BACKGROUND: (From a previous post; December 15, 2021): David Fuller: UK; Kent and Sussex Hospital: Question of the day: Why did this hospitals fail to protect at least 100 women and girls from a double murderer who sexually abused the dead in two of its morgues without being caught over 12 years? (BBC News Reporter Amanda Akass)..."The son of one of Fuller's victims told the BBC he was left "disgusted" after hearing she had been raped by him. Fuller, who murdered Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in 1987, will be sentenced on Wednesday. The victim's son, who does not wish to be identified, told how two police family liaison officers knocked on his door to tell him the news. He said: "I'm absolutely disgusted. It's like losing her all over again. It's terrible. "I still haven't been able to cry over it. "I'm just glad my dad wasn't alive to see it.” The double murderer who sexually abused the dead The man said support from the police had been "superb" but he questioned how hospital electrician Fuller was able to carry out the scale of abuse."
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust chief executive Miles Scott said in a statement: 'I would like to apologise once again for the hurt that has been caused to families as a result of these appalling crimes." 'We will make any further improvements recommended from the independent inquiry and we have undertaken a risk assessment of our mortuary including assuring ourselves against existing Human Tissue Authority guidance."
'STORY: "Morgue monster will die behind bars: David Fuller who called himself 'Necro Lord' and murdered two women then raped corpses of more than 100 women aged 9-100 is given TWO whole life orders - as families say loved ones were 'robbed of dignity in death', by Reporter Jamie Phillips, Published by The Daily Mail, on December 15, 2021.
- Pervert sexually abused at least 102 victims aged between nine and 100, of which 82 have been identified
- Police found 14 million images of sex offences during a search of his family home in Heathfield, East Sussex
- Fuller also filmed himself committing sexual acts on corpses at hospitals, where he worked as electrician
- Families of victims have been giving impact statements during sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court
- Handed a whole life sentence after admitting murders of Wendy and Caroline and sexually assaulting the bodies of women and girls in hospital mortuaries.
The perverted murderer, 67, pleaded guilty to the murders of Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, last month.
Fuller beat and strangled the women to death before sexually assaulting them in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987.
He also admitted a further 51 offences related to sexually abusing at least 102 victims, of which 82 have been identified, in the mortuaries of Kent and Sussex and Tunbridge Wells hospitals over more than a decade.
His youngest victim was just nine, two were aged 16, and the oldest was 100. The identities of the remaining 20 victims may never be known.
Fuller was sentenced to two whole life orders for the murders of Ms Knell and Ms Pierce at Maidstone Crown Court on Wednesday. He was also given concurrent sentences totalling 12 years for the sexual abuse of the deceased females.
He joins Levi Bellfield - killer of Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange - as the only criminal in UK legal history to be serving two whole life orders.
In her sentencing remarks today, the judge said Fuller 'became a vulture, picking victims from among the dead,' adding 'the depravity of what you did reveals your conscience is seared.'
Fuller filmed himself carrying out the attacks inside the hospitals, where he worked in electrical maintenance roles.
He stored records of his serial sex offending on computer folders with titles including 'Necro Lord', 'Register', 'Deadly', 'Deadliest' and 'Best Yet'.
The folders contained names, numbers and dates, as well as images of a mortuary logbook used to create his own record of those he defiled.
While there was no CCTV in the area of the mortuary where the sexual abuse took place, Fuller was found to have researched many of his victims after the attacks via Facebook.
The sentencing hearing heard impact statements from a string of the victims' family members.
The mother of Fuller's youngest victim, a nine-year-old girl, addressed him directly, saying: 'David, you know who I am because you read the letter I wrote to my baby.'
She added: 'You raped my baby. She couldn't say no to the dirty 66-year-old man who was abusing her body. I feel guilty I left her there. I will not enjoy my life again. This unnatural sick pain I will never get over.'
The widower of another woman told him: 'David, when you are serving your time behind bars, think carefully about what you have done and thank your lucky stars that I'm not sharing a cell with you.'
Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb QC told the killer today: 'These were premeditated killings, carefully planned and executed.'
Ordering Fuller to stand to be sentenced, the judge said: 'You had no regard for the dignity of the dead. You have spent the last 45 years living an outwardly mild and ordinary life.
'You were described as a man good under pressure while in seclusion you committed acts of the deepest darkness.
'You became a vulture, picking your victims from among the dead within the hidden world of hospital mortuaries which you were free to inhabit simply because you had a swipe card.
