was her hopes the verdicts brought “some consolation to those affected by this horrific crime”.
“Whilst Kenneth may have survived the attack, he had lost his wife and lived out his remaining days requiring constant care before he sadly passed away shortly before this case was due to be heard,” she added.
Culea, of Grove Road, Church Warsop, will be sentenced at a later date.
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