FLASH
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The prosecution said the defendant described the crime as a "lifetime dream," and sentencing is expected to be announced on Thursday...
A Cambridge court found 48-year-old Karl Hutchings guilty of murdering his neighbor, Julie Buckley, 55, whose body he dismembered with a chainsaw and buried in a shallow grave he dug.
According to the prosecution, Hutchings had an early obsession with the fictional character Hannibal Lecter from the film The Silence of the Lambs. Prosecutor Christine Agnew told the court that he often said that if a play about Lecter was being staged, he would be the ideal candidate for the role because "he wouldn't have to rehearse", claiming that he knew the film dialogue by heart.
During the sentencing hearing, it was revealed that Hutchings had confessed to a friend that he had beaten Buckley with a hammer and then strangled her. He claimed that the victim had remained alive for many hours after the attack, and later dismembered her body and hid the remains.
The prosecution also said that the defendant had told friends that he had even considered eating the victim, but did not want, in his words, to introduce a “toxic person” into his body. According to evidence presented in court, he described the murder as a “lifetime dream,” adding that the experience was “like a drug.”
The case came to light in February 2024, when police launched an investigation following concerns about Julie Buckley's disappearance. Traces of blood were found in her Christchurch apartment, which laboratory tests confirmed belonged to the victim. Although the body was never found, authorities charged Hutchings with murder on February 13, in an unusual case without a body being found.
In September 2024, the day after pleading guilty, Hutchings handed over to authorities, through his lawyers, a map showing where he had hidden the remains. Police found them in a rural area of Wimblington, buried in a shallow grave.
Forensic examination revealed multiple injuries to the skull from blows with a hard object, as well as fractures to the ribs, nose and left arm. According to experts, none of the wounds were immediately fatal, which suggests that the victim may have survived for several hours after the attack.
According to the prosecution, the motive for the crime was related to a dispute over drug use. Hutchings allegedly became angry after Buckley refused to take him to pick up prescribed medication and refused to give him drugs from his own consumption. After the murder, he sold the victim's car for £500 and used her bank card to buy alcohol and withdraw money.
During the search of the defendant's apartment, the police found numerous traces of blood, remains of a fire in the yard, as well as a chainsaw, where hairs and biological materials that could belong to the victim were discovered.
The defence argued that Hutchings had suffered from serious mental health problems and a drug addiction for years, claiming the attack was spontaneous and that he had not intended to kill Buckley. However, the court heard that he only discovered the location of the remains nine months later and pleaded guilty just two weeks before the trial was due to begin.
According to British media, the decision on Karl Hutchings' sentence is expected to be announced on Thursday.
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