'The depravity of what you did reveals your conscience is seared. You will spend every day of the rest of your life in prison.'
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Maidstone Crown Court heard impact statements from a string of the victim's family members as part of the sentencing hearing.
Ms Knell's mother, Pamela, told the court she had not been the same since her daughter's body was found.
She said she cut down everything in her garden 'because it shouldn't be living' and would often find herself crying outside at 3am with no knowledge of how she got there.
The court heard how friends would cross the road to avoid her and she had given up caring about how her house looked.
She added she still said goodnight and good morning to a picture of Wendy.
The mother of Fuller's youngest victim, a nine-year-old girl, addressed him directly, saying: 'David, you know who I am because you read the letter I wrote to my baby.'
She said she went to the mortuary to be with her daughter, who died of complications relating to the common cold, every day, including Christmas Day.
The mother said she would dress her and brush her hair and leave toys for her to play with, but when she left Fuller would enter the room and abuse her daughter.
She told the judge Fuller had tarnished those memories.
The mother told the court: 'I can't say much of what I want to say to you. You raped my baby. She couldn't say no to the dirty 66-year-old man who was abusing her body. I feel guilty I left her there.
'I will not enjoy my life again. Her death was unfair and heart breaking but it was a natural thing that I was starting to come to terms with. This unnatural sick pain I will never get over.'
The father of an 18-year-old victim said: 'The only bit of comfort we held on to was how peaceful she looked when we said our goodbyes.
'This was destroyed when we got a knock on the door by the police to say she had been violated by a man my wife had grown up in fear of.
'Fuller has taken our little girl's innocence and destroyed our souls. I am consumed with anger.'
The widower of another woman told him: 'David, when you are serving your time behind bars, think carefully about what you have done and thank your lucky stars that I'm not sharing a cell with you.'
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Fuller was sentenced on the 34th anniversary of the discovery of Ms Pierce's body by a farm worker in a water-filled dyke near St Mary in the Marsh, close to Romney Marsh.
Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, told the court Fuller was first employed within the NHS trust as an electrical maintenance craftsman from January 1989 before progressing to maintenance supervisor in March 2002 and then estate supervisor from May 2011.
He said: 'While having access to the two hospital mortuaries, David Fuller systematically and repeatedly sexually abused the bodies of dead women and girls located there.
'He was generally the last person present at the mortuary at the end of the day. He had access via a swipe card and the evidence suggests he spent time with his victim beyond the filmed abuse of them.
'He used a personal digital camera to take pictures of and to film his activities. He then kept records of those activities on hard drives concealed in his home office.
'Police also found printed images of deceased women being sexually abused and it is possible to see it is the defendant abusing them.'
The families also demanded a public inquiry and for MPs a reform of necrophilia laws - the offence currently carries a maximum sentence of just two years.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid ordered a public inquiry into the case and whether anything could have been done to stop him last month.
He said today: 'This is a profoundly distressing case. While nothing can undo the damage that has been done, David Fuller has today been brought to justice for his unspeakable crimes.
'I would like to reiterate my apologies to the friends and families of all the victims for what took place. We are taking action to ensure nothing like this ever happens again.'
In a tweet, Prime Minister Boris Johnson added: 'Nothing can undo the pain caused by David Fuller's unimaginable crimes, but I hope some comfort can be taken from the fact he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
'My thoughts are with the family and friends of his victims, who have shown incredible bravery in court today.'
Following the sentencing, Kent Police revealed a dedicated team of investigators will spend a year picking through Fuller's sordid life to see if he is behind any other cold cases of missing women.
Outside Maidstone Crown Court, Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Fotheringham, of Kent Police, said: 'We have a team dedicated to this case, we will be looking at other cases of missing girls, rape offences and murders across the South East of England.
'We will spend about a year working in this, maybe more, reviewing these cases.
'There's no evidence he committed other offences, but there's a chance he did and we're absolutely going to dig into this and investigate ever corner of his life and if find out if there's evidence we can convict him of any other offences.'
He also revealed Kent Police received almost 750 calls from members of the public to its dedicated appeal line set up after Fuller changed his double murder pleas to guilty.
Fuller was identified as the prime suspect in the murders of Ms Knell and Ms Pierce after a DNA breakthrough achieved by analysing genetic material found at the crime scenes and searching criminal databases for relatives.
The electrician was totally unknown to police but officers discovered a partial DNA match in one of his relatives after combing through a list of 1,000 people on the database who could be related to the killer.
After investigating Fuller, officers arrested him at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, where he lived with his family, in the early hours of December 3 last year.
Detectives said he did not look surprised, but he denied any involvement and said he had no knowledge of the case or the area where the women lived.
During a search of his home, police found hard drives, floppy discs and CDs with 14 million images of sex offences - including filming himself committing the heinous acts. Images of him attacking corpses were also discovered.
Investigators have so far detected around 100 potential victims but admitted all their identities may never be known................................................
Bedsit killer and morgue rapist David Fuller received £46,000 in taxpayer-funded legal aid costs, it has been revealed.
FOI data obtained from the Ministry of Justice now reveals the serial killer has benefitted from £46,065 in legal aid so far.
This includes £2,272.23 for a solicitor's representation at a police station, £25,454.53 on a barrister for his Crown court trial and £18,072.84 in disbursements.
Centre for Crime Prevention's research director David Spencer said: 'David Fuller's litany of horrific offences shocked the country to its core so it will doubtless also shock many people that this self-confessed monster was also able to claim such a huge amount of taxpayers money in legal aid.
'While everyone is entitled to legal representation, Fuller had a regular income and assets and there are undoubtedly questions to answer about whether these should be considered before taxpayer funds are made available.'
Both victims had suffered severe blunt force trauma to the head and both had injuries of compression of the neck by strangulation - either of which could have been the cause of death - and both victims had suffered similar injuries during sexual assaults.
Fuller initially denied the murders on grounds of diminished responsibility, but later changed his plea mid-way through his trial in the wake of a report into his mental capacity.
He also admitted a further 51 other offences, including the sexual penetration of a corpse, possessing an extreme pornographic image involving sexual interference with a corpse and taking indecent images of children.
Fuller got away with his crimes for nearly 35 years by maintaining a front of middle-class domesticity and respectability.
To those who knew him, at least casually, he was a family man, a thrice-married father-of-four and a seemingly doting husband and father.
Investigators believe he would have 'undoubtedly' carried on offending if he had not been identified.
The mother of one of his victims - 24-year-old Azra Kemal, previously spoke of how her daughter was 'violated' at least three times while in the morgue at Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
Azra, who had worked as a researcher for Sky News, died after falling from a bridge as she fled a car that had burst into flames on the A21 last July.
Fuller raped her body three times while it was held in the Tunbridge Wells Hospital morgue - once not long after her mother visited to say her last goodbye.
Nevres Kemal told the court her focus was to increase the jail term from two years for necrophilia offences.
She called Fuller 'insignificant' as she addressed the judge.
Detective Chief Superintendent Fotheringham, said Fuller's offending has caused suffering and inconceivable trauma' to hundreds of people.
He added: ‘David Fuller is responsible for a level of offending of unimaginable horror and depravity. He has targeted and brutally murdered two young women in the prime of their lives, seemingly for no other reason than to satisfy his own warped desires and forced the families and friends of Wendy and Caroline to endure more than three decades of incomprehensible suffering.
'His abhorrent offending has also caused suffering and inconceivable trauma to the lives of hundreds of other people, many of whom were still grieving the loss of loved ones.
‘Throughout our investigation Fuller has only demonstrated a capacity for self-pity, and not shown a single shred of remorse for his many victims and appalling crimes. I sincerely hope that today’s sentencing will provide some form of closure or comfort to all those who have been affected by his heinous actions, knowing at least that Fuller will spend the rest of his life in prison.’
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust chief executive Miles Scott said in a statement: 'I would like to apologise once again for the hurt that has been caused to families as a result of these appalling crimes.
'We will make any further improvements recommended from the independent inquiry and we have undertaken a risk assessment of our mortuary including assuring ourselves against existing Human Tissue Authority guidance.'
Noel McHugh, of the NCA’s Major Crime Investigative Support unit, added: 'This was an utterly horrific case, Fuller's depraved offending was off the scale. The victims and their families are forever in our thoughts.
'The Agency provided extensive investigative support to this case since 2007 particularly around familial DNA.
'The NCA is very proud to have helped Kent Police bring justice to the families of Wendy, Caroline and Fuller’s many other victims.'
The reforms would also allow judges to hand out the maximum sentence to 18 to 20-year-olds in exceptional cases, such as for acts of terrorism leading to mass loss of life.
It will also give judges the discretion, in exceptional circumstances, to impose a whole life order on offenders aged 18 or over but under 21."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
